A woman suspected of fatally stabbing her wife, a California fire captain, last month has been arrested in Mexico, authorities there announced Saturday.
Yolanda Marodi, also known as Yolanda Olejniczak, was arrested near a hotel in the Mexican state of Baja California, the State Citizen Security Force said in a press release Saturday.
Yolanda Olejniczak is suspected of fatally stabbing 49-year-old Rebecca Marodi inside the couple’s home near Ramona, California, some 40 miles northeast of San Diego on Feb. 17.
Marodi was a fire captain for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire.
Court papers filed in San Diego County Superior Court allege Olejniczak stabbed her wife after learning Marodi planned to leave her and that the attack was captured on a Ring home security camera.
In the footage, Rebecca Marodi is seen being chased across the patio by Olejniczak, screaming “Yolanda! Please..I don’t want to die,” an arrest warrant stated. Olejniczak responded, “You should have thought about that before,” and appeared to stand in front of Marodi with a knife in her right hand, according to the warrant. There appeared to be blood on both Marodi’s back and Olejniczak’s arms.
Marodi repeatedly asks for Olejniczak to call 911, and then the two are seen entering the residence, according to the warrant.
Several minutes later, the front-door camera captures Olejniczak wearing different clothes, loading “pets, random items and some luggage” into a silver Chevrolet Equinox, according to the warrant.
Marodi’s mother later told investigators that about a week prior to her death her daughter had told Olejniczak that she was leaving and ending their marriage, according to the warrant.
Authorities had long suspected Olejniczak was out of the country. About an hour after the killing, her vehicle was logged entering Mexico, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The State Citizen Security Force of Baja California said the arrest came as the result of “information exchanges between Mexico and the United States.”
The stabbing of Marodi is not the first time Olejniczak has been accused of killing a romantic partner. In 2003, she pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for stabbing her then-husband to death and was sentenced to 11 years in prison, according to officials. She served the time and was released, after which she met Marodi.
