Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte Pardons Jennifer Laude’s Murderer
A US Marine has been pardoned by Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte for the murder of a transgender Filipino woman, Jennifer Laude in 2014. At the time, Laude’s murder sparked widespread condemnation and anger in the former American colony. On the evening of October 11, 2014 after meeting in the Ambyanz disco bar in Olongapo the pair allegedly went back to a nearby motel, where staff later found Laude’s body, her neck blackened by strangulation marks and with her head in a toilet bowl.Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton testified in court that he had attacked Laude after realising she was a transgender woman, though he also claimed that she was still alive when he had left the room.The surprise move means that Pemberton will now walk