Netflix's new true crime documentary, "What Jennifer Did" explores the true story of Jennifer Pan, a Canadian woman who allegedly hired people to kill her parents.
Pan was 24 at the time of the 2010 incident, during which hitmen entered her home, killed her mother, and severely injured her father. Initially, Pan was thought to be a victim of the crime, calling 911 while saying that she was tied to a banister.
After multiple interrogations, police suspected that Pan was the one who hired the hitmen to kill her parents. In 2014, Pan was found guilty of first-degree murder.
Here's what happened in her case, and where she is today.
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Jennifer Pan conspired to kill her parents after lying to them about her life
Pan's life, and the circ*mstances leading up to her crime, were detailed in a 2015 Toronto Life article by journalist Karen K. Ho, who reportedly grew up with Pan. Her parents, Bich Ha and Huei Hann Pan were immigrants who had separately come to Canada as refugees before marrying and having two children.
In the article, Ho recounts Pan's restrictive childhood, and the immense pressure placed on her to succeed academically. Pan reportedly lied to her parents about her high school grades, her college admission, and professional volunteer opportunities. Instead, she was spending time with Daniel Wong, with whom she had formed a relationship, and worked odd jobs.
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When her parents found out, they placed her under more strict control, eventually forbidding her from seeing Wong. In early 2010, Wong and Pan plotted to hire Lenford Crawford, one of Wong's acquaintances, to kill her parents.
Per Toronto Life, Crawford and two other men entered the Pan household on November 8, 2010. They killed Bich, and shot Hann in the head and shoulder, while Jennifer was tied to the banister. From there, she called 911.
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"What Jennifer Did," includes extensive footage from Pan's interviews with police, in which she recounts the home invasion, how she managed to use her cell phone while bound, and eventually, the lies in her story to police falling apart. Between her second and third interviews with police, her father Hann awoke from a coma —and he remembered seeing his daughter speaking casually with one of the men, and walking unbound through their home.
Police arrested Pan on November 22, 2010. In the spring of 2011, they also arrested Wong, Crawford, and two other men involved in the incident.
Pan was sentenced to life in prison
Pan's trial began in March 2014 and lasted 10 months, according to Toronto Life.
She was found guilty of first-degree murder and attempted murder, CBC reported. In January 2015, she was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years for the first-degree murder charge, and a concurrent life sentence for the attempted murder charge. Crawford, Wong, and one of the other men, David Mylvaganam, were handed the same sentence, per Toronto Life.
Pan's family requested, and was granted, a non-communication order that prevented her from ever speaking to Hann or her brother Felix.
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"When I lost my wife, I lost my daughter at the same time," her father, who did not appear in court, said in a written statement, per CBC.
"I hope my daughter Jennifer thinks about what happened to her family and can become a good, honest person someday," he wrote.
A retrial was ordered in 2023
In May 2023, the Ontario Appeal Court ordered a retrial for Pan, Wong, Crawford, and Mylvaganam, CBC reported. According to the court, the judge in the original trial had limited the jury from considering other verdicts, such as second-degree murder or manslaughter, in relation to the killing of Pan's mother. The retrial is only in reference to the first-degree murder charge —not the attempted murder charge in relation to her father.
The Markham Economist & Sun reported in August 2023 that the Crown (the term used for prosecutors in Canada's legal system) had filed an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the Ontario Appeal Court's decision. Per the publication, if the Supreme Court denies the leave to appeal, Pan may or may not get a new trial. If there is no new trial, Pan will be able to seek parole.
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According to footage from "What Jennifer Did," Pan still maintains her innocence.
Correction: April 11, 2024 — An earlier version of this story stated that Jennifer Pan was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for the first-degree murder charge. She was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
