The true story of Jennifer Pan, a Canadian woman who planned the death of her parents, is told in a new Netflix documentary called “What Jennifer Did.” The movie directed by Jenny Popplewell, examines Jennifer’s life, how she dealt with her parents’ demands, and the terrible events that led to the crime. The video shows Jennifer’s actions and why she did them in great detail by using police footage and interviews.
Who is Jennifer Pan?
Jennifer Pan was born in Canada in 1986 to parents who had left Vietnam to live with family there. Huei Hann Pan, her father, was born and raised in Vietnam, and Bich Ha Pan, her mother, also came to Canada as a refugee. The Pan family moved to Scarborough, Ontario, and that’s where Jennifer and her brother Felix grew up.
Jennifer had high standards from her parents from a young age. Her father, who was called a “tiger dad,” was especially strict. In order to become an Olympic figure skating winner, she took piano lessons and figure skating lessons. A knee accident, though, put an end to her hopes of becoming a professional skater. Jennifer played the flute in the school band while she was at Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School. Jennifer’s parents expected her to do well in school, but her grades were average, except for music. She started making fake report cards to trick her parents into thinking she was getting straight As.
Jennifer kept lying to her parents by saying she was going to college after failing calculus and not being able to finish from high school. She made up a story that she was studying medicine at the University of Toronto. To keep up the lie, she even made up class notes. Jennifer started dating Daniel Chi-Kwong Wong, who she had met in high school, around this time. Wong, who was born in China and raised in the Philippines, sold drugs and worked at a Boston Pizza restaurant. Jennifer’s folks didn’t like that they were dating, which made things worse in the family.
What happened to Jennifer Pan’s Parents?
Three hitman killers (Lenford Crawford, David Mylvaganam, and Eric Carty) broke into the Pan family home in Markham, Ontario, on the night of November 8, 2010. Jennifer’s father, Huei Hann Pan, and mother, Bich Ha Pan, were shot during the break-in, which was meant to look like a failed theft. Bich Ha died right away, and Huei Hann is in serious condition.
Jennifer helped with the attack by opening the front door to the house where she lives with her parents. After that, she called 911 and pretended to be a victim, asking for help. But when her father woke up three days later from a forced coma, he remembered what happened, which helped police figure out Jennifer’s part in the crime. As he thought back, Jennifer seemed to know the hitmen.
Jennifer decided to have her parents killed because she wanted to get away from the stress and demands that her family put on her. Her parents had high hopes for her in school and her personal life, and Jennifer felt stuck by the web of lies she had made up to trick them. Jennifer planned the murder because she was afraid of losing her freedom and her friendship with Daniel Wong after her lie was found out.
How was Jennifer Pan caught?
Jennifer Pan was caught because of several things that showed how complicated her plan to lie and kill was. Her father, Huei Hann Pan, who lived through the attack, gave detectives important information. He said that Jennifer seemed to know the hitmen, which made them think she was involved. Police looked into the home invasion and its circumstances in great detail and found proof that linked Jennifer to the crime. Tracking her phone showed that she had sent long texts to her boyfriend Daniel Wong, which explained the plan and why she was doing it. Suspicions were raised because of her inconsistent evidence, her lack of real emotion, and the unusual nature of the break-in. The hitmen’s statements and her ultimate confession added to the evidence against her. Jennifer was arrested and found guilty of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and plot to murder because of these things.
Where is Jennifer Pan Now?
She and the other people who helped her pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, attempted murder, and planning to kill someone. Tracking of mobile device moves and text messages—more than 100 of which were sent between Pan and Wong in the six hours before the killing—were used as evidence in the trial. The trial also showed how obsessed Pan was with Wong, how she didn’t show real emotion, and how her evidence was inconsistent. Pan and her partners were found guilty on December 13, 2014, and each got a life sentence with no chance of release for 25 years.
Pan and her co-conspirators filed an appeal with the Court of Appeal for Ontario in May 2023. The court agreed and ordered a new trial for the first-degree murder charge. The court said that the trial judge made a mistake when he told the jurors that they could only think about situations that supported a first-degree murder charge. He should have also let them think about situations that supported a second-degree murder or manslaughter charge. The convictions for trying to kill Pan’s father were confirmed. As of right now, the Supreme Court of Canada is not sure if it will agree with the Court of Appeal’s decision.
