Marine Found Guilty Of Killing Transgender Filipino Prostitute

Marine Found Guilty Of Killing Transgender Filipino Prostitute

The NYDailyNews is reporting that a serviceman has been convicted of the death of a prostitute after discovering she still had her twig-and-berries…

A Philippine court on Tuesday convicted a U.S. Marine of killing a Filipino last year after he discovered she was a transgender woman in a hotel in the Philippines while he was on a break after participating in joint military exercises in the country.

Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton was convicted of homicide by first strangling Jennifer Laude and then dunking her head into a toilet bowl in the hotel they had checked into after meeting in a disco bar in Olongapo city, northwest of Manila. He was sentenced to 6-12 years in jail, with time spent in detention credited, said court clerk Gerry Gruspe.

Laude’s mother, Julita, said that while she was happy the verdict detailed everything that had transpired, she was not pleased with the jail term because she had hoped Penderton would be found guilty of murder, a graver crime.

“But the important thing is he will be jailed,” she said. “My son’s life is not wasted.”

The two met at a local bar while Pemberton was on leave and two witnesses testified in court that Jennifer was indeed a “lady man of the night”.

Pemberton and Laude left the bar and checked in together at a nearby hotel. About 30 minutes later, Pemberton walked out, leaving the room’s door ajar, according to hotel staff.

Pemberton testified in August that he choked Laude during a fight that erupted when he discovered she was a transgender woman, but said she was still alive when he left her in a shower, according to his lawyer, Rowena Garcia Flores.

Lawyers of the Laude family, however, said Laude was dead when Pemberton left her. Police have said that Laude had apparently been drowned in a toilet.

It is reported that Pemberton will have to serve his time inside a Filipino prison. Could karma have come any more ironically?

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