US Marine found guilty of killing transgender Filipino
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/us-marine-found-guilty-of-killing-transgender-filipino/2015/12/01/149593b8-9803-11e5-aca6-1ae3be6f06d2_story.html
OLONGAPO, Philippines — 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 while he was on a break after participating in joint military exercises in the country.
Lance Cpl. 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 October 2014 in Olongapo, a city northwest of Manila. He was sentenced to 6-12 years in jail and credited with time already spent in detention, said court clerk Gerry Gruspe.
The court also ordered Pemberton, who has been detained at a Philippine military camp for about a year, to pay Laude’s family 4.6 million pesos ($98,000) in damages.
Laude’s mother, Julita, said that while she was happy the verdict detailed everything that had transpired, she was not pleased with the length of the jail term because she had hoped Pemberton would be convicted of murder, a more serious crime than homicide.
“But the important thing is he will be jailed,” she said, crying. “My son’s life is not wasted.”