Jennifer Laude Allegedly Murdered By Marine: Reports Suggest Suspect May Have Had Sex With Victim BEFORE Her Death

The brutal murder of Jennifer Laude has sparked outrage within the Philippine’s LGBT community.

There have been rallies in recent days demanding that the Filipino government step up efforts to get U.S. Marine PFC Joseph Pemberton, the man suspected of her murder, into their custody.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, there are concerns that the U.S. government might resist requests to hand Pemberton over.

Filipino-Americans reportedly created a Facebook account dedicated to the pursuit of justice for Laude. The page included the following message:

“We are outraged by the killing of Jennifer Laude, [a] transgender Filipino woman was murdered by a United States soldier.

We are holding an action to call for a thorough investigation and demand to assert the country’s laws and have the suspect face Philippine court.”

Much of the driving anger behind Jennifer’s murder is the belief that the Marine killed her as soon as he learned that she was transgender. Such hate crimes against transgender men and women are not uncommon.

However, new details have emerged about the Jennifer Laude case that have forced some to reevaluate previously held theories as to a possible motive for her death.

According to reports by TFC’s Balitang America and ABS-CBN News, it’s possible that the victim and suspect engaged in sexual acts before she was murdered.

U.S. Marine charged in murder of transgender Filipino he met in bar outside former naval base http://t.co/81pA5oM9ai pic.twitter.com/08OE0lwRqI

— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 16, 2014

These news sources claim that police discovered two used condoms in the hotel room’s trash bin near where Laude was found.

The investigation is still in its early stages, but this unexpected find seems to suggest to authorities that there might have been more to Laude’s death than the Marine’s surprise at her gender.

Luz Francess Chua of the Women’s Celebration Conference still feels that Jennifer Laude was a victim of homophobic rage.

Said Chua,

“Was the killer afraid of his own ghost? Did he discover that he too is a transgender because he was about to have a relationship with a guy?”

One theory about Laude’s death is that it may have been a way for the alleged killer to keep his own sexual preferences under wraps.

Though homophobia remains a popular theory as to the motive of the crime, investigators are also reportedly considering the possibility that sex had nothing to do with Laude’s death.

Authorities are allegedly looking into whether or not the foreigner believed that the transgender woman was attempting to rob him.

As for the condoms, there are no reports as of yet as to whether an attempt has been made to match DNA found on the items against either the suspect or the victim.

Do you believe Jennifer Laude’s alleged killer knew she as transgender? Was Laude’s death the result of a hate crime or something else altogether?

[Image credit: ABS-CBN News]