Woman admits stabbing Cal Fire captain wife to death years after killing estranged husband

The wife of a Cal Fire captain confessed Tuesday to stabbing her to death in their Ramona home in San Diego County.

Yolanda Marodi appeared before the San Diego Superior Court in El Cajon and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for killing 49-year-old Rebecca “Becky” Marodi in Rancho Villa Road on February 2025.

Marodi was previously convicted and served nearly 10 years in prison after killing her ex-husband back in 2000.

The slain officer had tried to leave the marriage shortly before she was killed according to an arrest-warrant declaration reported by NBC 7.

Rebecca Marodi at one point fled her home as her wife chased her and screamed, “Yolanda! Please… I don’t want to die.”

Yolanda Marodi then allegedly crossed the US-Mexico border and was arrested near a hotel in the Ferrocarril neighborhood of Mexicali after a five-week search, according to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office.

Her previous killing came back in October 2000 when she killed her estranged husband in San Bernardino County. The then 28-year-old had attempted to flee with her two children before eventually turning herself in.

She pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to over 13 years in jail but ended up only serving less than 10 years.

Following her confession on Tuesday, Marodi is expected to be sentenced to 36 years to life in prison on September 2.

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