Mexican authorities have arrested a man wanted by the FBI for the 2010 murder of a Maryland college professor.
Jorge Rueda was taken into custody last week in the western state of Jalisco, where he was working as a yoga instructor, according to local media reports.
Rueda had fled from the United States after allegedly killing Sue Marcum, who was found dead at her Bethesda home on October 25, 2010.
The 52-year-old suspect has been identified by the Montgomery County authorities as having a ‘personal and financial relationship’ with the American University’s Kogod School of Business professor, according to a statement released last Friday.
Jorge Rueda (pictured), who was wanted by the FBI for killing Maryland resident Sue Marcum in October 2010, was arrested in Guadalajara, Mexico, last week. He is being held at a Mexico City prison and awaiting extradition to the United States
Sue Marcum (pictured) had added her killer Jorge Rueda, whom she dated, as a beneficiary in her $500,000 insurance policy
Rueda, who holds dual Mexico and US citizenship, had been living in the Jalisco city of Guadalajara under the alias of León Ferrara.
El País newspaper reported that students and friends became increasingly worried of his whereabouts after he went three days without showing up to the yoga classes.
He was last seen walking his two pet dogs and they feared that he had been kidnapped before discovering that he was in jail for reportedly murdering Marcum.
Rueda, who is being held at a Mexico City prison, told the outlet that he was not involved in Marcum’s killing.
‘I’m innocent. I suppose not of everything, but obviously that’s what they are accusing me of,’ he said.
Rueda met Marcum in 2005 and over time formed a close bond with the university professor, friends told CNN in 2017.
Jorge Rueda hiding out in the western Mexico city of Guadalajara and identified himself as León Ferrara
Rueda told El País newspaper that he is ‘innocent’ of all charged. He is awaiting extradition to the United States
Rueda was working as a stockbroker and taught Spanish on the side while taking up yoga and meditation.
Larry March told the outlet that he met Rueda through Marcum and immediately expressed his concerns over Rueda’s behavior.
‘Sue talked about him like he was on a pedestal, he was like a god,’ said March, who warned Marcum that he didn’t ‘like this guy. There’s something about him I just don’t like.’
Rueda and Marcum dated but the relationship worsened around 2008 before Rueda moved back to the Mexican border city of Juárez.
March said he was driving to Marcum’s home the day of the murder when he walked into the home with a spare key she had provided him and discovered her lying on the basement floor.
Police said that Marcum had been struck in the head with a bottle and that she was most likely strangled.
Authorities were able to obtain Rueda’s DNA and were able to connect him to Marcum’s killing.
While investigating the case, police found that Rueda had been listed as the beneficiary in a $500,000 insurance policy that Marcum had taken. At least $350,000 of Marcum’s savings had also vanished.
Rueda told El País that he had not been following the investigation into his friend’s murder.
‘Once I disappeared from the radar, I completely forgot about it,’ he said. ‘I still have difficulty responding to that name of Jorge. I hardly have any of him inside of me anymore.’
He added that he was in Mexico when Marcum was murdered.
‘It was a long time ago, but the last time I saw her, I don’t know if it was weeks before what happened later,’ he said.
Rueda is awaiting extradition to the United States.
