A 54-year-old woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree murder in the death last year of her wife, a Cal Fire captain who was repeatedly stabbed in her Ramona home.
Yolanda Marodi is expected to be sentenced in El Cajon Superior Court next month to 36 years to life in prison, prosecutors said. In pleading guilty, Yolanda Marodi admitted she had used a knife in the Feb. 17, 2025, attack on wife Rebecca Marodi. The victim had been with Cal Fire for more than 30 years and was a captain at a station in French Valley in Riverside County.
In pleading guilty, Yolanda Marodi also admitted that she already had a prior strike and a serious felony conviction on her record. In October 2000, her first spouse was found stabbed to death in his Fontana apartment. Marodi, then known as Yolanda Olenjniczak, was subsequently convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to more than 13 years in prison.
Some of last year’s attack on Rebecca Marodi was caught on a doorbell camera at her Rancho Villa Road home, according to an affidavit seeking a warrant to arrest Yolanda Marodi. The footage, recorded just after 8 p.m., allegedly showed Rebecca Marodi running in front of the camera, chased by Yolanda Marodi.
“Yolanda! Please! (I) don’t want to die,” the Cal Fire captain said before she appeared on camera with what looked to be blood on her back, according to the affidavit.
“You should have thought about that before,” Yolanda Marodi allegedly said.
On the video, Yolanda could be seen standing in front of Rebecca holding a knife and telling her to enter the house, according to the affidavit. Both entered the home. Ten minutes later, the affidavit alleged, Yolanda was seen loading pets and luggage into a Chevrolet SUV. Less than an hour later, authorities alleged, Marodi crossed into Mexico.
Rebecca Marodi’s mother, who lived at the house, returned home that evening and found her daughter. Rebecca Marodi, who authorities said had been stabbed multiple times, died at the scene. According to testimony from Yolanda Marodi’s preliminary hearing in February, the victim sustained 23 stab wounds.
Yolanda Marodi was arrested in Mexico more than a month later and returned to the United States. She is slated to be sentenced Sept. 2.
City News Service contributed to this report.