The Pemberton Case on a Different Angle

The case of 19 year old United States Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton has been  long time national issue since 2014, when Pemberton was said to have killed Jennifer Laude, a Filipino transwoman whom Pemberton did not know was transgender.

Looking at the facts and evidences, two condoms were found at the bathroom where Laude's body was found, but what it contains were negative of both Laude and Pemberton's DNA samples. This, I guess, was a plus for Pemberton since it could prove that no sexual intercourse were done. But then again an offer from the United States of giving Laude's family a huge amount of money just to lower Pemberton's charge, was just a plain disappointment.

Basically, even if the court had mase a decision, the case will still go on and on. Cases like murders and such will never really end, especially when victims like Laude are involved.

I'm not one for facts on laws and the country's constitutions, I hardly get those, so I'd rather not keep myself involved. But when I heard about this case, what really bothered me was the fact of how disappointing it must have been for Pemberton to anger him that much to make him kill Laude, just because of Laude being a transgender.

Up until now, I still don't get it. I understand that it must have been disappointing for Pemberton to know that Laude was a transgender, after making him believe that she was a woman. But disappointment up to the point where he killed her, that's the part I don't get.

Maybe there's a much deeper explanation for this. Perhaps an emotional and mental state that science and politics alone cannot answer. Perhaps a belief or a life option that cannot be dissected inside the courtroom, we'll never really know. For me, it all boils down again, to some people not being openly welcoming of the LGBT community. This isn't the first of so many cases of discrimination all because someone is gay, lesbian, or trans.

As someone who doesn't really classify someone according to gender, maybe I, too, am blind on the wider explanations on cases as such, and as much as I want to understand what must have been going on in Pemberton's head during that time, maybe it will be hard for me as well. A lot of people called Pemberton names such as "homophobic", "serial killer", and all other negative things, I'd like to believe that there's an acceptable explanation to this, no matter how bizarre.