The Philippine government says it is seeking custody of a US Marine charged with the murder of a Filipino transgender woman.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that it has asked Washington to turn over custody of Marine Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton after he was charged by prosecutors Monday in the October killing of Jennifer Laude in Olongapo city, northwest of Manila.
Laude, whose former name was Jeffrey, had apparently been strangled and drowned in a toilet bowl.
Pemberton is currently in US custody, but is being held in a Philippine military camp.
Prosecutor Emilie de los Santos on Monday said there was “probable cause” that Pemberton, who has been detained since shortly after the October incident, killed Laude in the motel room where the victim’s body was found.
“It’s murder,” de los Santos told reporters after filing the charge against the 19-year-old Pemberton before a regional court. “It was aggravated by treachery, abuse of superior strength and cruelty.”
Among the evidence submitted by De los Santos and other prosecutors were statements by Pemberton’s three marine colleagues who went bar-hopping with him on Oct. 11 in Olongapo, a former liberty town when the US Navy was at the vast Subic Naval base, now a bustling commercial Freeport and recreation hub.
Pemberton and some of his colleagues later picked up women at a disco bar and separately checked in at nearby motels, then returned to their ship after midnight.
Witnesses saw Pemberton check in with Laude at a motel room, where he was seen leaving shortly before the discovery of the killing, prosecutors said in their statement to the court.
Marine Lance Corporal Jairn Michael Rose, who went out with Pemberton that night, said that the suspect later confided back at their ship that he attacked the woman he was with by choking her after discovering that she was transgender when she undressed, prosecutors said.
“I think I killed a he/she,” Pemberton was quoted as having told Rose.
Pemberton, a skilled boxer, allegedly said he choked her from behind with his arm “for a couple of minutes” until she stopped moving, then dragged her into the bathroom, according to the prosecutors.
The new details are likely to spark renewed condemnation by left-wing and transgender groups, which have labeled the attack a hate crime.
The case comes after the Philippines and the US enhanced ties with the recent signing of a defense accord that allows greater US access to Philippine military camps.
The accord is to help Washington’s bid to reassert its presence in Asia and enable Manila to deter what it calls China’s aggressive moves in disputed South China Sea territories.
The case reignited a debate over custody of US military personnel accused of crimes. However, the looming irritant between the treaty allies over Pemberton’s custody was eased after Washington agreed to move him from a US warship to the Philippine military’s main camp in metropolitan Manila, where he remained under US custody with an outer ring of Philippine guards.
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