US Marine jailed for transgender woman's slaying

A Philippine court convicted a US Marine on Tuesday of killing a Filipino last year after he discovered in a hotel she was a transgender woman.

Lance Corporal 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 Olongapo, a city northwest of Manila. He was sentenced to six to 12 years in jail, with time already spent in detention credited, said Court Clerk Gerry Gruspe.

Laude's mother, Julita, said that while she was happy the verdict detailed everything that had transpired, she was not pleased with the jail term because she had hoped Penderton would be found guilty of murder, a more serious crime than homicide.