Philippine government prosecutors have charged U.S. Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton with murder in the killing of a Filipino, according to The Huffington Post.
The prosecutors said Pemberton acknowledged attacking the victim, jennifer Laude, after he found out she was transgender.
In October, Laude’s body was found in Olongapo city, northwest of Manila. She had apparently been strangled and drowned in a toilet bowl.
Marine Lance Corporal Jairn Michael Rose, who went out with Pemberton on a night when a group of them picked up women at a disco, acknowledged that Pemberton later confided back at their ship that he attacked Laude by choking her after discovering that she was transgender when she undressed, according to the prosecutors.