U.S. Marine Convicted In Transgender Slaying During Shore Leave In Philippines

Seth Robson at Stars and Stripes reports on the conviction of a U.S. Marine in the Philippines.

OLONGAPO CITY, Philippines — A U.S. Marine was convicted of homicide Tuesday for the slaying of a transgender woman whom he picked up while on shore leave.

Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton was sentenced to six to 12 years in a Philippine prison and ordered to pay 4,655,250 pesos (about $100,000) in damages to the family of Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude, 26.

Pemberton had been charged with murder but was convicted of the lesser charge due to mitigating circumstances, including lack of premeditation and that he was intoxicated at the time.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/marine-convicted-in-transgender-slaying-during-shore-leave-in-philippines-1.381316

What Role Did Transgender And Military Cultures Play In Philippines Death?

I've been following closely the murder trial of U.S. Marine Joseph Pemberton (seen in the above photo), in Olongapo, as I was a frequent visitor to this wild city in the Philippines when I was a young sailor serving on an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War.

Seth Robson at Stars and Stripes offers a piece on the trial and a clash of cultures.

SUBIC BAY, Philippines — Marines and sailors are pretty eager to blow off steam after weeks at sea, particularly when granted liberty in an exotic port with a notorious reputation for easy female company.

While troops get briefings before going ashore on what to expect and what to avoid, some information may have gotten lost over the two-plus decades since the U.S. military left U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay: Not everything is what it seems in Olongapo, the city that sits just outside the gates.

 

Marine Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton, a 19-year-old anti-tank missileman based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., who enlisted in 2013, was among those who flooded out of the USS Peleliu last on Oct. 11. He joined a few buddies at the Ambyanz nightclub on Magsaysay Drive.

 

By the time the night was over, transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude lay dead in a bathroom at the Celzone Lodge, a seedy hotel across the street from the nightclub. 

 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

 

http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/what-role-did-transgender-and-military-cultures-play-in-philippines-death-1.339491 

2nd Witness IDs Marine As Checking Into Hotel With Slain Transgender Filipina

Seth Robson at Stars and Stripes reports on the trial of the U.S. Marine accused of murder in the Philippines.

OLONGAPO CITY, Philippines — A second witness testified Tuesday that U.S. Marine Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton checked into an Olongapo City hotel with a transgender Filipina whose body was found soon afterward.

Pemberton is accused of killing Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude, 26, last Oct. 11. Laude’s body was discovered later that evening in a bathroom at the Celzone Lodge – a cheap hotel near the gates of the former U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay.

Media are barred from the trial that began Monday at the Hall of Justice in Olongapo City. Prosecutor Emilie Fe de los Santos described Tuesday’s proceedings to reporters.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.stripes.com/news/2nd-witness-ids-marine-as-checking-into-hotel-with-slain-transgender-filipina-1.336188#

Alaska Military Policeman Sentenced To 16 Years For Attempted Espionage

Seth Robson at the Stars and Stripes newspaper offers a piece on the sentencing of a U.S. soldier for attempted espionage and other charges.

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — A military panel sentenced a soldier with Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, to a long prison term Monday for trying to sell classified information.

Spc. William Colton Millay, 24, a military policeman with the 164th Military Police Company, communicated with and transmitted national defense information to an undercover FBI agent whom he believed was a foreign intelligence agent, a U.S. Army Alaska statement said.

 

On March 19, he pleaded guilty to attempted espionage, failing to obey regulations, issuing a false official statement, soliciting another to commit espionage and communicating national defense information, the statement said. 

 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

 

http://www.stripes.com/news/army/alaska-gi-gets-prison-term-for-trying-to-sell-information-1.216793

 

Note: The above U.S. Army photo is of Spc. William Colton Millay.