Suspect in Cal Fire captain's fatal stabbing to appear in court for first time
Yolanda Olejniczak, who has also been identified by law enforcement as Yolanda Marodi, is expected to be arraigned in an El Cajon courtroom on a first degree murder charge in connection to the stabbing of Marodi, her wife, at their Ramona home on Feb. 17.
The 53-year-old had been considered at large in the month since. In a warrant for her arrest, law enforcement said she was believed to be in Mexico, as her vehicle had been logged by border officials at the San Ysidro Port of Entry hours after the stabbing.
'She always had a smile': Colleague remembers Cal Fire captain killed inside Ramona home
Baja California officials announced on Saturday Olejniczak had been detained near a hotel in Mexicali, a Mexican border town adjacent to the California city of Calexico. Once authorities confirmed her identity, she was handed off to U.S. Marshals for extradition.
Upon her return to the U.S., Olejniczak was briefly admitted for medical treatment before being booked into jail at the Las Colinas Detention Facility, the San Diego County Sheriff's Office said.
The arraignment on Wednesday will cap weeks of tumult for Marodi's loved ones following her death. Several have pledged to follow every step of the case as it proceeds to trial.
'Becky meant so much to so many, and I can't just leave it,' Fran George, a friend of Marodi's from her motorcycle riding group, said to FOX 5/KUSI after Olejniczak's arrest. 'I just want to know that she's being held accountable. I want her to know Becky was not alone.'
The events leading up to the stabbing were caught on Ring camera footage from the patio of the Ramona home Olejniczak shared with Marodi, her wife of two years, according to the warrant for her arrest.
The warrant describes a grisly details of an altercation between the two captured by the camera in the hour before San Diego County Sheriff's deputies were called to the scene by Marodi's mother.
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Per local law enforcement and a friend of the Cal Fire captain, Marodi had told Olejniczak she planned to leave her and end their marriage one week prior to the stabbing.
It is not the first time Olejniczak has been accused of committing a domestic violence-related stabbing. Records show she previously pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the early 2000s after fatally stabbing her estranged husband, James Olejniczak, in San Bernardino County.
It is unknown at this time how Olejniczak plans to plead in this case. Should she enter a not guilty plea, the 53-year-old will not be eligible for release from custody on bail as she awaits trial, according to jail records.
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