US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton Now In Camp Aguinaldo

The suspect in the killing of Filipino transgender Jennifer Laude, was brought to the Armed Forces headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo Wednesday.

According to news report from DZMM correspondent Edwin Sevidal said he spotted a Caucasian man being brought out of a helicopter that landed at Camp Aguinaldo at 8:50 a.m.

Pemberton’s transfer by helicopter to Manila early Wednesday was an agreement by the U.S. and the Philippines, Philippine military chief of staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang told a news conference. He said that Pemberton will be detained in an air-conditioned van, directly guarded by U.S. Marines while Philippine military guards will be posted outside the compound, he said.

“They agreed to put him in a facility which will pass U.S. custodial standards,” Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin told The Associated Press. “We’re happy with this because he’s a suspect in a crime that was committed in our country.”

Gen. Gregorio Catapang, AFP chief of staff, said Pemberton will be detained in a 20-footer van inside the Mutual Defense Board Engagement Facility while the preliminary investigation is ongoing.

Pemberton will be sleeping in a military-type cotbed with airconditioning.

US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton, a 19-year-old Marine from New Bedford, Massachusetts, is a member of the Second Battalion, 9th Marines, based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He is accused of killing Laude last October 11.

Pemberton skipped the first day of the preliminary investigation into the death of transgender Jennifer Laude on Tuesday.

At the preliminary probe in Olongapo, Pemberton’s counsel Rowena Garcia Flores assured the fiscals the US Marine is still in the Philippines and aboard the USS Peleliu.