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Investigators had named Yolanda Olejniczak
Marodi as the prime suspect in the Feb. 17 stabbing death of Cal
Fire Capt. Rebecca Marodi, 49, in Ramona, near San Diego.
Olejniczak Marodi was arrested Saturday at a hotel in the city
of Mexicali, just south of the U.S. border, according to
officials in Mexico. Mexican state security agents transferred
her to U.S. marshals and she was returned to the United States,
according to a statement from the San Diego County Sheriff’s
Office.
It wasn't known Sunday if Olejniczak Marodi, 53, has an
attorney.
She will be booked into custody in San Diego, and the
investigation into Marodi’s killing remains ongoing, the
statement said.
Marodi, a decorated captain with the state agency, was part of
the battle against the Eaton fire in January near Los Angeles.
She and Olejniczak Marodi had been married for just over two
years.
Olejniczak Marodi was previously convicted in the fatal stabbing
of her then-husband, James Joseph Olejniczak, the Los Angeles
Times reported. She pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter
after the stabbing in 2000 and served nearly a decade in prison.
Olejniczak Marodi had been at large since Marodi’s death and had
driven into Mexico the night of her death, according to the
statement from the sheriff’s office. She was seen on
surveillance video earlier in the evening “arguing with Rebecca
and physically assaulting her” before leaving the house, the
statement said.
Home security footage from a surveillance camera at the couple’s
home depicted a brutal scene on the evening of Feb. 17,
according to an arrest warrant obtained by the Times. A woman
believed to be Marodi can be heard in the video screaming
“Yolanda! Please ... ! I don’t want to die!” before appearing on
video with blood on her back, according to the warrant.
The footage shows Olejniczak Marodi packing items into a silver
SUV, which is seen about an hour later crossing the border into
Mexico, according to the warrant.
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