Police in Mexico arrested Yolanda Marodi for allegedly killing her wife, Cal Fire Captain Rebecca Marodi, last month.
The month-long manhunt started in late February after San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies found Rebecca’s body inside the couple’s home in Ramona. The Department of Homeland Security said that Yolanda drove across the border while traveling with a small white dog after her wife’s death.
Mexico’s Baja California Citizen Security Secretariat agents located Yolanda near a Mexicali Hotel near the U.S.-Mexico border. She was subsequently handed over to American law enforcement.
They say that she will be charged with murder.
Secretaría de Seguridad Ciudadana de Baja California
Yolanda allegedly killed her wife on Feb. 17 after the couple had an apparent argument. Investigators said that Rebecca’s mother called 911 after hearing the Cal Fire captain struggle with another person over a Ring camera live feed.
In the video, a voice can be heard yelling out, “Yolanda, please, I don’t want to die.”
Rebecca then appears in the video with what looks to be blood on her back, authorities said.
“You should have thought of that before,” Yolanda said to her.
Previously, Yolanda was convicted and spent years in prison for stabbing her previous spouse, James Joseph Olejniczak to death in San Bernardino County in 2000. She served more than 13 years for criminal charges that included voluntary manslaughter, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. She was released in 2013 and moved to parole supervision.
San Diego Sheriff’s Office
The victim’s ex-wife, Lilia Phleger, said the couple had what she described as a “toxic relationship,” with Yolanda Marodi showing signs of jealousy during their relationship.
“You don’t ever want somebody that you once cared for so much to suffer,” Phleger said. “For this to happen to Becky, in our home, this was the home we lived in together. It’s just unfathomable.”
“It was a typical toxic relationship,” Phleger said. “Yolanda was very jealous. My understanding is she was very jealous and did not want to have Becky maintain the friendships she had for years with other women.”
Rebecca started her career in 1993 after becoming a volunteer firefighter in Moreno Valley. San Bernardino and Riverside hired her as a seasonal firefighter a year later. She was promoted to the rank of Captain with Cal Fire in 2022.
She was previously stationed in Perris, Home Gardens, Indian Wells, Menifee, North Rancho Mirage and Temecula before working at French Valley Station 83.
Cal Fire officials shared a statement in the hours after Marodi was arrested.
“CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department is aware that Yolanda Marodi was apprehended. We thank our law enforcement partners in San Diego and Mexico for their hard work,” the statement said. “Becky was a beloved member of our community and Department, and we miss her greatly.”
