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20/20 - Season 49 - Episode 03: The Hunt for Mr. Right
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00:00:13This story is like a labyrinth.
00:00:16Once you get in, you cannot get out.
00:00:19You can stop thinking about it.
00:00:21You can stop looking for the truth,
00:00:23looking for answers.
00:00:26This was like a senseless murder.
00:00:32The American University professor's body
00:00:34was found inside her Bethesda home.
00:00:37That's actually the house right there.
00:00:39Were there security cameras or surveillance cameras
00:00:41from other houses that could have helped?
00:00:43There was nothing.
00:00:44Walked in there, I saw TVs laying on the sofas and stuff.
00:00:50I noticed the table was turned over.
00:00:53Some glass was broken.
00:00:54This is the view down the stairs.
00:00:56You can see Sue's shoes there,
00:00:58and then around the corner is where we found Sue on the floor.
00:01:05She had been involved in a really bloody, violent struggle.
00:01:10Sue Markham was fighting back.
00:01:12Absolutely.
00:01:14It's on the news every ten minutes,
00:01:16and you see her smiling face.
00:01:18The night that she was killed,
00:01:20she appeared like she was socializing with someone.
00:01:23You're not going to do that with a stranger.
00:01:25Oh my God, what was she going through?
00:01:27Why couldn't she tell us about this?
00:01:30I start looking more and more into this sort of mysterious guy.
00:01:37Normally, when I publish a story, I get it out of my system,
00:01:40but this one was different.
00:01:42And one day, I got one call.
00:01:44That changed everything.
00:01:46It was like a Hannibal Lecter moment.
00:01:59On a quiet stretch of American University's campus in Washington, D.C.,
00:02:04where ambitions and ideas fill the air,
00:02:08this global mystery would entangle one beloved accounting professor
00:02:13who inspired generations.
00:02:17I was Sue Markham's graduate assistant.
00:02:19Sue was vibrant.
00:02:20You know, everyone thinks of us accountants as boring
00:02:23and living in our spreadsheets, but she really drew you in.
00:02:28She made it fun.
00:02:28She made it fun.
00:02:29Everyone here loved her.
00:02:31She cared so much about her university community
00:02:34that she actually started a scholarship for students at AU
00:02:37to help them with their advanced degrees.
00:02:40She was very bubbly, wore very outrageous outfits,
00:02:44wasn't afraid to do that.
00:02:46Seemed like she had, I don't know how many different types of glasses
00:02:50and would wear them.
00:02:52She was very impressive.
00:02:54What was she like?
00:02:55Oh, my.
00:02:56The warmest, kindest, most wonderful giving person I've ever met in my life.
00:03:00There's just no question about that.
00:03:02I think she was always looking in life for love,
00:03:04and she wanted to give love and receive love.
00:03:07And I think that created a personality that was very giving.
00:03:11That's why she was such a good teacher.
00:03:14And she received awards and accolades.
00:03:16Yeah.
00:03:17As far as I know, it was the American University's
00:03:20Kogod Business School Teacher of the Year.
00:03:23What was it like growing up with your little sister?
00:03:26We had fun together, and it was a very close-knit family.
00:03:29She was a free spirit, a very strong woman, smart, very giving.
00:03:35Your kids had a great fondness for Sue.
00:03:39They're very fond of her.
00:03:41She doesn't have kids of her own, and these became the special people in her life.
00:03:47Before the classroom became her world, Sue chased a very different dream
00:03:52with the greatest show on earth.
00:03:57She joined the circus.
00:03:58Honest to goodness, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus
00:04:02as their tax manager.
00:04:04She told me the story that she walked into the lobby at Ringling,
00:04:08and there was a great big stuffed, I think it was gorilla,
00:04:12and thought to herself, oh, I want to work here.
00:04:14This is the right place for me.
00:04:16And I think they hired her pretty much on the spot.
00:04:19The circus just brought accounting to be a colorful endeavor.
00:04:23Never.
00:04:25In 1998, Sue had moved on from her career with the circus, and now she's settled into her new
00:04:32role teaching at American University.
00:04:35Sue lived in a real nice neighborhood in Bethesda, Maryland.
00:04:39Pretty modest house, certainly by Bethesda standards, on a busy road.
00:04:45Sue was a lot of fun, always looking for Mr. Right.
00:04:48She had relationships on and off, but nothing major or very serious.
00:04:54By the age of 52, Sue had built a tight circle of friends, and none closer than Larry March,
00:05:02who she spoke to every single day.
00:05:06Sue was my best friend since I went to college.
00:05:10From what Larry's told me, Sue was his alarm clock.
00:05:14She'd call him every morning, make sure he was awake,
00:05:16and then called him twice more to make sure that, in fact, he was awake and he was getting out.
00:05:21But something different happens on October 25th of 2010.
00:05:25Larry doesn't get a call from Sue.
00:05:29I said, well, it's probably, I didn't get the phone call because she was going to go jogging that morning.
00:05:34And maybe she was late.
00:05:36So he went in to school, he taught also.
00:05:40And in between classes tried to reach Sue and couldn't.
00:05:44Sue does not let me down. Simple as that.
00:05:47So I'm just going to go find out.
00:05:49I think on the way there, I called Lisa.
00:05:52Larry calls me and he said, I've been trying and I can't reach her.
00:05:56I could tell in his voice that something was terribly wrong.
00:06:00I drove there and when I got there, I parked my car and I had a key to her house.
00:06:05So I opened the door, walked in there.
00:06:08I saw TVs laying on the sofas.
00:06:11I noticed the table was turned over and glass was broken or whatever.
00:06:17He's now worried and then he calls police.
00:06:20This is from the actual crime scene video.
00:06:22And when investigators make their way down to the basement, what or who will they discover?
00:06:30This is the view down the stairs.
00:06:33The story takes an ugly turn.
00:06:45October 25th, 2010.
00:06:47Pretty normal day starts for you, right?
00:06:49It sure was.
00:06:51But that normal day ends for Larry Haley of the Montgomery County Police Department.
00:06:58As he responds to a crime scene at Sue Markham's home.
00:07:02We received a call from Sue's friend, Larry March, who had gone over to check on her after he didn't
00:07:09hear from Sue.
00:07:12I couldn't figure out what was going on, but I said, there's got to be something wrong.
00:07:16But then I thought she would have called me even if something happened.
00:07:19So I was going to go find out.
00:07:22I got to her house and I parked my car.
00:07:28The house is an older, like more established neighborhood.
00:07:31Fairly quiet.
00:07:33This is definitely not the kind of place where you expect to find a dead body.
00:07:39But that is exactly what Larry March discovers.
00:07:47It was definitely surreal.
00:07:50It's like, this isn't happening.
00:07:52But then to see, is there any hope, right?
00:07:56There was no hope.
00:07:57I mean, it was clear.
00:07:58So I immediately called 911.
00:08:02What were you told?
00:08:04I was told that she was deceased inside the residence.
00:08:07And the officers on scene believed it might be a homicide based on her injuries that they had observed.
00:08:13Murders are kind of unusual in Bethesda.
00:08:15So that's part of the reason they get a lot of attention.
00:08:20Rare that there's going to be a homicide in Bethesda, Maryland.
00:08:24There were a lot of police cars.
00:08:26It wasn't just patrol guys.
00:08:28It was obviously a big deal.
00:08:31And her body was in the basement.
00:08:33In the basement at the bottom of the steps.
00:08:39This is the view down the stairs.
00:08:45You can see Sue's shoes there.
00:08:47And then around the corner is where we found Sue on the floor.
00:08:55It appeared that she had been pushed or had fallen down the stairs.
00:08:59And then they found a bottle.
00:09:01It was broken.
00:09:02It was underneath her.
00:09:05It was a brutal, brutal murder.
00:09:08Whoever did this probably chased her down the stairs.
00:09:11Smashed her over the head with a tequila bottle.
00:09:14There was blood around her.
00:09:16And then, you know, she was suffocated.
00:09:19There was DNA under one of her fingernails.
00:09:22And it wasn't her DNA.
00:09:23So that was a big clue.
00:09:24That's a suspect's DNA.
00:09:27Sue Markham was fighting back.
00:09:30Yes.
00:09:30Absolutely.
00:09:31The question now, fighting back against whom?
00:09:36The American University professor's body was found inside her Bethesda home.
00:09:40And as the news spreads fast, everyone who knows Sue is stunned.
00:09:48I got a call from my mom.
00:09:51I hung up the phone, laid my head down on my desk and cried.
00:09:55This mysterious murder has truly torn through the fabric of this American University community.
00:10:00Unbelievable.
00:10:00It's really sad.
00:10:01And I just don't really understand how this could happen to, like, a really good person.
00:10:06It was hard.
00:10:07It's on the news every ten minutes.
00:10:09And you see her smiling face.
00:10:14I mean, you know, I don't even know how to react.
00:10:16I can remember sitting at my desk and just being like, but I just emailed her.
00:10:21I know I did a lot of crying because it didn't make any sense to me.
00:10:25This was like a senseless, a senseless murder.
00:10:34So this is the back of the house.
00:10:36This is the back of Sue Markham's house.
00:10:40Obviously, we're interested in the outside of the house for the forced entry.
00:10:44This is from the actual crime scene video that our forensics person took.
00:10:49There was a screen that was cut and resting up against the wall below the window.
00:10:56And then the window was slightly open.
00:10:58Appearing like someone had broken it.
00:11:00That was what the appearance was.
00:11:03The first thing I noticed when I walked in was that there was a TV face down on the couch,
00:11:09obviously out of place.
00:11:10The TV is right by the door.
00:11:12Yes, there's a second TV on the floor behind that couch.
00:11:16We don't ultimately know why they weren't taken.
00:11:21So it looked ransacked.
00:11:23Her bedroom and another room had been rummaged through the clothing onto the floor.
00:11:27Typical things we would see in a burglar.
00:11:30There's a countertop right below the window.
00:11:32There's broken glass.
00:11:33And then there's broken glass on the floor.
00:11:37So we had the broken glass upstairs.
00:11:39And perhaps Sue had fled downstairs to get away from whatever was happening.
00:11:45What are you thinking at this point?
00:11:48So, obviously we think we're looking at a burglary.
00:11:51Montgomery County police call her attack a burglary gone wrong.
00:11:55Did you think that too?
00:11:57I had no reason to think anything else because I had no reason to believe that there was any reason
00:12:03that someone would have intentionally killed her.
00:12:10Police are making a record of property in Sue Markham's home.
00:12:14They noticed that many things are missing.
00:12:17Her wallet, her cell phone, her laptop.
00:12:24It certainly gave the appearance that it was a burglary.
00:12:27Maybe they had gone wrong and then the person made good their escape in her vehicle.
00:12:34Sue drove a gold Jeep Cherokee.
00:12:36You know, pretty modest car.
00:12:38The Jeep was missing.
00:12:39The Jeep was missing.
00:12:40It's a very easy to spot car.
00:12:42It's a gold Jeep Cherokee, the old box style.
00:12:45So now finding that stolen car becomes your top priority.
00:12:49Becomes our top priority.
00:12:50The police are hoping that finding that Jeep will solve the mystery and solve it quickly.
00:12:59But when they run down her Jeep, little do they know, it will only lead to more questions.
00:13:17People in the area around where Sue Markham lived would not be surprised to hear about someone breaking in.
00:13:24There had been like, what, 60 to 80 burglaries in the few months prior to this.
00:13:29It's not uncommon to have, especially in this area of Bethesda, a lot of break-ins.
00:13:37So that's where the investigation into what happened to Sue is starting.
00:13:41A robbery that somehow went wrong and turned into a murder.
00:13:46That's what the police told us and that's what they were investigating.
00:13:51But the cops have little to go on.
00:13:55And were there security cameras or surveillance cameras from other houses that could have helped?
00:13:59There was nothing.
00:14:02Their biggest potential lead was Sue Markham's car, that gold Jeep similar to this one that was missing.
00:14:12So the evening rush hour is approaching.
00:14:14There are tens of thousands of cars buzzing around D.C.
00:14:20The police are looking for just one.
00:14:23It's very important that they found this Jeep.
00:14:25And so, you know, not just Montgomery County, but police in the whole area were looking for this Jeep.
00:14:31Sue's license plate number is put into a system that alerts police everywhere to be on the lookout.
00:14:38In addition to that, along the roads, there are special cameras and they can read license plates as those cars
00:14:46whizz by.
00:14:49This is a tag reader on the side of the road that captures it?
00:14:52Correct.
00:14:53On the side of the road.
00:14:53And it's catching every vehicle going through?
00:14:55Every vehicle.
00:14:55Correct.
00:14:57And sure enough, later that night, there's a hit on one of those cameras just over the border in Washington,
00:15:04D.C.
00:15:05Someone in the Jeep with Sue's license plate just drove by.
00:15:11As luck would have it, around this time, a D.C. Metro Police auto theft officer is on duty and
00:15:19he just happens to come upon the Jeep.
00:15:21And he notices the driver is a young man and the driver is alone.
00:15:27I seen a police cruiser got right behind me. He flicked his lights, hit a siren.
00:15:33His name is D'Andrew Hamlin, 18 years old at the time.
00:15:37And he says he's already nervous when he notices a second police car arrived.
00:15:43And another police, his backup had pulled up. And when I seen that, I took off.
00:15:51It was on from there.
00:15:52It's on all right. And a full on chase breaks out right through the streets of D.C.
00:16:00I was passing lights, hitting corners crazy, trying to lose the police pretty much.
00:16:06How far did you wind up chasing the car thief?
00:16:09It was roughly two miles. Pretty high speeds across the district.
00:16:13I didn't pull the vehicle over because I didn't want to get locked up. I didn't want to get apprehended.
00:16:18But he didn't want what happens next either, as he speeds right into this major intersection.
00:16:27What happened when the car arrives here?
00:16:29When he tried to make the turn, he struck the curb, took out a light pole, and actually came to
00:16:34rest in the intersection.
00:16:37I hopped out and was trying to run.
00:16:40So now it's chase number two, this time on foot. The police running after Hamlin.
00:16:47Running. Running.
00:16:49So you give chase.
00:16:50The D.C. officers gave chase. They caught him a very short distance away.
00:16:55I stopped, threw my hands up, because I knew the other officers was behind me.
00:17:01When police catch up with the suspect, they thought that he was a burglar.
00:17:05And they thought that he might have been the killer.
00:17:08D'Andrew Hamlin is now a suspect in this murder case.
00:17:12Of course.
00:17:12I would say he's the number one suspect at that point.
00:17:15Now, keep in mind, police already arrested a D.C. teen connected to this case.
00:17:20We heard from the detectives in Montgomery County, Maryland, that they had apprehended him.
00:17:25And they thought they had the guy who robbed her house, stolen her Jeep and killed her.
00:17:31So they charged him with being inside a stolen vehicle.
00:17:34That was enough for them to arrest him.
00:17:36That was enough for them to question him.
00:17:38Although Hamlin has not been charged in the murder, police still have questions.
00:17:42We are still of interest into finding out specific details as to how he came into contact with that vehicle
00:17:50and where he got it from.
00:17:53When we confronted him about Ms. Markham's murder and the fact that the vehicle had been taken in that murder,
00:17:59he denied any knowledge of that.
00:18:00I believe the detective was asking that I know a woman named Sue Malcolm.
00:18:08And I was saying, I don't, who, who is she? I don't know her.
00:18:13But the police, they don't believe Hamlin's denials.
00:18:16When you're in the vehicle of someone the day that they're murdered, that's, could be very incriminating.
00:18:23Not only that, Hamlin has a record, though nothing even close to a homicide.
00:18:29I have been arrested before.
00:18:31My prior arrests were from simple assaults.
00:18:35And I believe I had one UUV, which is unlawful use of a motor vehicle.
00:18:43Hamlin is about to tell the cops his version of how in the world he could possibly be driving that
00:18:50cheap and have nothing to do with Sue Markham's murder.
00:18:54Whatever led him to this moment, he's facing some trouble.
00:18:58But when he started asking my fingerprints, took a picture and stuff like that, I knew something was up.
00:19:03You get in a chase with the police.
00:19:06You rack, then you get up and you continue the chase by running.
00:19:09Looked really guilty.
00:19:11Looked really guilty.
00:19:11I did not expect driving around someone else's vehicle that I didn't have permission to drive would turn into a
00:19:18world misery.
00:19:21It's not looking good for D'Andrew Hamlin.
00:19:25But as investigators look more closely at the crime scene and begin to probe into Sue Markham's private life, they
00:19:33start to wonder, could this murder have been something much more personal?
00:19:39She was sitting there appearing like she was socializing with someone.
00:19:43You're not going to do that with a stranger.
00:19:45She wouldn't have shouted tequila with a burglar.
00:19:48I would think not.
00:20:05Less than 24 hours after Montgomery County police discover Sue Markham murdered in her own home, detectives thought they had
00:20:15nabbed her killer.
00:20:18D'Andrew Hamlin was arrested after he crashed Markham's stolen Jeep.
00:20:23That's the only evidence they had me in the truck.
00:20:25They was assuming that I got it from her house.
00:20:28But that wasn't the case.
00:20:36The car was found right here, huh?
00:20:39Right here.
00:20:40According to Mr. Hamlin.
00:20:41What was D'Andrew Hamlin's story?
00:20:44So, he says he was at home at his house and his brother was walking on the street here.
00:20:51I had received a phone call that evening from my brother.
00:20:55He had to find the vehicle.
00:20:56It was located right here in this area.
00:20:58I hopped in, started it, nodded at my brother, took off.
00:21:01I was pretty much just wanting a joy ride.
00:21:03And I was going to make the car mine.
00:21:05How did the brother know the car was here?
00:21:07He just had walked by?
00:21:08He was just walking by and the windows were down.
00:21:09Keys were in the ignition.
00:21:10It was almost like somebody wanted someone to steal the car.
00:21:17D'Andrew Hamlin did not match any of the DNA on the scene.
00:21:22We executed search warrants and we did not find a single item related to Sue Markham's case.
00:21:28Even though Hamlin pleads guilty to unauthorized use of a vehicle,
00:21:33police eliminate him as a suspect in Sue Markham's murder.
00:21:40Police are back to square one.
00:21:42They have all this unknown male DNA all over the crime scene,
00:21:46but they don't know who it belongs to.
00:21:50Right here is where the screen was that was left on the ground.
00:21:55And then the window up into the side of the house.
00:21:58The screen was cut.
00:22:00It was bent, but from the inside to the out and not the outside to the end,
00:22:04which was pretty unusual.
00:22:05What do you see inside?
00:22:06So inside there's a countertop right below the window.
00:22:11There's a tower with some fruit and some dishes and some other things that are there that were completely undisturbed.
00:22:17It would have been extremely difficult to come through that window without completely knocking all those things all over the
00:22:23place.
00:22:23Did the scene look staged at this point?
00:22:26There were some items there that were troubling.
00:22:30There was a glass vase that had flowers and some water in it.
00:22:34That vase was found resting on its side on the stairs.
00:22:37They had concerns that it might have been placed there because if that had fallen off of a table, it
00:22:43would have been shattered into a million pieces.
00:22:44And tequila glasses on the kitchen counter?
00:22:48Yes. So there were two tequila glasses side by side.
00:22:52The glasses themselves were wrapped in a brown decorative leather wrap.
00:22:57They had some residual liquid in them.
00:23:00The night that she was killed, she was sitting there appearing like she was socializing with someone.
00:23:06You're not going to do that with a stranger.
00:23:07She wouldn't have a shot of tequila with a burglar.
00:23:10I would think not.
00:23:14The detectives tried to recreate Sue's life.
00:23:17Who knew this person? Who was close to this person?
00:23:19On the day of the murder, I came across a life insurance policy in her office to a beneficiary that
00:23:25was not a family member.
00:23:26And what was that name?
00:23:28It was Jorge Ruida Landeros.
00:23:32Who is Jorge Landeros?
00:23:34He was somebody that Sue Markham had befriended several years prior to her death.
00:23:50DuPont Circle in Washington is a very vibrant place that people go, hang out.
00:23:55You know, it's a place where you might go to meet new kinds of people.
00:24:02And, you know, so Sue goes there in 2005 and she starts taking Spanish lessons.
00:24:07The guy teaching the Spanish lessons is Jorge Landeros.
00:24:11They found out that they had a shared interest, a shared passion for books, for philosophy, for yoga.
00:24:18And they started to become friends.
00:24:23Jorge Ruida Landeros was born in Juarez in 1969.
00:24:27He spent his early years in Mexico and then he moved with his family to the United States.
00:24:35He became a dual citizen.
00:24:37He was a die-hard yoga teacher.
00:24:45In 2005, Landeros moves to the Washington, D.C. area.
00:24:50And it's there that he starts teaching yoga and Spanish classes.
00:24:54And that's how he soon meets Sue Markham.
00:25:00They became close.
00:25:01They traveled together.
00:25:03They would be meditating, like, before sunrise.
00:25:06And yoga became a big part of their life.
00:25:09Sue always had the morning classes.
00:25:12She actually brought Jorge in.
00:25:13The two of them did yoga together.
00:25:15In class.
00:25:16Yeah, to start a class to wake them up.
00:25:18He actually came to one of her classes and led the meditation.
00:25:22I can remember them both sitting on the desks, kind of in criss-cross applesauce.
00:25:27She was becoming more interested in him as a person.
00:25:30And she developed a crush on him.
00:25:35He was suave.
00:25:36He was sophisticated.
00:25:37He was romantic.
00:25:39There's a little romance here.
00:25:40She fell for him.
00:25:41She did fall for him.
00:25:43She thought she had met the man of her dreams with Landeros.
00:25:47There's only one problem.
00:25:48The feeling may not have been mutual.
00:25:51She did tell me that it had become physical.
00:25:54But then she told me that it stopped.
00:25:58It was because he did not want to do that anymore.
00:26:02She had told me at one point that she loved him and she knew he was never going to be
00:26:06able to return that love.
00:26:08She knew it was one-sided.
00:26:12Sue's friends were not fond of Mr. Landeros.
00:26:15He was kind of a mystery to them.
00:26:17I just said, this guy is, there's something here that's just not right.
00:26:22I met him.
00:26:23And I told Sue, I don't think this is the right person for you.
00:26:27She said, no, Don, you don't understand him.
00:26:29He's wonderful.
00:26:30He's smart.
00:26:31He's a genius.
00:26:33Jorge, no doubt about it, is a smart guy.
00:26:36And one of his fields, he was a stockbroker.
00:26:38And, you know, obviously Sue, as an accountant, that was a shared passion of that.
00:26:42And it wasn't just a subject they had in common.
00:26:44They started investing money together.
00:26:50Eventually, Jorge tells Sue that he wants to go back to Juarez, his hometown.
00:26:58And I think there was a sense of relief from Sue's friends.
00:27:02They were surprised that we were even asking about him because it was their understanding that he really wasn't in
00:27:11her life very much.
00:27:14When one of them says to me, who is Jorge Landeros, my first reaction was, well, he's in Mexico.
00:27:24He doesn't live here anymore.
00:27:29But as detectives follow this money trail, they discover some shocking emails.
00:27:35And they detail financial arrangements that Sue hadn't even mentioned to her closest friends.
00:27:43What will police discover as they untangle the secrets between Sue Markham and Jorge Landeros?
00:28:03Detectives start looking more and more into this mysterious guy, Jorge Landeros.
00:28:08And they discover something interesting, an entangled personal and financial relationship between Landeros and Sue Markham.
00:28:18We had been going through Sue's office just looking for clues and came across a life insurance policy in the
00:28:27amount of $500,000 where Mr. Landeros was the sole beneficiary.
00:28:34This life insurance policy was reciprocal, but it was definitely still eyebrow raising because most concerning to Sue's friends is
00:28:44that she never mentioned it to anyone.
00:28:46In terms of the life insurance policy, completely blew my mind.
00:28:51For her to leave anything to him doesn't make any sense to me.
00:28:54I'm like, what the hell, Sue?
00:28:58But the life insurance policy wasn't the only financial tie.
00:29:04Investigators then discover some communications between Sue and Jorge that raised some red flags.
00:29:11We became aware of a series of emails between Sue Markham and Jorge Landeros, where they're clearly talking about an
00:29:19investment plan,
00:29:20and that whatever had occurred with that plan, it was causing her just a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety.
00:29:27He was going to basically act as a day trader. He was going to make investments for her.
00:29:32And the idea is that they were both going to financially benefit, and she had given him over $300,000.
00:29:40They had a joint brokerage account, and Jorge was doing his thing and trading his stocks.
00:29:46Most of the money in there was Sue's money.
00:29:49She was nervous, not just about whether he was picking the right investments, but he was spending money out of
00:29:55this account.
00:29:56The money was leaving this account, and that obviously was a great concern for her.
00:30:02She gave him complete control. She'd be sending him emails asking what was going on,
00:30:08and if he didn't want to, he just ignored the email.
00:30:13Mr. Landeros had gone back to Mexico, and so he was ghosting her.
00:30:18He was not responding to emails, not in a timely manner, and that only further fed her anxiety.
00:30:26One of those heartbreaking emails, Sue writes, the vision of you sitting at the end of my kitchen table,
00:30:32telling me that you have no remorse for spending the money keeps appearing in my head.
00:30:39Like PTSD.
00:30:40She was increasingly desperate for money.
00:30:43She had remortgaged her houses. She had borrowed money from her father.
00:30:47She had took money out of her retirement fund. She couldn't pay her bills.
00:30:56Things were falling apart financially. With how she was murdered, there was nothing left in the accounts.
00:31:02Mortgage after mortgage, hundreds of thousands of dollars gone. Money she thought was being invested.
00:31:09He just withdrew, withdrew, withdrew, withdrew, withdrew until it was down to nothing.
00:31:14What did this do to Sue Markham?
00:31:16I just have to think that because she didn't discuss this with any of her closest friends, that it was
00:31:21just killing her,
00:31:22and I just think the embarrassment was just, like, eating her up.
00:31:30So you're beginning to put this picture together of what's going on.
00:31:33You're looking at the life insurance. His name is all over the financials.
00:31:37And he had taken a lot of money from her.
00:31:39So when police uncovered this Landeros taking Markham's money, that gave them a motive.
00:31:45So he became the prime suspect at that point.
00:31:49Detectives had unknown male DNA found under her fingernails, on the tequila bottle,
00:31:55and on the shot glasses.
00:31:59The detectives in Maryland wanted some probable cause to have the Mexican authorities get this guy
00:32:05and get him extradited back to the U.S.
00:32:07But it wasn't just as simple as, you know, we think maybe he did it.
00:32:11They needed, you know, something specific. They needed his DNA.
00:32:19Investigators learned that Jorge Landeros has been routinely crossing right here,
00:32:23the international bridge between Juarez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas.
00:32:29It's the perfect opportunity for detectives to make a play to get his DNA.
00:32:36In January of 2011, you get a call from Montgomery County, Maryland.
00:32:41Yes, sir. They were working a murder case. They had a person of interest.
00:32:44So they asked if we can see if we can obtain his DNA.
00:32:48We flagged his name on their computer system so the next time that he would cross, they would hold him
00:32:54for us.
00:32:57And after you do that, how long is it before he comes across?
00:33:00It was about two months. And my partner and I came to the bridge to meet with him.
00:33:06We told that he was a person of interest in the murder back in Montgomery County.
00:33:11He was very nonchalant, very calm, very easygoing, cooperative.
00:33:16He didn't have a care in the world. We asked for his DNA and he agrees.
00:33:20And after he takes the swab, he's free to go?
00:33:23He's free to go. And he decided to walk home.
00:33:31Before he returns to Mexico, investigators are able to obtain a voluntary DNA sample from Landeros.
00:33:38But it would take months for the results to come back.
00:33:42The question is, would they be able to connect him to Markham's murder?
00:33:48The whole story is a mystery.
00:33:50Jorge Landeros is gone.
00:33:51Gone.
00:33:52He was a chameleon.
00:33:54It is an act of just like pure evil.
00:33:57Are you thinking we might never see him again?
00:34:14Months after Landeros' encounter with authorities on this bridge between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso,
00:34:20the DNA results are in.
00:34:23The DNA profile from the buccal swab we got at the border crossing matched the DNAs, the fingernails, the bottle,
00:34:33back to Landeros.
00:34:35And so for homicide detectives, he became the prime suspect at that point.
00:34:41The Montgomery County police have issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Landeros for one count of first-degree murder.
00:34:47With all signs pointing to Landeros, a warrant is issued for his arrest.
00:34:52But by then, he had already crossed back into Mexico.
00:34:57We know that during the months that followed the murder, Jorge was living in Juarez.
00:35:03I think he chose Juarez because it was both his hometown and his home ground.
00:35:08Even though police know where he is, local police tell us they cannot cross the border to pick him up.
00:35:15We are working in conjunction with Interpol. The problem is there is a process that needs to be followed.
00:35:20If you want to follow due process, you cannot just go to Juarez, arrest a man and take him to
00:35:28Maryland.
00:35:29Those things take time.
00:35:30Did you feel that there may not be any justice?
00:35:36It was a little frustrating. Maybe a lot frustrating.
00:35:42So investigators try something bold. They open up a direct line of communication with the fugitive himself.
00:35:50The Montgomery County detectives had a murder suspect in another country in locations unknown.
00:35:56But they could correspond with him.
00:35:58They were corresponding with him via email?
00:36:02He started writing to the authorities and even correcting them, their emails.
00:36:06Correcting them?
00:36:07Yeah. He was looking for grammar mistakes.
00:36:10Always the teacher.
00:36:12Jorge Landeros used the occasion to taught his pursuers in emails, inviting investigators to meet him for lunch at a
00:36:20cafe in Juarez.
00:36:22He even offered to pick up the check.
00:36:26Landeros just relishes this cat and mouse game that he's got going with police.
00:36:31He tells an El Paso detective, we can talk shop all you want.
00:36:34Markham's neighbors are shocked at his cavalier attitude.
00:36:37He seems to be kind of a charismatic guy, very, very sure of himself.
00:36:41Was he arrogant?
00:36:44Yes.
00:36:44Very much so.
00:36:46What did he say?
00:36:47He was saying, I welcome you to come to a cafe in Juarez to discuss further about Ms. Markham.
00:36:56Then he said, bring your Kevlar.
00:36:57Bring your Kevlar.
00:36:59Correct.
00:36:59Well, it proved best.
00:37:00I took it to me.
00:37:02I thought that he was doing a fine job of taunting law enforcement.
00:37:08Kind of getting a kick out of this.
00:37:11So he ups it a notch.
00:37:13He stops talking to the police.
00:37:15And now he turns his attention to the press.
00:37:19My phone rings and it's Jorge, you know, and this guy is calling me from Mexico.
00:37:24And, you know, right away he did start talking specifically about the case and what evidence
00:37:31he thought the police had on him.
00:37:33He's like, well, yeah, they got my DNA.
00:37:35So what?
00:37:35I've been there a lot.
00:37:37My DNA is all over the place.
00:37:39You know, so he's sort of like, next, you know, what else do they have?
00:37:42Certainly, I kept saying he didn't do it.
00:37:45I quoted him as saying, you know, this looks bad for me.
00:37:48So that's why I'm not going to leave Mexico.
00:37:53He was very aware that the moment he set foot in the U.S., he would be in trouble.
00:38:00While Jorge Landeros is in Mexico, he's giving interviews to reporters proclaiming his innocence.
00:38:07What did you think when he said that?
00:38:11Didn't believe him.
00:38:12Yeah.
00:38:13His statements had no credibility as far as I was concerned.
00:38:18After Sue's murder, Landeros is living in Juarez, and he self-publishes an online book of musings, fittingly titled The
00:38:28Fugitive Poems.
00:38:31They are a first-hand testimony of his whereabouts and what was going through his mind.
00:38:38Its content is very dark.
00:38:40They are about life and death.
00:38:43The American Dream was a recurrent topic in his poetry.
00:38:47And I think the death of Sue Markham symbolizes the end of his American Dream.
00:38:57I don't think I've heard of a fugitive who's publishing poetry while on the run from the law.
00:39:04A little audacious, maybe?
00:39:07Narcissistic?
00:39:07It's all about him.
00:39:10So the FBI puts Landeros on their most-wanted list.
00:39:13His face is everywhere.
00:39:14His name is everywhere.
00:39:17When they first got the warrant for him and they thought he was in Juarez, there was this thought that,
00:39:21you know, we're gonna finally catch him because we're not that far behind.
00:39:25But just as authorities are closing in, Landeros slips away again.
00:39:30He leaves Juarez, and this time for good.
00:39:35At one point, investigators are pretty close to making an arrest.
00:39:38And then he goes off the map again.
00:39:41Yeah.
00:39:42Jorge Landeros is gone.
00:39:44Gone.
00:39:45There was just like a long lull of time when there was nothing.
00:39:48Like, we didn't have anything.
00:39:49According to what I understand of his published work, he spent time on the beach in the Pacific, in the
00:39:56west coast of Mexico.
00:39:58What was that like for the family?
00:40:00Frustrating.
00:40:01Wanting justice for her.
00:40:03Wanting to be sure that he didn't hurt anybody else.
00:40:05Ever.
00:40:07Despite her family's desperate search for answers, 11 long years go by.
00:40:14But then, finally, in 2021, there's a major break in this case.
00:40:21Investigators began hearing rumors of a mysterious man named Leon Ferrara, who may have had a connection to Jorge Landeros.
00:40:29So they tracked him here to the city of Guadalajara.
00:40:33It's a name they have never heard of before.
00:40:36What does this new man, Ferrara, know about Landeros' life on the run?
00:40:41And could he lead investigators to Sue Markham's alleged killer?
00:41:01This story is like a labyrinth.
00:41:04Once you get in, you cannot get out.
00:41:06You can stop thinking about it.
00:41:08You can stop looking for the truth, looking for answers.
00:41:13Nearly a decade after Sue Markham's murder, her alleged killer, Jorge Landeros, is living his new life on the run
00:41:19somewhere south of this border.
00:41:23He had been living essentially out in the open under his real name in Juarez, Mexico, so he realizes he's
00:41:31got to go undercover.
00:41:33We continued the investigation for long periods of time.
00:41:37We're working with officials in the State Department, the Mexican government officials, to try to locate him.
00:41:45We would welcome him to turn himself in to the Mexican authorities or walk across the border and turn himself
00:41:50in.
00:41:51It was very frustrating waiting all those years.
00:41:54And I think at some point in time, I think you begin to, will he ever come back?
00:41:59Had you given up hope?
00:42:03I didn't expect that he would ever be apprehended, but I always hoped he would be.
00:42:11I just knew that it was going to happen.
00:42:15You know, I'm a firm believer that, you know, God will take care of people and it was going to
00:42:21happen.
00:42:22Nobody knows where he's at.
00:42:24Nobody knows what he's doing.
00:42:27We have no information.
00:42:29Jorge Landeros died in a way.
00:42:32There were people in this community that I knew, I could not see without them saying,
00:42:36hey, what's going on with Sue's case?
00:42:39Are we going to get this guy, are we going to get him back from Mexico to stand trial?
00:42:43This went on for years.
00:42:44Mexican authorities tell 2020 that 10 years into the hunt, a new investigator takes over
00:42:51and starts combing through Landeros' social media accounts, searching for any digital trace of the fugitive.
00:42:59Very deep in those accounts, the investigator spots a name that stands out.
00:43:04It's a man in Guadalajara calling himself Leon Ferrara.
00:43:08And this guy appears unusually close to Landeros.
00:43:19Guadalajara is Mexico's second biggest city.
00:43:22It's very well known for its culture, its history.
00:43:25It's a great place to start a new life because there's not going to be anyone asking any questions.
00:43:37Leon Ferrara was a yoga teacher here in Guadalajara.
00:43:41Leon was everything you would imagine a yoga teacher would be.
00:43:46A teacher, a confidant and a friend of his students.
00:43:51Someone who was really involved in their lives.
00:43:55I was a student for many years.
00:43:58A yoga student.
00:44:00I was looking for a good teacher.
00:44:03And for me, he was a good teacher.
00:44:06He was very relaxed.
00:44:07He likes to take long walks.
00:44:09He was very loving with these dogs.
00:44:14Danu and Duki.
00:44:15He loved the dogs.
00:44:17He featured the dogs in his social media pages.
00:44:20All the time.
00:44:20Most days, you can find Leon here in Parque de los Venados, leading yoga classes for devoted students like Ariadna
00:44:30Emily.
00:44:31You had a shared passion for yoga, the two of you.
00:44:36Yes, I like it so much.
00:44:40And Leon, he was my first yoga teacher.
00:44:46A mi me gustaba su paciencia.
00:44:48He was very patient.
00:44:49He was a good teacher.
00:44:50Yes.
00:44:50Leon even published books on spirituality with the University of Guadalajara Press.
00:44:58Leon had a thirst for knowledge and an appetite for pizza, says Alfredo Ortiz, who kept him fed in exchange
00:45:07for language lessons for his daughter Valeria.
00:45:11For me, it was surprising how many languages he know.
00:45:17Which ones did he know?
00:45:19He gave me lessons of French, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, and English.
00:45:25Wow.
00:45:26But I think he know more.
00:45:28He was a good friend.
00:45:30Leon was a trusted fixture in the community.
00:45:33But what nobody realized was that this austere sage, this yoga teacher, was actually an accused killer, Jorge Rueda Landeros.
00:45:49You know, he really had created a kind of a new life for himself.
00:45:52People had no idea that he was a wanted fugitive.
00:45:55They had no idea of the story back in Bethesda, Maryland.
00:46:00Landeros was something of a charmer.
00:46:02He had the ability to ingratiate himself to people who had no idea that this guy was someone that had
00:46:09done a brutal murder in another country.
00:46:13What did you learn about Landeros' life in Mexico after the murder?
00:46:17I think we learned that ultimately he was in Guadalajara, Mexico, that he was teaching yoga there.
00:46:23He had changed his name to Leon Ferrara.
00:46:27There he was, you know, out on social media posting tutorials.
00:46:31And, you know, he'd aged a little, but looked like Jorge.
00:46:35And I think everyone was sort of surprised.
00:46:37He didn't really hide very well.
00:46:40Because he was hiding in plain sight.
00:46:43Did he talk about his past, where he came from?
00:46:46Yeah, he told me that he studied in Harvard.
00:46:52Harvard University?
00:46:53Yeah.
00:46:54And that he traveled all around the world.
00:46:57And he stayed in India, where he learned how to meditate.
00:47:05And then he worked at Wall Street in finances.
00:47:11Leon would tell a lot of stories about his past.
00:47:14One day he would say he was a spy.
00:47:17One day he would say he was a former broker.
00:47:20One day he would say he was the son of diplomats.
00:47:24But the true thing is that nobody knew who he was.
00:47:28The man was somewhat of a mystery.
00:47:30We never knew where does he come from.
00:47:34He never showed some identifications.
00:47:39He never carried money.
00:47:42And never carried credit cards.
00:47:46He was very different than the rest of us.
00:47:512020 has followed Jorge Landeros' trail here to Guadalajara to see firsthand how he lived in hiding.
00:48:00I'm about to enter Jorge Landeros' hideout here in Mexico.
00:48:04He read it this room inside this house.
00:48:07One man who saw that life up close?
00:48:11His landlord, Francisco Fragoso.
00:48:13Tell me, how was that type of Leon?
00:48:16What was he like, Leon?
00:48:18He was a very serious, very reserved.
00:48:21We had very little contact in the time he was here.
00:48:26From the looks of it, the man known as Leon led a pretty quiet and simple life in this one
00:48:32-room apartment,
00:48:32which he shared with his two dogs.
00:48:34He didn't have much in material goods.
00:48:37The only thing he left behind?
00:48:39This table and some clothes.
00:48:44One day, as mysteriously as he appears in Guadalajara, he disappears.
00:48:48I just started texting messages for him on WhatsApp, and he didn't answer at that point.
00:48:57Then some friends started looking for him.
00:49:00It would be normal to be afraid for his safety.
00:49:03Yes.
00:49:04What do you think happened to him at that point?
00:49:07I thought he was caught by some kind of gang.
00:49:11Gang?
00:49:12Gang?
00:49:13Kidnapped.
00:49:14Because he was missing.
00:49:15That happens, Guadalajara.
00:49:17Yeah, most of the time.
00:49:19Leon's friends fear the worst, that he's been abducted on the streets of Guadalajara.
00:49:25But what they don't know is that a decades-long mystery is about to unravel.
00:49:42In Mexico, disappearances have become part of a chilling rhythm.
00:49:46More than 13,000 people reported missing in 2024 alone.
00:49:54So, when Leon Ferrara suddenly vanishes, his friends fear he's become the next name on that growing list.
00:50:03How did you know he was missing when he disappeared?
00:50:06We had class.
00:50:07Like, I think it was Thursday.
00:50:09This friend in common that were trying to reach him, she called me and she told me they didn't know
00:50:15where he was.
00:50:16Back in the beginning of 2022, Mexican authorities know that Jorge was living in Guadalajara.
00:50:24This task force hunts outlaws for Mexico's attorney general traveled down to Guadalajara and start taking surveillance on him.
00:50:35And they start following him everywhere he goes.
00:50:40They called me to say there's a tip on your guy and it seems like pretty kind of legit.
00:50:46They took a picture of him.
00:50:48He hadn't changed a bit in his appearance.
00:50:51It was clearly him.
00:50:54It is here that Jorge Landeros' nearly 12-year-long flight from justice finally comes to an end.
00:51:02Shortly after 4 p.m., he leaves his apartment to walk his two dogs when suddenly, on the street, he's
00:51:09approached by Mexican agents and taken into custody.
00:51:14They asked him, are you Jorge Rueda Landeros? And he said, yes. Well, you're under arrest for murder.
00:51:21He hadn't heard that name in years.
00:51:23Yeah.
00:51:24He begs the agents to bring back his dogs to his apartment and the police leave the dogs with his
00:51:35landlord and take him to jail.
00:51:39So for Jorge Rueda Landeros, also known as Leon, this was literally the end of the road.
00:51:46It was.
00:51:50Fearing for Leon's safety, one of his students came here to the Office of Missing Persons, where authorities revealed he
00:51:56was neither kidnapped nor killed, but rather alive and well.
00:52:00In fact, he was behind bars, booked for murder.
00:52:06What did the police tell your friend?
00:52:09That he had a red notice from the Interpol and his name wasn't Leon. It was Jorge.
00:52:16Jorge Rueda Landeros.
00:52:20Could you have imagined that your friend and teacher would be on the FBI's most wanted list?
00:52:29No.
00:52:30No, not at all.
00:52:32We thought that, that it was crazy.
00:52:35It was shocking to me because I think that this wasn't true, the charges, because of the kind of person
00:52:43that he was.
00:52:44That you knew.
00:52:45That I knew, yes.
00:52:49My phone started ringing at dinner.
00:52:51I pull it out to silence it and I see Larry Haley's name on the caller ID and he tells
00:52:57me they arrested him and he was being held in jail.
00:53:00After 12 years on the run, a murder suspect was arrested in connection with the 2010 murder of American University
00:53:08Professor Sue Markham.
00:53:11I'm just going about my business.
00:53:14All of a sudden, he pops back up because he's been arrested in Mexico.
00:53:19He's finally caught after years of you guys chasing him. What was that moment like?
00:53:25I think for me it was pretty surreal. I don't know that I thought that he would ever be caught.
00:53:30I thought he would just remain wanted kind of forever.
00:53:33When the police were finally able to get their hands on Landeros, they called a press conference.
00:53:38There was DNA of the defendant found on the body of the victim.
00:53:41A case may vanish from the public's consciousness. It may not be headline news anymore.
00:53:50But this really is a good example of some detectives who never gave up.
00:53:54And the work that law enforcement did, a lot of love seems to have gone into this case for so
00:54:02many years.
00:54:03Yeah, a lot of people were very invested in solving this case definitively and bringing my sister's murderer to justice.
00:54:13And it seemed the more they learned about Sue as a person, the more invested they became.
00:54:18They wanted it for her, not just another case. That's pretty special.
00:54:26After he's captured, Landeros is moved here to Reclusorio Sur, one of Mexico's most notorious prisons.
00:54:35All he can do is sit and wait.
00:54:38Meanwhile, U.S. authorities are pushing to get him back home to face charges he's avoided for more than a
00:54:46decade.
00:54:47Inside those concrete walls, Landeros turns to writing, page after page, letter after letter.
00:54:55He's clinging to one thing that he can still control, the narrative, his version of the story.
00:55:02Writing was like a therapy for him when he was in jail.
00:55:06He wrote and wrote and wrote. He had these scribbles on notebooks.
00:55:122020 has obtained Landeros' diary, which he wrote in jail while awaiting extradition.
00:55:19And in it, he details alleged wrongdoing by the American authorities, calling himself a prisoner frozen in time.
00:55:27For me, one of the most unsettling parts of this diary is not what's in it, but what's missing.
00:55:36Not once does he mention Sue Markham.
00:55:41Almost like by rewriting his own narrative, she's erased completely.
00:55:51Normally, when I publish a story, I get it out of my system, but this one was different.
00:55:56You can't stop talking about it. You can't stop thinking about it.
00:55:59And one day, I just got one call from him.
00:56:03And that changed everything.
00:56:05For you, you're Sadhu León, right?
00:56:08Yes.
00:56:09You say you're innocent.
00:56:11No, that's not all.
00:56:12It was like a Hannibal Lecter moment.
00:56:25After 12 years on the run, this is where Jorge Landeros ends up.
00:56:32Not a beach in paradise, but a concrete cell in prison.
00:56:41Landeros did not give up fighting to keep his freedom under his new name in Mexico.
00:56:48He's appealing in letters to family and friends and politicians.
00:56:52He even writes a message to Mexico's president like he's the most important guy in prison.
00:57:00He called us.
00:57:01Telephone call.
00:57:02Yes.
00:57:02What did he tell you?
00:57:04Well, I talked with him and he said me that he was okay.
00:57:09It is true that he was Jorge.
00:57:13After interviewing his students, one of them tells me, you know what?
00:57:18He wants to talk.
00:57:19He's in jail, in Mexico City, and he wants to give you an interview.
00:57:24Hello, how are you?
00:57:26How are you?
00:57:27How are you?
00:57:27How are you?
00:57:27Very good.
00:57:30I was really nervous because I didn't know what to expect.
00:57:34Did you have a relationship with her?
00:57:35Yes.
00:57:36There was a relationship with her.
00:57:38All of them.
00:57:41Landeros doesn't deny having a relationship, but according to Elias Kamhaji, Landeros swears he
00:57:48wasn't anywhere near Bethesda when Sue Markham was killed.
00:58:05Once Landeros realized he was a moving target, he says he made the decision to leave behind
00:58:11the old life in Juarez and start fresh somewhere where nobody had a clue about his story.
00:58:21Then he comes to Guadalajara.
00:58:24Why this city?
00:58:26He told the investigators that he likes the weather, but I think the reason is that it's a big city.
00:58:32Easy to hide in plain sight here.
00:58:34Yeah, very easy.
00:58:38In Guadalajara, Jorge Landeros disappears, and in his place, a new man is born.
00:58:45Leon Ferrara.
00:58:47I still have to be able to respond to that name of Jorge.
00:58:51I don't have it in my place.
00:58:54For you, you're Sadhu Leon, right?
00:58:56Yes.
00:58:57He told me that Leon was everything that he always wanted to be.
00:59:03Leon was an exaggerated version of Jorge.
00:59:09He compared himself to Han Solo, for example.
00:59:12This hero being prosecuted by the evil empire.
00:59:17And when that all-important question comes, did he kill Sue Markham?
00:59:22Landeros doesn't hesitate, and he pushes back, and he pushes back hard.
00:59:28You say that you're innocent.
00:59:31Of course.
00:59:32Of course.
00:59:32Of course not at all, but it's definitely what they're imputating, definitely.
00:59:39The person I know is innocent to me.
00:59:43Not Leon.
00:59:44Not murder.
00:59:45No.
00:59:46No.
00:59:46I don't think he's guilty.
00:59:50Do you think the man you knew, this friend, this teacher of yours, is guilty of murder?
00:59:56I want him to be innocent, of course, but it's not for us to give the verdict.
01:00:02So for the police and prosecutors who worked on this case for years and years, they wanted to get him
01:00:09back into that courtroom to face justice.
01:00:11Exactly.
01:00:12And you did that yourself.
01:00:13I kept the investigative box sitting behind me.
01:00:16It was right at my feet.
01:00:18These are DeAndre Hamlin's fingerprints.
01:00:21Oh, okay.
01:00:22We don't find him inside the house.
01:00:23No, he's not inside the house.
01:00:24He's nowhere.
01:00:25It ended up being really helpful because then when the defense would...
01:00:27I held it here in my office for years waiting for him to come back.
01:00:32Years after disappearing across the border, Jorge Landeros is extradited back to the United States to stand trial inside this
01:00:41Maryland courthouse.
01:00:42And he's facing murder charges that could keep him behind bars for the rest of his life.
01:00:51All the lawyers, the judge, the bailiff, the clerks, everybody was a woman.
01:00:56And that was impressive.
01:00:58Sue would have loved it.
01:01:00She was very much a feminist and believed in the strength of women.
01:01:04It seemed fitting in some way.
01:01:07Members of the jury, this is a criminal case in which the state of Maryland has charged Jorge Landeros with
01:01:12the crime of first-degree murder.
01:01:16I covered this trial every single day.
01:01:19And sitting in the courtroom just a few feet from Jorge Landeros,
01:01:22I saw a different man than what we had seen in photographs and mugshots.
01:01:28When the jury entered, he stood tall and puffed out his chest trying to show everyone he was a man
01:01:35of confidence.
01:01:38Anything strike you about what you saw in his face?
01:01:41I saw defiance when I did look at him.
01:01:45And when Sue Markham met Jorge Landeros, she was enchanted by him.
01:01:51When Jorge Landeros met Sue Markham, he found his mug.
01:01:56The prosecutors were very clear and they wanted him to be the manipulator who took advantage of Sue.
01:02:03He took advantage of her kindness and her generosity.
01:02:06And when she had nothing left to give him, Jorge Landeros killed her.
01:02:13As the state presents its case, Sue's very good friend Larry March takes the stand.
01:02:19And he recalls that horrific moment that he found her body at the bottom of the basement stairs.
01:02:28It was obvious to me that she wasn't alive.
01:02:31Testify was hard because I felt like I didn't get a chance to really say what I wanted to say.
01:02:37That a very special person was taken away from here.
01:02:41That this was a terrible thing that happened.
01:02:47Prosecutors methodically walked the jury through Sue's home.
01:02:51A crime scene that they say Landeros tried to stage to make it look like a burglary gone wrong.
01:02:58That heavy glass would have to have been purposefully moved from the table.
01:03:06Drawers yanked open.
01:03:08A window screen broken.
01:03:11Glass smashed.
01:03:12Electronics stacked by the door.
01:03:15Her jeep missing.
01:03:17Every detail, prosecutors say, was part of that illusion.
01:03:22The jury heard every facet of the investigation.
01:03:26Where the crime took place.
01:03:28This is the stairs leading down to the basement.
01:03:31How investigators say it happened.
01:03:34Cause of death, blunt force trauma and asphyxiation.
01:03:38And why, at least in part, they believe Sue Markham was murdered.
01:03:43Life insurance policy lists Mr. Landeros as the deputy chair.
01:03:50He walked into this forum an innocent man.
01:03:53Because that's what he is.
01:03:5515 years is a long time to wait for justice.
01:03:59But now is that time.
01:04:12In a murder trial, a family member's moment on the stand can cut through the courtroom.
01:04:19For Alan Markham, it begins with a single photograph.
01:04:23A reminder of the sister whose spirit he's now fighting to defend.
01:04:28My name is Alan Markham.
01:04:31Sue Ann Markham was my sister.
01:04:34That's a tire swing that was in the backyard of our home in Palo Alto, California.
01:04:39It shows the way she lived her life.
01:04:44I'd never taken the witness stand before.
01:04:48And kind of the weight of everything suddenly hit me.
01:04:52I think you can see the grin on her face.
01:04:54She was just having a great time.
01:04:57She loved life.
01:04:58My purpose being there was to try to paint my sister's picture for the jury.
01:05:05To bring her back to life for them.
01:05:09Inside this courtroom, the joy that was Sue Markham's life now gives way to the brutality of her death.
01:05:19Prosecutors don't ease their way gently into this case.
01:05:23They hit the jurors with the grim reality of how she died.
01:05:28He smashed her on the head with a tequila bottle.
01:05:33The defendant knew he could not leave Sue Markham alone.
01:05:38And so he strangled her.
01:05:40And the man prosecutors say is responsible?
01:05:43Jorge Rueda Landeros.
01:05:46Jorge Rueda Landeros.
01:05:46A one-time lover.
01:05:47A supposed good friend.
01:05:49A Spanish teacher.
01:05:50A yoga teacher.
01:05:51And they argue, a predator.
01:05:55She was much more agitated than usual.
01:06:00She's going crazy.
01:06:01And her whole demeanor has destroyed now.
01:06:04She's angry all the time.
01:06:06And she's having a really hard time with, you know, just dealing with what's going on in her life.
01:06:10She seemed to be under a lot of stress.
01:06:13I didn't see tears in her eyes.
01:06:15And prosecutors say that stress wasn't random.
01:06:19It had a source.
01:06:20Jorge Landeros.
01:06:24Jurors hear that Sue Markham gave Jorge Landeros hundreds of thousands of dollars.
01:06:29Some invested, prosecutors say.
01:06:32But much of it later withdrawn and moved into his personal bank account.
01:06:38It was very clear from the evidence that he just withdrew, withdrew, withdrew, withdrew until it was down to nothing.
01:06:46By the time she was murdered, there was nothing left in the accounts.
01:06:50What was the end balance?
01:06:52November of 2010, the ending balance was $1,185.17.
01:06:59Prosecutors say emails tell the real story.
01:07:02A woman is drowning in debt, yet she's still begging the man responsible not to abandon her.
01:07:09For example, in April of 2009, Sue writes,
01:07:13I don't know how I allowed myself to get into the mess I am in.
01:07:17I just want out of the whole situation.
01:07:21But shortly afterward, in June, she writes, I am committed to doing what I can do so that we can
01:07:28both be successful and happy.
01:07:32The jury had to see this, according to the state, because it shows her state of mind at the time.
01:07:40I think it was all risk and no reward for her, but all reward for him.
01:07:47Prosecutors tell the jury that the moment finally came when Lenderos had no more use for Sue Markham.
01:07:53The money had run out, and so did his patients.
01:07:57Maybe they fought because the defendant wanted more money out of Sue.
01:08:02Money that she didn't have and that she could not give, even if she wanted to.
01:08:07Maybe the defendant was there to get that $500,000 from the life insurance policy that he was the beneficiary
01:08:15of.
01:08:18There's no question about it.
01:08:20Jorge took her for all of her money.
01:08:23And I think that he came back to see what else he could get, which was $500,000.
01:08:32Jorge Lenderos used her for his own gain.
01:08:36And when she had nothing left to give him, he killed her.
01:08:42But Lenderos' defense attorney, Megan Brennan, tells jurors a different story, saying this wasn't murder, but rather a burglary gone
01:08:52wrong.
01:08:53And Jorge Lenderos, an innocent man, caught in the storm.
01:08:59The police decide, aha, you know who's the easiest suspect?
01:09:02The easiest suspect is an individual who has a close interperson relationship with the deceased.
01:09:09They really went after the police investigation.
01:09:13The crime scene people, the detectives, they do make judgments like, well, we got enough fingerprints or we got enough
01:09:19DNA.
01:09:19And so that was ripe for attacking.
01:09:22On cross-examination, Detective Haley concedes that not all of the evidence at the crime scene was tested.
01:09:30You did not have those items tested?
01:09:32We did not.
01:09:33You made the decision not to collect the presumed blood on the walls in Sue Markham's home?
01:09:39Again, probably a collective decision.
01:09:41And you made the decision to not test the presumed hair on Ms. Markham's face?
01:09:49Correct.
01:09:49And Sergeant Haley does make a rare admission.
01:09:53He wishes he had tested more.
01:09:56And the defense seizes on every missed opportunity.
01:10:01I would have preferred to collect it at the time.
01:10:04I didn't think it would yield anything to a suspect.
01:10:08On cross-examination, the defense highlights a detail the jury hasn't heard before.
01:10:14Sue's Fitbit, a wearable fitness tracker, that was noted as being recovered in evidence but then somehow went missing.
01:10:23Its data, says the defense, could shed light on Sue Markham's final moments.
01:10:32I think that the Fitbit was something we were always looking for.
01:10:37In court, the defense claimed the case was botched, that there was no thorough investigation for 15 years.
01:10:45How do you respond to that?
01:10:46Detective Haley testified for 11 hours in this trial.
01:10:49And I think Detective Haley's testimony destroyed the defense argument that this case was botched.
01:10:56But the defense isn't done yet.
01:10:58Their sharpest strike is still to come.
01:11:01A challenge to the crucial fingerprints that they say could turn this case on its head.
01:11:09None of your fingerprints match Jorge Landeros.
01:11:13And when it's his time to speak, will Jorge Landeros finally break his silence?
01:11:21Mr. Landeros, you know that you have a constitutional right to testify.
01:11:24You understand that?
01:11:26Yes, ma'am.
01:11:27I thought that he would be very convincing.
01:11:43With every single witness and each piece of evidence, jurors hear the prosecution's case that Jorge Landeros lied, schemed, and
01:11:53ultimately murdered Sue Markham.
01:11:58The defense insists that Landeros was never in Bethesda the night Sue Markham was murdered.
01:12:04And they say fingerprint evidence found in her house and car point to a different killer.
01:12:10Remember, the man who was found with Sue Markham's car, D'Andrew Hamlin, was ultimately cleared in her murder.
01:12:18None of your fingerprints match Jorge Landeros.
01:12:22I was never requested to compare footprints of Mr. Landeros to this case before I retired.
01:12:28And the defense reminds the jury that not only were Landeros' fingerprints not found at the crime scene, there are
01:12:35still unidentified fingerprints in this case.
01:12:40To date, in this case, are there still latent prints of value that were being identified?
01:12:45As of the time I retired, there were still prints unidentified.
01:12:51There were fingerprints, they were very clear, and they didn't know whose they were.
01:12:58But just when the defense feels confident, it's torn apart the state's case bit by bit, the state comes back
01:13:05swinging with new DNA analysis from Sue's neck that they say points right to Landeros.
01:13:17It made the case stronger against him.
01:13:19It was absolutely no question.
01:13:21This was a struggle.
01:13:22This woman fought for her life.
01:13:24It's his DNA.
01:13:25Nobody else's.
01:13:29The defense only calls one witness, an expert who testifies that there's a possibly innocent explanation for why Landeros' DNA
01:13:39was on that neck swab evidence.
01:13:44That DNA came from somewhere and it must have transferred to the surfaces of the neck that were swabbed.
01:13:53Beyond raising questions about the forensic evidence in this case, the defense also goes full force on that allegation that
01:14:02Landeros had taken Sue's money, saying that it was anything but manipulation and that she, Sue, was in control of
01:14:12her own life.
01:14:14Do not let the state strip Ms. Markham of life pretty well.
01:14:17She knew what she wanted and she got what she wanted.
01:14:20And the defense has another reason for Sue's losses, the financial crash of the times.
01:14:29From 2008 to 2010, the entire United States was in the throes of the great financial crisis.
01:14:36If there were to say Sue Markham wasn't the only person losing money.
01:14:39Landeros was never charged with any financial crimes in this case.
01:14:44And the defense tells the jury that he never collected Sue's life insurance policy, which named him as a beneficiary.
01:14:52After 27 witnesses, both sides rest.
01:14:55And with all eyes on him,
01:14:58Jorge Landeros has made his decision not to testify.
01:15:04It is still your decision not to testify in this case?
01:15:07No.
01:15:08So it's on to closing arguments where the defense tells the jury that Landeros is an innocent man wrongfully accused.
01:15:18The worst part is that her killers, her killers are still out there.
01:15:24And the prosecution argues that Landeros is a cold-blooded killer driven by greed.
01:15:33When she ran out of money, which is the only thing he wanted from her, he killed her.
01:15:44It's Friday, October 31st.
01:15:46It's Halloween.
01:15:47And the jury's going back to begin deliberations.
01:15:51Now, remember what's at stake for Landeros.
01:15:54First degree, premeditated murder.
01:15:57And then there's second degree murder.
01:15:59He intended to kill, but didn't premeditate it.
01:16:04I had no idea of how the jury was feeling or anything like that.
01:16:09My gut feeling from the beginning was it was an open-and-shot case.
01:16:15After deliberating eight hours, the verdict is in.
01:16:22Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, have you agreed upon your verdict?
01:16:26Yes.
01:16:28So I expected a guilty verdict, but there was still the pins and needles of what's actually going to come
01:16:35out of the foreperson's mouth.
01:16:40As to count one murder in the first degree, we, the jury, find the defendant.
01:16:45Not guilty.
01:17:04And then the jury foreperson says guilty to second degree murder.
01:17:10Yeah.
01:17:12Relief.
01:17:13Yes.
01:17:13Yes.
01:17:14It's one thing to expect it.
01:17:16It's another thing to hear it.
01:17:18Every, every emotion I could imagine all at once, just overwhelming.
01:17:25Justice now finally served 15 years after the killing of American University professor Sue Ann Markham.
01:17:33A jury found her murderer, Jorge Landeros, guilty.
01:17:37I think the jury came up with a perfect verdict.
01:17:40It is clear from the crime scene that these two individuals were sitting down drinking together before the murder.
01:17:49In your press conference afterward, you, you call this the perfect verdict.
01:17:54I, I think it was perfect if you knew what the facts were.
01:17:58This was a very understandable and appropriate verdict.
01:18:01My reaction is you should have got first degree.
01:18:03The intent was made while he was there to kill her.
01:18:08And that intent being made is first degree.
01:18:18Sue Markham may have met a brutal end in her home at the hands of a man she once loved
01:18:25and trusted.
01:18:26But in the halls of American University, her legacy as a beloved and respected teacher lives on.
01:18:36An entire university is mourning.
01:18:38Tonight, it came together to comfort the family of the 52-year-old mentor and friend.
01:18:43A few weeks after Sue's death, a memorial service was held at American University to celebrate her life.
01:18:51And the next time you see a beautiful blue sky, take a moment, look up, and put a big smile
01:18:57on your face, and think of our dear, dear friend Sue.
01:19:01That's hard.
01:19:02She did a lot.
01:19:04But she could have done so much more.
01:19:08I would like the world to remember Sue as a fun-loving teacher who puts everyone before herself.
01:19:20If there was one message you could send to your beloved sister, Sue, what would it be?
01:19:26I love you.
01:19:28Barbara, what would you say?
01:19:30You missed the world's lost a special person.
01:19:41A special person indeed, Jorge Landeros is scheduled to be sentenced later this year, David.
01:19:47He faces a maximum of 30 years in prison.
01:19:49And American University, where Sue Markham taught, has now endowed a scholarship fund in her name.
01:19:54That's our program for tonight.
01:19:56Thanks for watching.
01:19:57I'm David Muir.
01:19:57And I'm Jebra Roberts.
01:19:58From all of us here at ABC News and 2020, good night.
01:20:25I'm David Muir.
01:20:25I'm David Muir.
01:20:27I'm David Muir, and we are in the house, a smaller place.
01:20:30Alright, thanks for listening.
01:20:30I'm David Muir.
01:20:30I'm David Muir.
01:20:30I'm David Muir.
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