Authorities in Mexico have successfully apprehended a woman suspected of fatally stabbing her wife, a Cal Fire captain, at their residence in Southern California. Yolanda Marodi, also known as Yolanda Olejniczak, was taken into custody at a hotel in the Mexican state of Baja California on Saturday. The Baja California Citizen Security Secretariat (SSCBC) confirmed this news in a social media statement. Yolanda Marodi was then transferred to the U.S.-Mexico border with the assistance of Mexico’s National Institute of Migration.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department announced on Saturday that Mexican authorities had alerted U.S. Marshals about Yolanda Marodi’s whereabouts in Mexico and her subsequent detainment. Following this, she was handed over to U.S. Marshals and taken into custody at a U.S. Port of Entry. Yolanda Marodi is currently undergoing processing and will soon be booked on charges of murder.
U.S. investigators suspect that Yolanda Marodi, 53, fatally stabbed her wife, Rebecca Marodi, 49, a captain with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, at their San Diego County home on February 17. After the incident, authorities believe Yolanda Marodi fled the country.
After the killing on February 17, footage captured Yolanda Marodi crossing into Mexico through the San Ysidro Port of Entry in her vehicle. For over a month, her whereabouts remained unknown until her capture on Saturday, as disclosed by the sheriff’s department.
The investigation into Rebecca Marodi’s death is still ongoing. The sheriff’s department’s homicide investigators are actively working to uncover additional information about the circumstances leading to her tragic demise.
Details from court documents obtained by USA TODAY shed light on the tragic stabbing incident. The documents revealed that a Ring doorbell camera captured Rebecca Marodi running and screaming “I don’t want to die.” In the footage, Yolanda Marodi can be seen on the patio responding, “You should have thought about that before,” while holding a knife and with blood on her arms. Following the altercation, Yolanda Marodi was observed packing luggage into a silver SUV and driving away from the scene.
Further information from the court records disclosed that Yolanda Marodi later sent a text to an acquaintance admitting that she had “hurt” Rebecca. Additionally, it was uncovered that Yolanda Marodi had a history of violence, having served time in prison for a previous domestic-related stabbing death in 2003.
Yolanda Marodi pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in connection with the death of her then-husband in 2003, and was incarcerated from 2004 to 2013. The article, which originally appeared on USA TODAY, reports that Yolanda Marodi, the suspect in the fatal stabbing of Rebecca Marodi, has been arrested in Mexico.
