She killed her husband. Then she killed her firefighter wife. Now she faces an even longer stretch behind bars.



A 54-year-old California woman last week pleaded guilty to murdering her Cal Fire captain wife in 2025, according to authorities.

Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 2, according to KTLA-TV.

'I don’t want to die.'

She faces 36 years to life in state prison.

As Blaze News previously reported, 49-year-old Cal Fire captain Rebecca "Becky" Marodi was found stabbed to death at her home in Ramona around 9 p.m. on Feb. 17, 2025.

The arrest warrant said deputies from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office found Rebecca Marodi with "several lacerations and apparent stab wounds on her body, including her neck area, her chest, and abdomen."

Days after the firefighter's death, an arrest warrant was issued for Yolanda Marodi.

The sheriff’s office said Yolanda "was seen on surveillance video earlier in the evening arguing with Rebecca and physically assaulting her," NBC News reported.

An affidavit said Rebecca Marodi could be seen with blood on her back and was heard on the video saying, "Yolanda! Please … I don’t want to die."

Yolanda Marodi, who was seen in the video holding a knife, replied, "You should have thought about that before," according to the affidavit.

Approximately 10 minutes later, Yolanda Marodi was "seen gathering pets, random items, and some luggage and loading it into a silver Chevrolet Equinox SUV," according to the affidavit.

Blaze News reported that Homeland Security later spotted the vehicle crossing the border into Mexico.

After 33 days on the run, Marodi was taken into custody after being located at a hotel roughly two miles south of the U.S. border in Mexicali — approximately 175 miles southeast of where her wife was found stabbed to death at her home.

RELATED: Woman dies after male bludgeons her in head with can of beans — but defense argues alcoholism played role in her death

Rebecca Marodi served Cal Fire for 30 years and helped battle the devastating Eaton Fire.

"Becky was a beloved member of our community and department, and we miss her greatly," Cal Fire and Riverside County Fire Department said in a statement after her death last year.

In an eerie similarity, Yolanda previously attempted to flee from law enforcement with her two young children after the October 2000 stabbing death of her then-estranged husband, according to law enforcement.

As Blaze News previously reported, Yolanda is an ex-convict who went to prison for the stabbing death of 26-year-old James Joseph Olejniczak in San Bernardino County.

In January 2004, Yolanda pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the stabbing death of her first spouse and was incarcerated from 2004 to 2013 after her conviction for voluntary manslaughter.

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69-year-old stabs man in butt after leg press run-in at gym, cops say. Suspect then reportedly yells, 'Who else wants some?'



A 69-year-old allegedly stabbed a man in the buttocks Friday after a leg press run-in at an LA Fitness in Austin, Texas.

What are the details?

The victim told detectives he was waiting to use the leg press when John Makinson told him to find something else to do, KVUE-TV reported. Makinson walked to the locker room area after finishing the leg press, and the victim began using the leg press, the station said.

KVUE — citing an affidavit it obtained — reported that after the victim finished his workout, he and Makinson walked past each other near the locker room area when Makinson started yelling and then stabbed the victim in the buttocks.

The victim told police Makinson then chased him through the gym while holding a four- to six-inch knife in the air, the station said.

More from KVUE:

The affidavit states people gathered around the victim to protect him from Makinson when he started yelling at them, "Who else wants some?" Police later found Makinson behind the gym where he allegedly told an officer, "I just got out of prison for this." Records show Makinson was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for another stabbing in Austin in 2011, before being paroled in 2021.

Following the investigation, Makinson was charged again with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Police said the victim was taken to Dell Seton Medical Center, where he immediately needed 500 milliliters of blood, the station said, adding that the affidavit indicates the victim's stab wound was three to four inches deep and required four staples to close.

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Crook on parole brutally beats woman on NYC subway train after she tried to prevent sleeping rider from being robbed, police say



A man who served three stints in the New York state prison system over the last 15 years — and has been on parole since January — was charged in connection with a brutal attack on a woman on a Brooklyn subway train, police told the New York Daily News.

What are the details?

Police told the paper that the 53-year-old victim was trying to prevent a fellow subway rider from being robbed Sunday morning.

The victim was riding the Coney Island-bound D train to a photo shoot when she spotted the suspect sitting next to a sleeping man with a full backpack, the Daily News said.

The suspect initially backed off when the victim nudged the snoozing man awake — but then the suspect charged back and knocked her to the floor of the train, the paper said.

'He whaled on me like a caged animal'

The victim told the Daily News she suffered facial cuts, two black eyes, and a fractured finger before the suspect fled at the Union Street stop. She added to the paper that her attacker left her face "absolutely unrecognizable."

"He kicked me from behind," she recounted to the Daily News. "He whaled on me like a caged animal. I rolled under the seat to get away from him. I guess if he had a boot on, I'd have no bones left in my face. The pain was excruciating. I was violently attacked. There was no reason for it."

Who is the suspect?

Laking Bristow, 35, was charged with felony and misdemeanor assault after a subway clerk recognized him from photos released by police, the paper said.

Bristow's arraignment was pending Friday in Brooklyn Criminal Court, the Daily News said.

His times spent in prison were for robbery, grand larceny, and most recently gun possession, the paper said, adding that he was conditionally released on parole in January.

According to a June 2012 police blotter report from amNew York, transit cops arrested Laking Bristow, 27, on a train at the Eighth Avenue subway station at 14th Street around 3:40 a.m. June 27 for taking money from a passenger's pocket. The outlet said Bristow also was charged with weapons possession after two razor blades were found tucked in his socks.