San Diego woman admits to murdering wife decades after killing former husband

A San Diego woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to murdering her wife in a fit of rage last year. Making the spousal death more shocking, the same woman admitted to stabbing her previous husband to death more than 20 years ago.

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Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi, 54, pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree murder in a San Diego Court after prosecutors had agreed to reduce the charge from first-degree murder, according to KTLA-TV. Marodi stabbed her wife, Rebecca “Becky” Marodi, a Cal Fire captain, in a fit of rage in February 2025 at their home in Ramona, a small town near Escondido. 

An in-home camera captured video of Yolanda Marodi chasing her wife while Rebecca Marodi screamed “Yolanda! Please! I don’t want to die!” with Yolanda Marodi then appearing standing over the woman saying, “You should have thought of that before” while holding a knife, according to the Los Angeles Times. The pair had been married for two years, and Rebecca Marodi was an accomplished firefighter who had fought the Eaton Fire. 

Rebecca Marodi’s mother found her and called authorities, but her daughter was pronounced dead at the scene due to multiple stab wounds.

Yolanda Marodi then fled to Mexico and was captured in Mexicali in March of 2025. She has been held in jail since while facing a murder charge. KUSI-TV reported that she appeared in court Tuesday with a mask and glasses and quietly pleaded guilty to the charges, which the prosecuting attorney said were reduced after conferring with Rebecca Marodi’s family. 

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The 2025 murder has startling similarities to Yolanda Marodi’s actions more than 20 years ago. 

Yolanda Marodi’s husband James Joseph Olejniczak, 26, was found stabbed to death in 2000 at his home in San Bernardino County, according to previous SFGATE reporting. Yolanda Marodi fled with her two young children but was later arrested and pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in Olejniczak’s death. She completed her prison sentence in 2013. Rebecca Marodi’s friends only learned of her wife’s violent history after Rebecca had died, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Yolanda Marodi’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 2, according to KTLA. She is facing 36 years to life in prison.