A woman who fatally stabbed her wife, a veteran state firefighter, at their Ramona home pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree murder.

Yolanda Marodi, 54, admitted Tuesday to killing her spouse of two years, Cal Fire Capt. Rebecca "Becky" Marodi, at the couple's Rancho Villa Road home on the night of Feb. 17, 2025.

Marodi is slated to be sentenced next month to 36 years to life in state prison for the slaying. Her guilty plea includes admissions to having a serious prior felony conviction, which pertains to a voluntary manslaughter conviction for fatally stabbing her husband in San Bernardino County more than 20 years ago.

According to an arrest-warrant declaration filed by a detective with the San Diego County District Attorney's Office, Rebecca Marodi sought to leave the marriage shortly before she was killed.

The day after the slaying, Yolanda Marodi sent someone a text message stating, "Becky came home and told me she was leaving me, she met someone else, all the messages were lies. We had a big fight and I hurt her ... I'm sorry," the declaration states.

Testimony from a preliminary hearing held earlier this year indicated the victim sustained 23 stab wounds to her neck, chest and abdomen.

Rebecca Marodi, who had worked for the state firefighting agency for more than 30 years, died at the scene.

The victim's mother, Lorena Marodi, who lived at the home with her daughter and daughter-in-law, testified that on the day of the killing, Yolanda Marodi spoke to her about her marriage, something Lorena said had "never" happened before.

During that conversation, Yolanda said, "She and Becky had some things to work out, but there wouldn't be any fighting" when Rebecca returned home.

Lorena went out with friends that evening. At the end of the night, as she was dropping her friends off, she drove past her home and noticed Yolanda's car was gone, she testified.

When she returned home, she found a trail of blood leading inside the house, found her daughter's motionless body, and called 911.

(Photo: KGTV)

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