BETHESDA, MD - A man in his mid-fifties has been sentenced to prison for decades, 15 years after he murdered a popular college professor in Maryland, fled the country, and assumed a new identity.
The convicted suspect, 56-year-old Jorge Rueda Landeros, was sentenced to 25 years for murdering 52-year-old Sue Ann Marcum, according to a press release from the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office. A jury found Landeros guilty of second-degree murder in October 2025 after a nine-day trial, Law & Crime reported.
Marcum's brother Alan Marcum noted that Monday, March 2, was his sister's birthday. "Today, we're standing here with the person who murdered her, sentenced to 25 years thanks to the work of the Montgomery County police, the State's Attorneys, and I'm very grateful for the work that they did, and appreciative for the care and attention that the jury paid and that the judge gave us throughout this case," he said.
Landeros was Marcum's Spanish teacher and yoga instructor, and the two had reportedly been romantically involved. Marcum, a beloved professor at American University, also entered into an investment deal with Landeros. Marcum, however, soured on the deal.
"The vision of you sitting at the end of my kitchen table telling me you have no remorse for spending the money keeps appearing in my head now that I know that the amount was $50,000; it is physically playing havoc with my body," she wrote in an October 2008 e-mail to Landeros.
Investigators later learned that Marcum forked over some $300,000 without getting anything in return. Landeros pocketed about $250,000 of the money. He also made himself the sole beneficiary of Marcum's $500,000 life insurance policy.
Police found Marcum dead on October 15, 2010, inside her home in the 6200 block of Massachusetts Avenue in Bethesda. She had been strangled and beaten. It appeared someone had gained entry through a rear window, and some items of value were stolen.
However, over the course of the investigation, police determined that the burglary was staged and Marcum likely knew her killer. Detectives recovered DNA belonging to someone other than Marcum. They then reviewed Marcum's emails, which uncovered her relationship with Landeros.
They also learned he had crossed the U.S. border from his native Mexico just days before the murder. Landeros had been going back and forth from the U.S. and Mexico on a regular basis, and during one of the crossings, Border Patrol agents obtained a cheek swab for a DNA sample.
In April 2011, police confirmed the unknown DNA at the crime scene belonged to Landeros, and so they obtained an arrest warrant. However, by that time, Landeros had disappeared to Mexico, and police learned that he had assumed a new identity. It took 11 years before authorities could locate him, arrest him, and extradite him to Maryland to face charges.
Sue Ann Marcum was the director of the master's in accounting program at American University and taught both graduate and undergraduate classes, her obituary read. She was the professor of the year for three straight years.
Her longtime friend Larry March said Marcum had recently moved into a new home, and he believed she had cut all ties to Landeros. "She was kind of starting her life over again, and then she was snuffed away from the Earth," he said.
The convicted suspect, 56-year-old Jorge Rueda Landeros, was sentenced to 25 years for murdering 52-year-old Sue Ann Marcum, according to a press release from the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office. A jury found Landeros guilty of second-degree murder in October 2025 after a nine-day trial, Law & Crime reported.
Marcum's brother Alan Marcum noted that Monday, March 2, was his sister's birthday. "Today, we're standing here with the person who murdered her, sentenced to 25 years thanks to the work of the Montgomery County police, the State's Attorneys, and I'm very grateful for the work that they did, and appreciative for the care and attention that the jury paid and that the judge gave us throughout this case," he said.
Landeros was Marcum's Spanish teacher and yoga instructor, and the two had reportedly been romantically involved. Marcum, a beloved professor at American University, also entered into an investment deal with Landeros. Marcum, however, soured on the deal.
"The vision of you sitting at the end of my kitchen table telling me you have no remorse for spending the money keeps appearing in my head now that I know that the amount was $50,000; it is physically playing havoc with my body," she wrote in an October 2008 e-mail to Landeros.
Investigators later learned that Marcum forked over some $300,000 without getting anything in return. Landeros pocketed about $250,000 of the money. He also made himself the sole beneficiary of Marcum's $500,000 life insurance policy.
Police found Marcum dead on October 15, 2010, inside her home in the 6200 block of Massachusetts Avenue in Bethesda. She had been strangled and beaten. It appeared someone had gained entry through a rear window, and some items of value were stolen.
However, over the course of the investigation, police determined that the burglary was staged and Marcum likely knew her killer. Detectives recovered DNA belonging to someone other than Marcum. They then reviewed Marcum's emails, which uncovered her relationship with Landeros.
They also learned he had crossed the U.S. border from his native Mexico just days before the murder. Landeros had been going back and forth from the U.S. and Mexico on a regular basis, and during one of the crossings, Border Patrol agents obtained a cheek swab for a DNA sample.
In April 2011, police confirmed the unknown DNA at the crime scene belonged to Landeros, and so they obtained an arrest warrant. However, by that time, Landeros had disappeared to Mexico, and police learned that he had assumed a new identity. It took 11 years before authorities could locate him, arrest him, and extradite him to Maryland to face charges.
Sue Ann Marcum was the director of the master's in accounting program at American University and taught both graduate and undergraduate classes, her obituary read. She was the professor of the year for three straight years.
Her longtime friend Larry March said Marcum had recently moved into a new home, and he believed she had cut all ties to Landeros. "She was kind of starting her life over again, and then she was snuffed away from the Earth," he said.
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