Phillipines: U.S. Marine Found Guilty In Strangling Death Of Transgender Woman

A U.S. Marine has been found guilty of murder and sentenced to prison for up to 12 years for the strangling death of a transgender woman in the Phillipines last year.

From CNN:

The court in Olongapo, a city 77 miles (124 km) northwest of Manila, sentenced Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton to up to 12 years in prison, according to CNN Philippines' Ina Andolong, who was at the hearing Tuesday.

The naked body of Jeffrey Laude, also known as Jennifer, was found with her head in a toilet in an Olongapo hotel room shortly after midnight on October 12, 2014, police said.

Witnesses told police that Pemberton was with Laude at a local disco before the two checked into a hotel on the night of October 11, according to documents seen by CNN.

Pemberton told police in October that he'd choked Laude, but then tried to revive her. He said he had become angry with Laude upon discovering she had male genitalia, according to police.

Lance Corporal Pemberton is nineteen years old.

(h/t JMG)