A 54-year-old California woman who served prison time for stabbing her first husband to death in 2000 has now pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the stabbing death of her wife, a veteran Cal Fire captain.
Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi entered her guilty plea Tuesday in the killing of Rebecca "Becky" Marodi, 49, who was found with multiple stab wounds at the couple's home in Ramona, California, on February 17, 2025. Prosecutors said surveillance footage from the home captured Rebecca Marodi fleeing as Yolanda Marodi pursued her. The victim suffered wounds to her neck, chest, and back.
The plea marks the second time Yolanda Marodi has admitted to killing a spouse by stabbing. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records show she pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in 2003 for the 2000 stabbing death of her then-husband, James Joseph Olejniczak. She was released from custody in 2013, roughly a decade before she would take another life the same way.
A 30-year firefighting career ended by a knife
Rebecca Marodi had served more than 30 years with Cal Fire, primarily in Riverside County. She started as a volunteer in Moreno Valley and rose to the rank of captain. Most recently, she helped battle the Eaton Fire, one of the devastating blazes that struck the Los Angeles area.
Cal Fire Riverside honored her in a statement posted to Facebook:
"Her legacy of mentorship, service, and dedication will be felt for years to come. Her passing is a profound loss to her family, friends, and all who had the privilege of working alongside her."
Three decades of running toward danger, and Rebecca Marodi's life ended inside her own home. The violence against first responders, whether a police sergeant gunned down on a 911 call or a fire captain killed by someone she trusted, carries a particular weight. These are people who spend careers protecting strangers. The system owes them at least a functioning record of who poses a lethal threat.
Fled to Mexico, caught in Mexicali a month later
After the killing, investigators allege Yolanda Marodi fled across the border into Mexico. She remained there for more than a month before authorities arrested her at a hotel in Mexicali, near the U.S. border. The Baja California Citizen Security Secretariat was connected to the arrest.
U.S. Marshals took Marodi into custody at the Calexico West U.S. Port of Entry when she was returned to the United States. She initially pleaded not guilty to Rebecca's murder before reversing course and entering her guilty plea to second-degree murder. When the judge asked for her plea on count one, Fox News Digital reported her one-word answer: "Guilty."
As part of the plea, Marodi admitted to having a prior serious felony conviction stemming from the 2000 stabbing death of James Joseph Olejniczak. Sentencing is scheduled for September 2.
California's corrections system released her, and another person died
The timeline demands scrutiny. Yolanda Marodi stabbed her husband to death in 2000. She pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, not murder, in 2003. The state released her in 2013. Twelve years later, she stabbed her wife to death in the same manner.
No motive has been made public for the February attack. But the pattern is not ambiguous. A woman convicted of killing one spouse with a knife was freed, married again, and killed again, with a knife. The question is not complicated: how does someone with that record walk free long enough to do it twice?
The case echoes a grim reality facing communities across the country. When the justice system downgrades charges or grants early release to violent offenders, the people closest to them bear the risk. In this case, it was a decorated firefighter who had devoted her life to public service.
Rebecca Marodi spent three decades protecting Riverside County residents from fire. She volunteered before she was paid. She earned her captain's rank. She fought the Eaton Fire while others evacuated. She did everything right.
Violence against those who serve the public, whether deputies ambushed by convicted felons or firefighters killed in their own homes, keeps happening. And too often, the perpetrators have records that should have kept them locked up or under close supervision.
When first responders are lost, their families are left searching for accountability from a system that failed to protect the protectors. Rebecca Marodi's family now joins that list.
September sentencing looms
Yolanda Marodi faces sentencing on September 2. The court, the judge, and the specific charges beyond second-degree murder have not been publicly identified. No defense attorney has been named in connection with the plea.
The open questions are significant. What sentence will a second-time killer receive? Will the prior manslaughter conviction, now formally admitted as a prior serious felony, carry meaningful weight at sentencing? And will anyone in California's corrections apparatus answer for the decision to release a spouse-killer who went on to kill another spouse?
Rebecca Marodi ran into burning buildings for 30 years. The least the justice system can do now is stop letting the people who kill public servants walk out the door to do it again.
