EL CAJON, Calif. (CNS) - A woman accused of fatally stabbing her wife, a veteran state firefighter, at their Ramona home and then fleeing to Mexico, is due in court Tuesday for a hearing to determine whether she will go to trial for murder.
Yolanda Marodi, 54, is accused of killing her spouse of two years, Cal Fire Capt. Rebecca "Becky" Marodi, at the couple's Rancho Villa Road home on the night of Feb. 17, 2025.
Deputies responding to a report of an assault found the 49-year-old victim suffering from stab wounds to her neck, chest and abdomen. Rebecca Marodi, who had worked for the state firefighting agency for more than 30 years, died at the scene.
Yolanda Marodi allegedly headed across the U.S.-Mexico border shortly after the killing. Mexican authorities later arrested her near a hotel in the Ferrocarril neighborhood of Mexicali, according to the San Diego County District Attorney's Office. She remains in custody without bail.
Along with the current homicide case, Yolanda Marodi was previously convicted for the stabbing death of another spouse in San Bernardino County and served nearly a decade in prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
According to an arrest-warrant declaration filed by a detective with the San Diego County District Attorney's Office, Rebecca Marodi had sought to leave the marriage shortly before she was killed.
The day after the slaying, the court document asserts, the suspect sent someone a text message stating, "Becky came home and told me she was leaving me, she met someone else, all the messages were lies. We had a big fight and I hurt her ... I'm sorry."
The warrant declaration states that surveillance-camera footage captured images of Rebecca Marodi fleeing their home as her wife chased her.
The bloodied victim was "yelling out, 'Yolanda! Please ... I don't want to die,'" the document states. Yolanda Marodi, who appeared to be holding a knife and seemingly had blood on her arms, responded, "You should have thought about that before," according to the document.
The mortally wounded victim repeatedly asked her wife to call 911 before the pair re-entered the home, the declaration states.
About 10 minutes later, the camera recorded video of Yolanda Marodi loading items into a Chevrolet Equinox and then driving off, the declaration states.
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