Updated

Updated · NBC News · Aug 7

Yolanda Marodi Pleads Guilty in 2025 Stabbing Death of Firefighter Wife, Facing 36 Years to Life

Updated

Updated · NBC News · Aug 7

Yolanda Marodi Pleads Guilty in 2025 Stabbing Death of Firefighter Wife, Facing 36 Years to Life

Q: What chilling details did the home security camera capture before the killer packed her pets and fled across the border?

The security footage captured Rebecca Marodi fleeing as Yolanda Marodi chased her, then begging for her life. According to investigators and court documents, Rebecca screamed, “Yolanda! Please … I don’t want to die,” and also called out for her mother and repeatedly asked that 911 be called. The video allegedly showed Rebecca reappearing covered in blood, while Yolanda stood over her with a knife and blood on her arms. Investigators said Yolanda responded, “You should have thought of that before.” In some accounts from the warrant, she also told Rebecca, “She’s not here,” when Rebecca called for her mother. After the two went back inside the house, the camera recorded Yolanda about 10 minutes later gathering pets and luggage, loading them into a Chevrolet Equinox, and driving away. Authorities said border records showed she crossed into Mexico less than an hour after the killing.

3 articles · Updated · NBC News · Aug 7

Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi, 54, admitted second-degree murder in the Feb. 17, 2025 killing of her wife, Rebecca Marodi, 49, a California firefighter found stabbed at their San Diego County home.
Court records and investigators tied the attack to a breakup: Rebecca had told Yolanda about a week earlier that she was ending the marriage and had met someone else.
Ring video captured Rebecca bleeding and pleading, “I don’t want to die,” while Yolanda held a knife; an affidavit also cited a message sent the next day saying, “We had a big fight and I hurt her.”
Mexican authorities arrested Yolanda more than a month later at a hotel in Mexicali after she fled across the border; she now faces 36 years to life.
The case revived scrutiny of Yolanda’s past because she had already pleaded guilty in 2003 to voluntary manslaughter in the stabbing death of her ex-husband and was later released.