Wife of slain California fire captain is arrested in Mexico on suspicion of murder
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A month after an official with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection was found slain at her home, the woman’s wife has been arrested in Mexico on suspicion of murder, authorities said.
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.