Philippines: Murder Trial for American Marine Begins
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Version 0 of 1. An American Marine charged with murdering a transgender Filipino after they checked into a hotel went on trial on Monday in Olongapo city, northwest of Manila. The Marine, Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton, an anti-tank missile operator from New Bedford, Mass., is accused of strangling Jennifer Laude and then drowning her in a hotel toilet last October after discovering she was a transgender woman. Prosecutors say they checked into the hotel after meeting in a bar in a red-light district. An earlier plea-bargain negotiation with the family of the victim reportedly collapsed, and the court registered a not guilty plea for Private Pemberton last month after he refused to enter a plea. The case reignited a debate over custody of American military personnel accused of crimes in the Philippines. The dispute was eased after Washington agreed to move Pemberton from an American warship to the Philippine military’s main camp in metropolitan Manila, where he is held under American custody but with an outer ring of Filipino guards. |