Neal Augenstein, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – It’s been exactly one year since Montgomery County police asked Jorge Rueda Landeros to turn himself in for the Oct. 2010 murder of American University professor Sue Ann Marcum.
He declined.
Landeros remains in Mexico, at least temporarily delaying his trial for the killing of his former yoga student, and police suspect former love interest.
Montgomery County police say at the time of Marcum’s murder, Landeros was listed as the sole beneficiary of her $500,000 life insurance policy.
Charging documents say Landeros’s DNA was found on the weapon used to bludgeon Marcum.
“I’m disappointed the process takes so long,” Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy tells WTOP.
“All the documents on the request for his return are in the hands of the Mexican government,” McCarthy says.
Without commenting on whether or not the Mexican government has been helpful in returning Landeros to stand trial, McCarthy says, “Long delays in the orderly processing of criminal matters never helps.”
In June of 2011, Landeros told a Washington Post reporter in an email that he was innocent of all charges and would not be surrendering.
A year ago, Maryland federal prosecutors charged Landeros with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation assisted in the attempts to have Landeros returned for trial.
Both agencies say Landeros will be tried for murder in state court when he returns to the United States.
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