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- Joseph Scott Pemberton was convicted in 2015 for the 2014 murder of Jennifer Laude, a transgender woman in the Philippines.
- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte pardoned Pemberton on Monday.
- At the time of the clemency, Pemberton had recently been granted early release from his 10-year sentence, although the decision had been appealed.
- Laude’s family attorney, Virgie Suárez, told the Washington Post that the clemency was “disgusting” and “a mockery of our judicial and legal system.”
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
On Monday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte pardoned a US Marine convicted of killing Jennifer Laude, a transgender woman, nearly six years ago.
Corporal Lance Joseph Scott Pemberton was convicted in 2015 for the 2014 murder in the country. In early September, a judge granted him an early release in the middle of his 10-year sentence, although Laude’s lawyers blocked it with an appeal, according to Reuters.
The pardon was first announced by the Philippines. Foreign Secretary Teddy Locsin Jr., who shared the news on Twitter.
“Cutting things off on what constitutes time served, and given that the place where he was detained was not under the prisoner’s control, and to do justice, the president has granted an absolute pardon,” Locsin said.
Duterte later told reporters that he “doesn’t need to give a reason” for the clemency, according to the Washington Post.
“We should allow him the presumption of good character,” he said.
Laude’s family attorney, Virgie Suárez, told the Post that the pardon was “disgusting” and “a mockery of our judicial and legal system.”
“There are too many Filipino convicts who are already serving their sentences in their later years,” Suarez said. “Why give it? [the pardon] to a foreigner, to an American soldier who committed a heinous crime? “
Pemberton, a native of New Bedford, Massachusetts, admitted to killing Laude in October 2014 after learning she was transgender.
According to The Post, they had met at a bar in Olongapo outside Subic Bay, a former US Navy base. Laude, 26, was later found dead in a motel room with his neck broken.
Pemberton, then 19, had said he acted in self-defense and said he believed Laude was alive when he left the motel room, NPR reported. A police investigation at the time called Laude’s death a “hate crime.”
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