The FBI has captured one of its most-wanted fugitives 12 years after he fled the U.S. to Guadalajara, Mexico, where he worked as a yoga instructor, The Washington Post reported
According to law enforcement authorities in Maryland, Jorge Rueda Landeros was arrested earlier this month and charged with murdering Sue Marcum, an accounting professor at American University in Washington, DC.
Maryland authorities say they believe Landeros met Marcum during a Spanish class he taught, and the two developed financial ties, including a life insurance policy. FBI agents said the life insurance policy is a possible motive for the murder, according to the Post.
Marcum was found dead in her Bethesda, Maryland, home on Oct. 26, 2010.
Jorge Rueda Landeros is wanted by the #FBI for his alleged involvement in the murder of a woman in Bethesda, Maryland, on October 25, 2010. The victim was found deceased in the basement of her home, which also looked like it had been burglarized: https://t.co/Xz8114Lnqc pic.twitter.com/Q0lWDhQYWr
— FBI Most Wanted (@FBIMostWanted) February 11, 2021
Landeros was put on the FBI’s “Most Wanted” list after being charged with first-degree murder and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Maryland law enforcement officials said they believe Landeros will be extradited to the United States to face the charges.
“We are happy they were able to snatch him after all the years,” said Marcus Jones, chief of the Montgomery County Police Department. “This is a fabulous outcome to get this guy in custody.”
The FBI has not yet commented on Landeros’ arrest.
According to the news outlet El Pais Mexico, Landeros was living in Guadalajara using the name León Ferrara and teaching yoga.
Landeros told El Pais that he was “innocent … not of everything, obviously, but of what I’m being accused of,” adding that he never followed his case in the news at all over the past decade.
“I didn’t follow anything. Once I disappeared from the radar, I completely forgot about [the investigation],” Landeros explained. “I still have difficulty responding to the name ‘Jorge’ – I hardly have any of him inside of me anymore.”
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