Lester Holt

Testimony wrapped up this week in the trial of a yoga teacher accused of murdering a beloved college professor 15 years ago, then allegedly fleeing to Mexico to escape justice.

The story of how Jorge Rueda Landeros befriended 52-year-old Sue Ann Markham and the nature of their relationship has formed the crux of the arguments the jury has heard during the trial.

Prosecutors allege that Landeros was a ruthless conman who seduced Sue into handing over hundreds of thousands of dollars of her life savings and staged a burglary at her Maryland home to cover up her brutal murder.

Landeros has denied it all.

His defense attorney says that the friendship was real and Sue's actual killer was a man the police had in custody hours after the crime, but then let go.

Here to tell us more is Neil Augenstein, who has been covering the case for the Washington, D.C.

radio news station WTOP from the beginning.

Welcome to the podcast, Neil.

Really fascinating case.

Why don't we start off and ask you to give a kind of a thumbnail sketch, if you will, of who Sue Ann Markham was.

I know she's been described as beloved by her former students at American University.

What was the connection between her and Landeros?

He's not denying that they knew each other, obviously.

Yeah, and I know the opening arguments, the prosecutor painting this idea that she was simply enchanted with him.

And that obviously helps the prosecution to form this idea that this was a financial crime.

So what kind of incriminating information did the prosecution try to bring in the case against him?

So they had a lot.

They had a suspect, but they didn't have him in the country.

He ends up in Mexico.

And for the prosecution, they present that as evidence that he left the country as proof of a consciousness of guilt.