Verdict on Laude murder out in 6 days

PEMBERTON AP/PNP Olongapo city

The last time the American flag was lowered at the Subic Bay Naval Base in Olongapo City was on Nov. 24, 1992. It was also the day the last batch of American Marines and sailors left the former base land.

So it was fortuitous that the fate of a United States soldier would be decided on the same date this year.

Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde of Olongapo Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 74 would be handing down her verdict in the murder trial of detained US Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton, who was accused of killing transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude in October last year, according to Laude family lawyer Virgie Suarez.

The news about Laude’s death just before midnight on Oct. 11, 2014 spread like wild fire, breaking the stillness of dawn. Local police responded to a call and rushed to a room of Celzone Lodge, finding the bed and pillows neatly stacked.

But inside the room’s toilet, the policemen were startled to see Laude dead, her head slumped on the toilet seat. Contusions were visible around the victim’s neck. Her tongue slightly stuck out and her hair was tangled.

Hours later, American forensic investigators arrived at the crime scene, and the neighborhood finally realized it was no ordinary crime.

For many, Laude’s death was reminiscent of the 2005 rape case involving a Filipino woman and an American soldier, which had haunted the city and the country for years.

Only this time, Jennifer was dead.

To complicate matters, Laude was a transgender woman. Her death gained local and international media attention as soon as details of the murder began to trickle out.

The local police had disclosed the search for a foreigner who witnesses said was the last person seen with Laude. These witnesses—Celzone room attendant Elias Gallamos and Laude’s friend, a transgender woman identified as “Barbie”—later testified against Pemberton in court.

As many as 30 witnesses were presented by government prosecutors during the trial that began on March 23.

Two days after Laude’s body was found, the police and the US Navy confirmed that a US Marine was being detained on a US ship in relation to the murder.

Consequently, the US Pacific Command (under Adm. Samuel Locklear III at the time) had stopped two of its warships from leaving the Subic free port pending a police investigation of the crime.

Pemberton was linked to the killing after Barbie identified him through a photographic lineup that was facilitated by the US Naval Crime Investigation Service.

The 19-year-old Pemberton was part of the 3,500 US Marines and Navy men who took part in the 10-day war exercises held in several areas in the country, including training sites near Olongapo City.

Pemberton was an antitank missile operator who belonged to the 2nd Battalion of the 9th Marines. He was held on the USS Peleliu after he was implicated in the crime.

Support and sympathy for the Laudes poured from activist groups soon after the news about the victim’s death broke out. The murder also sparked street protests.

The public outcry pressured the Aquino administration to seek the transfer of Pemberton from a US warship to the military detention facility in Camp Aguinaldo, the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ headquarters.

Each day of Laude’s wake was filled with intense emotions. The family’s grief was exacerbated when Laude’s mother, Julita, arrived at the funeral home on the third day of the wake. That was the first time she learned about Jennifer’s death.

Amid their agony, Laude’s sister, Marilou, filed a murder complaint against Pemberton in the Olongapo City prosecutor’s office on Oct. 15. She was accompanied by their primary counsel, lawyer Harry Roque Jr., and three police officers.

Days later, Laude’s German fiancé, Marc Sueselbeck, arrived to pay his last respects.

After Laude was laid to rest, Sueselbeck left the country on the heels of a deportation case filed against him by the Bureau of Immigration for jumping over a fence of Camp Aguinaldo where Pemberton was being detained.

Pemberton was formally charged with murder on Dec. 15, after government prosecutors headed by City Prosecutor Emily Fe de los Santos found probable cause to pursue the criminal complaint. Murder is a nonbailable offense and is punishable by imprisonment of up to 40 years.

The prosecutors concluded that Pemberton used “treachery, abuse of superior authority and cruelty” against his victim. At one point in the preliminary investigation, Laude’s camp sought the inhibition of De los Santos, alleging that she showed “despotism and hostility” toward Roque.

De los Santos shrugged off the complaint and proceeded with the investigation.

Legal battle

Pemberton’s first appearance in court was on Dec. 18. He, however, was not arraigned as scheduled. His lawyers asked for the suspension of proceedings to argue for a reduction of the charges from murder to homicide.

Pemberton’s camp challenged the findings of the city prosecutor in the Department of Justice, arguing that the case against him was based on speculations and conjectures of supposed witnesses.

His lawyers also argued that the prosecution failed to present direct evidence to show how the alleged attack on Laude started and was executed.

In a Feb. 20 resolution, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima concurred with the prosecution team’s findings, allowing the Olongapo RTC to proceed with the trial.

On his Feb. 23 arraignment, Pemberton refused to enter a plea, prompting the judge to enter a “not guilty” plea on his behalf.

The trial began on March 23. Gallamos pointed to Pemberton as the man he saw with Laude on the night of Oct. 11. The soldier and Laude met earlier at the Ambyanz Disco located near the motel.

Barbie also identified Pemberton as the Caucasian who was with Laude in a disco bar before she was found dead in the motel’s toilet.

Pemberton’s “liberty” companion, US Marine Lance Cpl. Jairn Michael Rose, also testified in court, saying Pemberton had told him that he might have killed “a he or a she” on the night they went bar hopping in the city.

Pemberton discovered that Laude was a transgender woman and this had angered him, Rose said.

During the trial, Laude’s relatives sought at least P200 million in moral and exemplary damages as the civil aspect of the case was tackled in court.

It was the defense’s turn to present witnesses in court on Aug. 17. Pemberton’s mother served as a primary character witness.

‘Self-defense’

Taking the witness stand, Pemberton admitted that he choked and subdued Laude in self-defense but denied murdering her.

Defense lawyer Rowena Flores said Pemberton told the court that he and Laude fought after he found Laude was physically a man.

Pemberton’s lawyers summed up their defense by asking the court to absolve the soldier, asserting that the evidence presented a “reasonable doubt” that he killed Laude.

Flores also said the presence of “DNA of a third party” indicated that someone else may have murdered Laude. But the Laude family’s private counsels were quick to downplay the defense’s conclusions, saying these were “conjectures and theories.”

Suarez and Roque said they were confident that the court would hand down a guilty verdict against Pemberton. “Once Pemberton is convicted, our fight will continue to ensure that he will serve his sentence in the country,” Suarez told the Inquirer last week.

The Bureau of Immigration has issued a deportation order for Pemberton even as the court has yet to decide on the case.

Roque said the order was a “welcome development.” “It was at the instance of the Laude family that he was made subject of deportation proceedings. It proves that he is indeed an undesirable alien arising from the killing of Jennifer,” he said.

Roque, however, noted that the deportation should be done after Pemberton serves his sentence if the court will find him guilty.

For Suarez, the conviction does not stand on equal footing with deportation, which she said was simply administrative as well as “a fallback.”

If Pemberton is acquitted, prosecution cannot appeal to a higher court since he will be deported immediately, Suarez said. “You only think of a fallback in an acquittal and [if that happens], it is the loss of the entire nation, a loss for all Filipinos,” she said.