A US Marine accused of murdering a transgender person in the Philippines snubbed a summons by prosecutors Tuesday, sparking outrage by the victim's family who said they feared he would evade justice.

Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton failed to appear at a preliminary murder hearing to answer a Filipino police complaint naming him as the suspect in the killing in the northern port city of Olongapo.

"We hope the Americans will bring him out. They're coddling a worthless man," Julita Laude, mother of the murder victim, told a news conference after the hearing.

Police said Pemberton was the last person seen with the victim, Jeffrey Laude, before he was found dead in a hotel bathroom with his head in the toilet and marks of strangulation on his neck.

Pemberton was detained by his superiors aboard the helicopter carrier USS Peleliu off Olongapo.

But after Pemberton failed to appear before the hearing, Laude's sister expressed concern over whether he would be brought to justice.

"Who will catch him? Who can we turn to to make him pay?" Malou Laude said.

If the decision were his to make, German Marc Sueselbeck said the American soldier who allegedly killed his girlfriend, Jeffrey "Jennifer" Laude, would get the death penalty.

Laude, whom Sueselbeck planned to marry in Thailand next year, was found dead in the bathroom of a motel in this city on Saturday night.

Sueselbeck and Laude met online and were in a relationship for two years.

A murder complaint was filed on Wednesday by Laude's family against Pvt. 1st Class Joseph Scott Pemberton of the United States Marine Corps, who witnesses said checked into the motel with Laude that night.

The family has yet to announce burial plans for Laude.

Sueselbeck, in a statement posted by a television network on its website, said Laude's family knew about and had accepted their relationship.

He also lamented that Laude was disrespected. He vouched for Laude's integrity, saying she was not a thief and not a sex worker.

However the USS Peleliu may be staying longer as one of the US marines aboard became the main suspect in the murder of a Filipino transgender resident in Olongapo on the weekend.

Philippine military chief of staff General Gregorio Catapang (L) shakes hands with US Pacific Command commander (USPACOM) Admiral Samuel Locklear (R) during the arrival honours ceremony prior to their meeting at the military headquarters in Manila

Protesters demanding a US marine believed responsible for the murder of a Filipina transgender perso be turned over to Philippine custody.

The Phlippine Department of Foreign Affairs said it would only seek the turnover of the American after a formal arrest warrant is issued for him.

Police block protesters as they march towards the gate of the US embassy as they shout anti-US slogans at a rally at the US embassy in Manila

Protesters hold placards during a rally to condemn the murder of a local transgender person in front of the foreign affairs office in Manila

Filipino students holding candles stand next to a grafitti during a candlelight vigil for a murdered local transgender person in front of a university in campus in Manila

An Australian chef killed his Indonesian wife in their Brisbane apartment, cooked her body parts over the stove and then slit his own throat in a grisly murder-suicide on Oct 5.

It was reported that police arrived to investigate complaints from neighbours of a terrible smell coming from an apartment unit.

When they arrived, police found some parts of Ms Mayang Prasetyo's body cooked up on a stove.

The authorities also found other parts of her body strewn across the apartment and in garbage bins outside, The Straits Times reported.

Her husband and killer, Marcus Volke, reportedly fled the unit when officers arrived, before taking his own life.

Australian news website news.com.au reported that Ms Mayang was a transsexual "high class" prostitute.

She was charging up to A$500 (S$558) an hour for her services, and had also worked at Melbourne's transgender cabaret show Le Femme Garcon before settling in Brisbane with her husband, according to reports.

Ms Mayang's mother Nining Sukarni said that she had been the family's breadwinner and had sent money home to put her two sisters, aged 18 and 15, through school.

She referred to Ms Mayang as her son, Febri.

The Courier-Mail also reported that Volke's mother, Dorothy, did not suspect that anything was amiss and that everything seemed 'normal'.

Ms Mayang's mother described Volke as "quiet" and "submissive".

But Mayang's friends had raised concerns that her husband was "extremely cold" and difficult to get to know.