US Marine faces charge of killing Jennifer Laude

Video by Associated Press

The trial of a US Marine charged with murdering a transgender Filipino continued in the Philippines on Tuesday, in a case which has tested the two countries’ military ties.

The murder is alleged to have taken place after Marine Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton discovered Jennifer Laude’s gender after they checked into a hotel.

Pemberton is charged with murder, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

The court registered a ‘not guilty’ plea for him last month after he refused to enter a plea.

Following Tuesday’s court appearance, prosecution lawyer Atty Virgie Suarez told reporters they were filing a petition to the Supreme Court asking that the media be allowed to cover the case in court, and that Pemberton be transferred to an Olongapo jail.

He is currently being held under US custody in a military camp in Manila, but with an outer ring of Filipino guards.

Suarez also expressed her concern on Tuesday that a large number of American soldiers are due in the Philippines for the annual Balikatan military exercise.

Pemberton, an anti-tank missile operator from Massachusetts, is accused of strangling Laude and then drowning her in a hotel toilet last October after discovering she was a transgender woman.

Pemberton was bar-hopping with fellow Marines at the time after taking part in joint US-Philippines military exercises.