A woman suspected of fatally stabbing her fire captain wife at their home in Southern California has been captured in Mexico after more than a month on the run, Mexican officials said Saturday.
Yolanda Marodi was taken into custody after being found at a hotel roughly 2.3 miles south of the U.S. border in the city of Mexicali, the Baja California Citizen Security Secretariat (SSCBC) said in a statement.
The SSCBC said Marodi was transferred to the border with the help of Mexico’s National Institute of Migration. She was turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service after being returned to the United States at a U.S. port of entry, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement about her capture.
She was wanted by U.S. authorities in the Feb. 17 killing of 49-year-old Rebecca “Becky” Marodi, a respected California fire captain, at the couple’s home in San Diego County.
The secretariat said cooperation and an exchange of information with U.S. authorities helped lead to the arrest.
An affidavit in support of an arrest warrant for Yolanda Marodi cites home security video depicting a horrific scene outside the couple’s home in Ramona as she confronted a bloodied Rebecca Marodi with a knife on Feb. 17.
As the pair ran across a patio that night, Rebecca Marodi was heard on the recording saying, “Yolanda! Please … ! don’t want to die,” according to the declaration.
At one point, Yolanda Marodi responded, “You should have thought about that before,” according to the affidavit.
Rebecca Marodi’s mother, who lived with the couple, called authorities to say her daughter had been stabbed, according to the document.
Shortly after, the home’s security camera captured Yolanda Marodi, wearing different clothes, placing belongings, luggage and pets in her silver Chevrolet Equinox SUV and driving away, according to the document.
The same night, the SUV crossed into Mexico, about 45 miles south of Ramona, the affidavit stated, citing Department of Homeland Security records.
Yolanda Marodi was charged with murder on Feb. 21.
The search for her included the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and the U.S. Marshal’s Service San Diego Fugitive Task Force, authorities said. Carlos Zúñiga, spokesperson for Baja California’s state security agency, said authorities there had been searching for her in coordination with U.S. counterparts, NBC San Diego reported last month.
