A jury convicted Jorge Rueda Landeros of second-degree murder in the killing of an American University professor 15 years ago.

Prosecutors said Rueda Landeros, 55, beat and asphyxiated Sue Marcum, whose body was found in the basement of her Bethesda home on Oct. 25, 2010.

Defense attorneys said Marcum was killed in a botched burglary.

After the verdict, Marcum’s brother, Alan Marcum, sobbed and hugged prosecutors.

Rueda Landeros faces a maximum of 30 years in prison. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 6. Prosecutors and defense attorneys declined comment after the verdict.

Following Marcum’s killing, Rueda Landeros fled to Mexico. He eluded authorities until he was extradited from that country to Maryland in 2023.

Prosecutors linked Rueda Landeros to Marcum’s death through DNA found on shot glasses, a tequila bottle used to bludgeon her and on her fingernails.

Rueda Landeros had an intense relationship with Marcum, a popular accounting professor who was also his business partner, prosecutors said.

“They developed a close and, at times, a romantic relationship. He was her confidant,” Assistant State’s Attorney Debbie Feinstein told the jury during closing arguments Wednesday. “In her own words, Ms. Marcum was enamored by the defendant.”

Feinstein said that a few years into their friendship, Rueda Landeros sold Marcum on a scheme he promised would yield hundreds of thousands of dollars for her.

Rueda Landeros’ plan, Feinstein said, was that Marcum would invest $300,000 in brokerage accounts and she would get a 35% annual return rate. Half of the investment would be in his name.

Marcum took out a second mortgage on her home for nearly $300,000 in January 2008 so she and Rueda Landeros could make the investment, the prosecutor said.

In 2009, Rueda Landeros’ account had less than $100 in it and Marcum was going broke. Feinstein said Marcum lost $312,000 in the scheme and that Rueda Landeros had taken more than $252,000 of her money.

State’s attorneys argued that Rueda Landeros killed Marcum because he might have been upset that she had run out of money.

The professor and Rueda Landeros also had taken $500,000 life insurance policies on each other in case of their deaths, but he did not collect on the policy.