Wife of slain Cal Fire captain pleads not guilty to first-degree murder after arrest in Mexico
For five weeks, Yolanda Marodi was on the run from authorities.
The 53-year-old was the prime suspect in the killing of her wife, Rebecca Marodi, 49, a fire captain who was found stabbed to death last month in the couple's home in Ramona, Calif., officials said.
Her fugitive status ended this weekend when Yolanda Marodi was arrested in Mexico. She entered a plea of not guilty to first-degree murder Wednesday during her arraignment at San Diego's East County Superior Courthouse. She appeared via video from a San Diego hospital; her public defender requested a bail review hearing for April 28.
Yolanda Marodi was at the hospital receiving medical treatment and will be moved to a jail after her release.
She was arrested Saturday at a hotel in the Ferrocarril neighborhood of Mexicali, according to the Baja California Citizen Security Secretariat. She was transported to the U.S. border by Mexican state security agents and released to the U.S. Marshals Service, according to a news release from the San Diego County Sheriff's Office.
After her killing, Rebecca Marodi's friends held a 'celebration of life' ceremony for the Cal Fire captain, who had battled the Eaton fire.
'She always showed up,' friend Ami Davis told The Times. 'She would always be there, no matter what it was, something big or something small. She would take the day off and help me with my motorcycle. She was constantly thinking about people in some way, shape or form.'
Rebecca Marodi's death may have come after she announced the end of her relationship with Yolanda.
Rebecca's mother, Lorena Marodi, informed detectives that Rebecca told Yolanda a week before she was killed that she was ending their marriage, according to an arrest warrant filed in San Diego County Superior Court. In home security video, Rebecca was seen with blood on her back running from a woman believed to be Yolanda.
'Yolanda! Please...! I don't want to die!' Rebecca screamed, according to the warrant.
'You should have thought of that before,' Yolanda responded while standing over Rebecca holding a knife, according to the warrant. She also had blood on her arms.
About 10 minutes later, Yolanda was captured on the security camera gathering pets and luggage and loading them into a Chevrolet Equinox SUV, according to the warrant. Yolanda drove away and her vehicle was logged by the Department of Homeland Security entering Mexico that same night.
This is the second time Yolanda Marodi has killed a spouse, according to detectives.
In 2004, Yolanda Marodi, whose last name was then Olejniczak, was convicted of killing her then-husband, James Joseph Olejniczak, according to court records. She pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and served time in prison from February 2004 until November 2013.
According to prosecutors, Marodi used a knife in that killing. The couple had filed for divorce in May 2000, according to family court records from the Vista courthouse.
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"Well, I wouldn't say I was possessed, but I did have a bad energy following me around in the form of a face when I was about 10. I would go through fits of rage over nothing, and I mean nothing. I would be sitting there, and all of a sudden, I would see this face and get super angry and beat on anyone near me. My mom started taking me to this spiritual lady who could read different types of energy. She told my mom, who would eventually tell me, that there was a dark evil energy following me around, and that when I saw it, I would have to spray this stuff around me, and it eventually worked, but yeah. I don't know if that would count as possessed." "One of my aunts would get INCREDIBLY angry/out of control at random times. She had 10 times my strength. It took four people to pin her down. My grandmother, a rather traditional Moroccan woman, was convinced she was possessed. 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She was in a service in Armenia, in the rural town of Bjni, and I remember how that she reacted to the presence of the Holy Spirit in that church. I was 13 years old and sitting in front of the room while she was in the back. At some point, she began screeching in a way I cannot describe well in writing. I thought she was dying. It was a scream unlike anything I had heard, and I have not heard anything remotely close to it since (I am now 21 years old). It took five grown men to hold her while the pastor commanded the demons to leave her. Long story short, yes, demon possession is real. Demons possessed the girl after her mother welcomed demons into their home. I witnessed how the girl was able to overpower several grown men at once. I remember the way she screamed, and I know her story." "I have performed multiple exorcisms. Maybe 40+? It's hard to keep track. The vast majority of them were on the mission field across Africa. 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They would throw up the demon in the name of Jesus. It was definitely a weird time and caused lots of drama." closeup a cross in the hand of a man and a frightening evil nun, wearing a typical black and white habit, screaming "My husband's mother and his aunt were playing Ouija one day when a spirit got into his aunt. He said his mother called him and his brother, and they couldn't refrain from her. She was trying to take her shirt off and yelling. Her mom called a friend who knew about these things, and she told her to read a Psalm (I don't really remember the number). As soon as she read the psalm, the woman began to calm down." What are your thoughts on exorcisms? Believer or not? Comment below! And if you enjoyed this, you'll love the upcoming horror film The Ritual! Based on the real notes and findings of a real-life exorcist and the multiple exorcisms of Emma Schmidt, it's sure to horrify you, and is now playing in theaters. Check out the trailer here:
