{"id":29586,"date":"2014-10-23T11:16:14","date_gmt":"2014-10-23T03:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=29586"},"modified":"2014-10-23T11:16:14","modified_gmt":"2014-10-23T03:16:14","slug":"murder-suspect-transferred-to-philippine-camp-guarded-by-fellow-us-marines-after-deal-reached","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/10\/23\/murder-suspect-transferred-to-philippine-camp-guarded-by-fellow-us-marines-after-deal-reached\/","title":{"rendered":"Murder suspect transferred to Philippine camp, guarded by fellow US Marines after deal reached"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"US<\/a>
US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton (left) and Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA,\u00a0Philippines\u2014A U.S. Marine suspected in the gruesome killing of a transgender\u00a0Filipino\u00a0was flown Wednesday from his warship to the\u00a0Philippine\u00a0military\u2019s main camp, where he will continue to be guarded by fellow Marines, in a compromise that eased a looming irritant over his custody.<\/p>\n

The emotional case involving Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton and Jennifer Laude, whose former name was Jeffrey, came as the\u00a0Philippines\u00a0and the United States were strengthening ties with the recent signing of a defence accord that allows greater U.S. access to\u00a0Philippine\u00a0military camps. The accord would help Washington\u2019s bid to reassert its presence in Asia and Manila to deter what it calls China\u2019s aggressive moves to reinforce its claims in contested South China Sea territories.<\/p>\n

Left-wing activists and nationalist Filipinos have cited the custody provision of the accord\u2014which says American military suspects shall remain in U.S. custody until legal processes are completed\u2014as proof that the accord undermines the sovereignty of the\u00a0Philippines, which was an American colony until 1946.<\/p>\n

Pemberton\u2019s transfer by helicopter to Manila was agreed by the U.S. and the\u00a0Philippines, military chief of staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang told a news conference.<\/p>\n

The 19-year-old Marine, who arrived in handcuffs, was detained in an air-conditioned container van with grilled windows, directly guarded by U.S. Marines while\u00a0Philippine\u00a0military police will be posted outside the fenced compound, Catapang said.<\/p>\n

President Benigno Aquino III welcomed the U.S. decision to transfer the suspect, telling a news forum with foreign correspondents that the Americans \u201care responding to our needs and our sensitivities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Appearing before a Senate foreign relations committee hearing on Laude\u2019s killing, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the\u00a0Philippine\u00a0government would never have agreed if U.S. officials decided to detain Pemberton at the American embassy in Manila, where a Marine rape suspect was held years ago, describing such a prospect as \u201ctotally unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hours after the U.S. Marine\u2019s transfer, Laude\u2019s mother, two sisters, German boyfriend and the family\u2019s lawyer\u2014trailed by a throng of journalists and TV cameramen\u2014managed to come close to the military camp compound, where Pemberton was being held, and demanded that they be let in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the family of the woman he killed. Come here,\u201d family lawyer Harry Roque yelled from outside the locked gate. \u201cMr. American, how come you haven\u2019t even condoled?\u201d<\/p>\n

When the\u00a0Filipino\u00a0guards refused to open the gate, one of Laude\u2019s sisters and German boyfriend climbed over the fence into the compound but were prevented by the guards from getting close to Pemberton\u2019s van a few meters away. Other military officials arrived and Laude\u2019s family and lawyer later left.<\/p>\n

While the suspect has been moved to a\u00a0Philippine\u00a0camp, he remains in U.S. custody, the U.S. Marine Corps said, citing the Visiting Forces Agreement, which stipulates treatment of American military personnel suspected of breaking law.<\/p>\n

The Marine Corps takes allegations of illegal acts by its forces seriously, Marine Corps Pacific spokesman Col. Brad Bartelt said, but added: \u201cIt is important to remember that anyone accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that Washington seeks no special privilege for the suspect but only protection of his rights.<\/p>\n

Philippine\u00a0and U.S. authorities engaged in a high-profile custody battle over another U.S. Marine, Daniel Smith, who was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison on charges of raping a\u00a0Filipino\u00a0woman in 2005. A\u00a0Philippine\u00a0appeals court overturned his conviction in 2009, allowing him to leave the country amid anti-U.S. protests.<\/p>\n

In the latest case,\u00a0Philippine\u00a0police and witnesses said Pemberton and Laude, 26, met at a disco bar in Olongapo city on Oct. 11, then went to a motel room where Laude\u2019s body was later found. She had apparently been drowned in the toilet bowl.<\/p>\n

The amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu, where Pemberton initially was detained, had been ordered to stay in Subic during the investigation. But on Wednesday, U.S. Pacific Commander Adm. Samuel Locklear cleared the Peleliu to leave the\u00a0Philippines.<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Oliver Teves in Manila and Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA,\u00a0Philippines\u2014A U.S. Marine suspected in the gruesome killing of a transgender\u00a0Filipino\u00a0was flown Wednesday from his warship to the\u00a0Philippine\u00a0military\u2019s main camp, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":29389,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news-ph","mauthors-jim-gomez","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}