U.S. Marine Charged With Murdering Trans Filipina Woman Claims Self-Defense
The U.S. Marine charged with murdering a Filipina woman after he discovered she was transgender testified for the first time in court yesterday, using a trans panic defense.
20-year-old Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton was arrested in October after his victim, 26-year-old Jennifer Laude, was found dead in a motel bathroom. An investigation led authorities to Pemberton, who had taken Laude and one other woman to the motel with the understanding that they would have sex.
Pemberton testified that he received oral sex from Laude and one other transgender woman, and became enraged after one of the women left to buy condoms.
"He said they began fighting when he discovered that she had a penis," Pemberton's attorney told the New York Times. In court, he acknowledged that he strangled Laude but did not admit to killing her.
Pemberton claimed he felt that he may have been raped by Laude if he didn't subdue her, and he left her unconscious in the motel bathroom because he panicked. Defense attorneys tried to claim that someone else may have entered the motel room at that time to kill Laude.
The Times notes that Pemberton was stationed in Manila as part of the United States military's Visiting Forces Agreement. The case against him has understandably strained relations between the two nations.
If convicted of murder, Pemberton faces 40 years in prison. If a judge decides Pemberton's trans panic defense is legitimate, his charge could be lowered to homicide, a crime punishable by 12-20 years in prison.
