California woman accused of murdering fire captain wife captured in Mexico after 33 days on the run

A California woman suspected of murdering her fire captain wife finally has been captured in Mexico after being on the run for 33 days.

Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi was taken into custody after being located at a hotel roughly two miles south of the U.S. border in the city of Mexicali — approximately 175 miles southeast of where her wife was found stabbed to death at her house in Ramona, California.

'We had a big fight, and I hurt her.'

The Baja California Citizen Security Secretariat said in a statement that once Mexican law enforcement agents confirmed her identity, she was taken into custody and transferred to the border "allowing U.S. authorities to proceed with legal action."

Marodi was turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service after being returned to America at a U.S. port of entry, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement, adding that "Yolanda is being processed and will be booked into custody for murder."

U.S. officials reportedly had asked Mexican authorities to assist them in locating Marodi.

The search for Marodi included assets from Mexican law enforcement, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service San Diego Fugitive Task Force.

U.S. officials said in an arrest warrant for Marodi that they had a video showing the suspect crossing the southern border into Mexico in her vehicle via the San Ysidro port of entry just hours after 49-year-old Cal Fire Captain Rebecca “Becky” Marodi was found stabbed to death Feb. 17.

As Blaze News previously reported, Rebecca Marodi was found dead inside her home with multiple stab wounds on her neck, chest, and abdomen.

Law enforcement previously said the incident was being treated as a "potential domestic violence incident."

Police immediately considered Yolanda a prime suspect after she fled the residence following Rebecca's murder.

Security camera video from the home reportedly provided investigators with the chilling last moments of Rebecca Marodi's life.

According to the arrest warrant, the home surveillance video shows a female — suspected to be Yolanda — "chasing after" a female, who appears to be Rebecca.

A voice believed to be Rebecca's reportedly is heard screaming in the video, "Yolanda! Please ... I don’t want to die!"

A voice believed to be Yolanda allegedly replied, "You should have thought about that before."

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office pointed out that Rebecca reappeared in the video and seemed to have blood on her back.

"Yolanda can be seen at one point standing in front of Rebecca with what appeared to be a knife in her right hand," the report noted.

Yolanda allegedly had blood on her arms in the video.

The home’s security camera reportedly captured Yolanda wearing different clothes, placing belongings, luggage, and a dog into her silver Chevrolet Equinox SUV and driving away.

Citing Department of Homeland Security records, the affidavit states that on the same night as Rebecca's murder, Yolanda's SUV crossed into Mexico — approximately 45 miles south of Ramona.

Citing the affidavit, NBC News reported that an unnamed witness received a dubious text message from Yolanda a day after Rebecca was killed.

“Becky came home and told me she was leaving, she met someone else, all the messages were lies. We had a big fight, and I hurt her ... I’m sorry,” the text message from Yolanda read, according to the affidavit.

Yolanda and Rebecca reportedly had been married for about two years.

Rebecca had served Cal Fire for more than 30 years. She helped battle the Eaton fire in January near Los Angeles as seen in an Instagram video shared by the Cal Fire’s battalion in Temecula.

The Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department thanked authorities after Yolanda's capture.

“We thank our law enforcement partners in San Diego and Mexico for their hard work,” spokesperson Maggie Cline De La Rosa said in a statement. “Becky was a beloved member of our community and Department, and we miss her greatly.”

Last month, Cal Fire San Diego launched a benevolent fund to assist Rebecca's 77-year-old mother with financial challenges.

"She [Marodi] was the sole caregiver for her mother, who is now falling on some hard times due to no longer having a caregiver, so we're there to help support her in any way she needs," said John Clark, battalion chief and chief operating officer for the benevolent fund.

Yolanda is an ex-convict who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the stabbing death of her husband — James Olejniczak — and she was in prison from February 2004 to November 2013 for that killing.

In an eerie similarity, Yolanda allegedly attempted to flee from law enforcement with her two young children before turning herself in to police in connection with her husband's killing.

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