Yolanda Marodi, 54, has pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of her wife, Cal Fire Captain Rebecca Marodi, 49. The confession, made Tuesday in San Diego Superior Court, revealed that Yolanda used a knife to kill Rebecca on February 17, 2025, inside their Ramona home. This act mirrors the 2000 killing of her then-husband, James J. Olejniczak Jr., whom she also stabbed to death.

Rebecca Marodi was found with multiple stab wounds to her neck, chest, and abdomen. Surveillance footage captured moments before her death, during which she pleaded with Yolanda, "Please... I don't want to die." Yolanda's reported response was, "You should have thought about that before." The footage also showed Yolanda, appearing bloodied and holding a knife, chasing her wife before fleeing the scene in a silver Chevrolet Equinox SUV.

Previous Homicide and Sentencing

In October 2000, Yolanda Marodi killed her first husband, James J. Olejniczak Jr., 26. At the time, authorities noted she had cleared out and taken everything before fleeing. She turned herself in to police approximately 24 hours later. For Olejniczak's murder, she was sentenced to 11 years in state prison, serving from February 2004 to November 2013.

Escape and Arrest

Following Rebecca Marodi's murder, Yolanda's vehicle was logged entering Mexico the same night. Authorities issued an alert on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Mexican authorities arrested Yolanda last March, and she was subsequently transferred to U.S. Marshals at an American port of entry. She had initially pleaded not guilty to murder and faced a first-degree murder charge before the plea agreement.

Plea and Sentencing

Yolanda Marodi faces a sentence of 36 years to life in prison. Her sentencing is scheduled for September 2. Deputy District Attorney Jared Coleman stated that the negotiation of the charge, down from first-degree murder, considered "many factors, maybe the most important of which was the desire of the victim's family for closure."

Rebecca's mother, Lorena Marodi, discovered her daughter's body after noticing Yolanda's car was gone and later seeing a trail of blood leading to her daughter. The couple had been married for slightly more than two years, and Rebecca had told Yolanda she intended to end their marriage about a week prior to the fatal stabbing.