Home security footage captured the moment a California fire captain pleaded for her life before her wife allegedly stabbed her to death, according to an arrest warrant.
Yolanda Marodi, 53, was arrested Saturday in Mexico a month after her wife, Cal Fire Capt. Rebecca Marodi, 49, was found dead on February 17 in her Ramona home, northeast of San Diego.
Yolanda Marodi was arrested near a hotel in Mexicali and taken into custody, the Baja California Citizen Security Secretariat confirmed in a statement. She was transferred to the border “allowing U.S authorities to proceed with legal action,” the statement said.
Chilling details about the night of Rebecca Marodi’s killing are detailed in the arrest warrant, obtained by NBC 7, where the victim pleaded for her life.
A week before her death, “Rebecca told Yolanda that she was leaving her and ending their marriage,” Cecilia Markland, an officer with the San Diego County District Attorney’s office, wrote in the arrest warrant.
On the night of February 17 just after 8 p.m., a female, believed to be the victim, was seen on Ring video surveillance with “Yolanda chasing after her.”
“Yolanda! Please…don’t want to die,” Rebecca Marodi said.
“You should have thought about that before,” the suspect responded, according to the warrant.
“Yolanda can be seen at one point standing in front of Rebecca with what appeared to be a knife in her right hand,” the warrant says. “Apparent blood was seen on Yolanda’s arms and Yolanda can be heard telling Rebecca to go inside.”
The warrant says the pair then went into the residence, which is the “last time Rebecca was seen on video surveillance.”
“At 2020 hours, Yolanda is seen gathering pets, random items, some luggage and loading into a silver Chevrolet Equinox SUV,” according to the warrant.
The San Diego Sheriff’s Office named Yolanda Marodi as the suspect and officials issued a warrant for her arrest. She was seen on surveillance footage crossing the border into Mexico in the hours after her wife’s killing, the warrant said.
Three days after Rebecca Marodi’s killing, a text from the suspect to an unidentified witness allegedly said: “Becky came home and told me she was leaving me, she met someone else, all the messages were lies. We had a big fight and I hurt her… I’m sorry.”
Rebecca Marodi’s ex-wife, Lilia Phleger, previously told CBS News that her relationship with the suspect was “a typical toxic relationship”.
“Yolanda was very jealous,” Phleger said. “My understanding is she was very jealous and did not want to have Becky maintain the friendships she had for years with other women.”
Yolanda Marodi served prison time for fatally stabbing her husband in 2000.
She was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2004 after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter for fatally stabbing her then-husband James Olenjniczak in his Fontana home in October 2000. The couple had two children, a son and a daughter, both infants at the time of their father’s death.
Yolanda Marodi served a sentence of 13 years and eight months in prison, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The use of drugs and alcohol accounted for the additional time, the department said.
Rebecca Marodi battled the deadly Eaton wildfire in Los Angeles County in January.
Cal Fire/ Riverside County Fire Department paid tribute to her in a statement following news of Yolanda Marodi’s arrest. “CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department is aware that Yolanda Marodi was apprehended,” the statement said. “We thank our law enforcement partners in San Diego and Mexico for their hard work. Becky was a beloved member of our community and Department, and we miss her greatly.”
