After evading the police for 33 days, a California woman who is accused of murdering her wife has been apprehended by the authorities.
Yolanda Marodi stands accused of fatally stabbing her wife, California fire captain Rebecca “Becky” Marodi, per NBC News.
Yolanda, 53, was located on March 22 at a hotel in Mexicali, just 2.3 miles south of the U.S. border, Mexican officials confirmed in a statement released Saturday.
The Baja California Citizen Security Secretariat (SSCBC) said cooperation and information exchange with U.S. authorities led to her arrest.
She was later transferred to the border with help from Mexico’s National Institute of Migration and turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service at a U.S. port of entry, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
Thirty-three days earlier, on February 17, Yolanda was seen on home security footage allegedly chasing her wife, Rebecca, across their patio in Ramona, California, while holding a knife.
The footage reportedly captured Rebecca pleading: “Yolanda! Please…! I don’t want to die,” as blood ran down her back.
According to the affidavit, Yolanda — with blood visible on her arms — responded: “You should have thought about that before.”
Rebecca’s mother, who lived with the couple, called 911 after finding her daughter with multiple stab wounds to her neck, chest, and abdomen. Authorities tried to save her life, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police say Yolanda was caught on camera changing clothes, packing luggage and pets into her silver Chevrolet Equinox, and fleeing the home.
That same night, she crossed the border into Mexico, about 45 miles south of Ramona, according to Homeland Security records cited in the affidavit.
An arrest warrant for Yolanda was issued on February 21, charging her with murder.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office stated that homicide investigators are continuing to determine the exact circumstances and motive behind Rebecca’s death.
However, texts allegedly sent by Yolanda help shed light on what may have led up to the fatal altercation.
“Becky came home and told me she was leaving me,” Yolanda allegedly wrote to an acquaintance the day after Rebecca’s death, according to the arrest warrant, per PEOPLE.
The texts allegedly continued: “She met someone else, all the messages were lies. We had a big fight, and I hurt her... I’m sorry.”
The affidavit further supports the sequence of events, noting that security video recorded Rebecca begging Yolanda to call 911.
Instead, Yolanda reportedly told her to go back inside before driving off hours later.
This isn’t the first time Yolanda Marodi has faced violent charges.
From 2004 to 2013, she served time in prison for manslaughter in connection with the stabbing death of her then-husband, James J. Olejniczak Jr., according to NBC 7.
Rebecca, 49, was a beloved captain with Cal Fire, having started her firefighting career as a volunteer in 1993. She worked with Cal Fire for more than three decades and was promoted to captain in 2022.
Following Yolanda’s arrest, Cal Fire issued a statement to NBC 7: “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. Becky was a beloved member of our community and Department, and we miss her greatly.”