A crime in the US, a double life in Mexico and a verdict: Justice finally arrives 15 years after Sue Ann Marcum’s murder

Fifteen years after the death of American University professor Sue Ann Marcum, a Maryland jury has found her former partner and business associate, Jorge Rueda Landeros, guilty of second-degree murder. The defendant lived for more than a decade in Guadalajara, Mexico, under the alias “León Ferrara.”

On the morning of October 25, 2010, police found 52-year-old Sue Ann Marcum dead at the bottom of her basement stairs in Bethesda, Maryland. The scene initially suggested a burglary gone wrong, but her jewelry and valuables remained untouched. The only missing item was her Jeep Cherokee, later found crashed nearby.

Investigators soon uncovered financial links between Marcum and Jorge Rueda Landeros, a yoga instructor and her former romantic partner. The two had opened a joint investment account and taken out a $500,000 life insurance policy naming Landeros as the sole beneficiary. His DNA was later found on a tequila bottle used as the murder weapon and on the victim’s body.

By June 2011, an arrest warrant was issued. Landeros fled to Mexico, reinventing himself as “León Ferrara,” a quiet yoga teacher known for his poetry and minimalist lifestyle. He remained at large for over a decade, making the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list.

In 2022, he was captured in a joint U.S.–Mexico operation and extradited. After an eight-day trial, a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder, rejecting premeditation. Landeros now faces up to 30 years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for February 6, 2026.

“It’s been a long 15 years,” said Alan Marcum, Sue’s brother. “Justice doesn’t bring her back — but it finally arrived.”