U.S. Marine Convicted of Killing a Woman After Discovering She Was Transgender
A court in the Phillippines convicted a U.S. Marine of homicide Tuesday after determining he had killed a Filipino woman upon learning she was transgender.
Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton was charged with murder last December after authorities found the body of Jennifer Laude, also known as Jeffrey, half-stuffed into a hotel room toilet bowl.
The pair reportedly met at a disco bar in Olongapo in October, 2014 and ended up checking into a nearby hotel. Once inside the room, Pemberton apparently realized Laude was transgender and attacked her, breaking her neck and drowning her inside a toilet bowl.
Hotel staff say he left the room about 30 minutes later, leaving the door ajar.
Afterwards, Pemberton, who was on leave from the military at the time, allegedly told at least two of his fellow Marines, “I think I killed a he/she.”
Pemberton is expected to serve 6-12 years in jail, minus time served, and was ordered to pay around $100,000 in restitution to Laude’s family. According to the Washington Post, he was charged with homicide—and not the heightened crime of murder—because the judge felt the necessary elements of cruelty and treachery had not been proven.
