When parents bring their bundle of joy home from the hospital, it’s often the best day of their lives. Some people imagine their child becoming an athlete; others want their child to embark on a Wall Street career. But there is one thing every parent has in common – they want to give their child a better life than they had.
While all parents want to see their children succeed and reach their full potential, there are different ways to achieve this. Some parents are really relaxed and let their kids go at their own pace, and some parents use the authoritative approach. Most parents fall somewhere in between. Jennifer Pan’s parents were more on the authoritative side of parenting…
A Set of Authoritative Parents
Don’t get me wrong; there is nothing wrong with being authoritative. It’s not abuse in any form of the word, just a particular parenting style. It works for many kids because it gives them the push they need to work hard and see how rewarding the outcome is, especially when it comes to their education, which pretty much sets the path for the rest of their life.
However, this approach doesn’t work for every child. Some people are more creative or physical, and school just isn’t their thing. They may have learning disabilities, get bored, or just not know how to study in a way that works for them. This was the type of student Jennifer was.
Jennifer’s Plan: Get Rid of Them
Jennifer Pan’s parents were Canadians of Asian origin, and they believed that their parental methods of strict discipline had created the perfect child. However, the pressure to always be the best really got to Jennifer, and before she knew it, she found herself in a web of lies, trying to keep up her perfect image for her parents.
She kept her secrets for years but eventually, Jennifer’s parents discovered her double life and put even more restrictions on their 24-year-old daughter. In Jennifer’s mind, there was only one way to break out of this life of rules and regulations: get rid of her parents.
An Unimaginable Act
To carry out this heartless crime, Jennifer hired hitmen and paid them $10,000 to fake a robbery and get rid of her parents. The intention was to end the lives of her mother, Bich Ha, and her father, Heui Hann Pan.
Bich Ha and Huei Hann never let their daughter decide what to do with her time. Jennifer was merely a mediocre student, but her parents expected perfect grades and a promising future. So, Jennifer pretended to give them all of that. In their eyes, she was the golden child, but what this did to her psyche is absolutely chilling.
The Golden Child
Okay, so let’s start at the beginning. When Jennifer was a young girl, she was a promising figure skater. She had natural talent, competed frequently, and was even considered for the Olympic team one day. Her parents were so proud of their perfect child.
Unfortunately, when she was 14, Jennifer got injured and was told she couldn’t skate anymore. Her dreams were crushed, but Jennifer’s parents wanted her to take her determination for the sport and transfer it to her schoolwork. Since she wasn’t going to become a professional skater, she needed a backup plan.
Not a School Girl
Jennifer’s athletic ability didn’t spill over into school. In fact, she was an underachiever in school and didn’t like to study; the average score on her report card was a C-. I know what you’re thinking: How did her strict parents allow her to receive such low scores in school without any consequences?
After all, they were extremely strict and expected perfection. She was a skilled piano player and started playing the instrument at the age of four, but that was just a hobby – not something she was going to make a career out of. Therefore, her parents expected her to excel in her studies.
A Social Outcast
Her parents would drop her off at school in the morning and pick her up at the end of the day. There wasn’t much Jennifer could do without them knowing. She barely had any friends or talked to any of her classmates. According to her parents, a social circle would distract her from her studies, so she wasn’t even allowed to go to school dances or anything like that.
But, as we said, Jennifer wasn’t very good at school. So, instead of showing her parents her real report card, she faked her perfect scores, and they thought their daughter was an honors student. But her lies didn’t end there.
The Lies Begin
Her report card lies escalated to great lengths. First of all, she had a boyfriend, which was forbidden, and she secretly dropped out of school. After pretending she got perfect scores, she falsified honorable mentions, a college acceptance letter, and even a bachelor’s degree. Now, it was time for medical school.
She met a boy named Daniel Wong and dated him without her parents’ knowledge. Instead, she told her parents she moved in with a friend and was attending Ryerson University (in Toronto). She even showed them a fake admissions letter. And they bought it. They didn’t expect their perfect child to trick them like that.
She Was Very Convincing
Jennifer was able to keep her lies going for a long time. She told her parents she was studying to become a pharmacologist because that is what they wanted. After pretending to attend Ryerson for two years, she told them that she was transferring to another university in Canada.
She bought textbooks and even watched documentaries about her area of study so that she would appear as if she knew what she was talking about. Thus, she convinced her parents that she didn’t need them to pay for her school anymore with the grants and scholarships she had won.
Tangled in Her Own Lies
Her parents were thrilled. Their smart, determined, hard-working daughter just earned a scholarship to complete her schooling. But the truth is, they had no idea that their daughter was living a double life. In reality, Jennifer was a high school dropout who lived with her boyfriend, worked as a waitress, and taught piano on the side.
But the accumulation of all these lies was eating her up and overwhelmed her. She believed the only way to get out of this web of lies she was tangled in was by killing her parents. After supposedly “graduating” from college, Jennifer told another lie to stop her parents from attending the graduation ceremony.
Paging Dr. Jennifer
At first, she somehow convinced them that she got a job working late hours and weekends in a hospital. Jennifer told them that it would make more sense for her to continue living with her “friend from college.” You know, the one who never existed. But her parents started feeling like something was up.
A series of events happened in 2010, which triggered a fatal outcome. One day, her dad forced her to take him to the hospital where she claimed to work. That’s when all her lies came crashing down on her.
The Truth Comes Out
She walked around the hospital, hoping that would be enough and her dad would leave. But he followed her around and found no record of her working there. Then her dad called her “roommate,” who informed him that she and Jennifer hadn’t spoken in years.
She knew that her lies would eventually explode in her face one day; it was inevitable. Well, that day finally came. She was forced to confess to everything. She told them she didn’t attend college and had not graduated high school. She also told them that she was living with her boyfriend the whole time.
Much Needed Parental Control
As you can imagine, her parents were utterly ashamed. They were shocked and disappointed that their “perfect” child was living a double life. They then forced her to move out of her boyfriend’s place, quit her job at the restaurant, and move back home.
Her parents weren’t going to let Jennifer get away with this. Although she was already a 24-year-old adult, they took away her cellphone and laptop. They even put a GPS on her car so they could constantly monitor her whereabouts. Could this be the reason she killed her parents?
An Idea Was Festering
Jennifer was outraged. She had so much resentment toward her parents for making her feel like she needed to be perfect all the time. In her mind, none of this would have happened if they lowered their expectations. Jennifer felt like she lost two lives: the one that she invented for her parents and the one she was living with her boyfriend.
Her anger continued to fester. Then, Jennifer reunited with an old friend named Andrew, who was dealing with a similar situation at home. He told Jennifer that he was determined to kill his own father, which likely planted the seed in her mind.
Plan A: Big Fail
Andrew introduced her to someone he knew, and the three of them conjured up a plan to kill Jennifer’s father at work. Jennifer then paid her friend $1,500 to get the job done. What she didn’t expect was for him to take the money and run. Now, Jennifer was even more rageful and desperate.
After a little while, her boyfriend Daniel came back into her life. Jennifer was already in the mindset that she needed her parents dead. According to her, if they were still alive, she and Daniel couldn’t be together.
Plan B: Get the Boyfriend in on It
You would think a loving boyfriend would talk some sense into her. I don’t know, maybe explain to her that killing her parents might be a little impulsive and cold-hearted. But as you might have guessed, Daniel wasn’t that kind of boyfriend.
Instead of dissuading her, he joined in on the murder plot. Together, they decided to hire a hitman to get the job done. The plan was to stage a robbery in which Bich Ha and Huei Hann Pann would be killed. Daniel was the one who made the connection with the murderers and paid them $10,000.
It’s Go Time
The fateful events would take place on November 8, 2010. At around 10:00 p.m., when her parents were getting ready for bed, Jennifer opened the door of her house. She gave the assassins the signal, which was turning the light in the study on and off. A few minutes later, she sent a message to David – one of the hitmen they hired – and told him to proceed.
They pretended to be thieves and took the parents and Jennifer out of their bedrooms and “forced” them to give them all the money in the house. When they did, they took Jennifer upstairs and tied her legs and hands with a shoelace. That’s when Jennifer’s parents were shot in the head.
A Strange Robbery…
Her mother died right away, but her father managed to leave the house and get help from a neighbor who called him an ambulance to take him to the hospital, where he was put into an induced coma. Meanwhile, Jennifer called the police and reported the gunshots.
Upon arrival, investigators realized that this robbery story didn’t add up. The “thieves” didn’t take any other things from the home, such as the luxury car in the garage. Plus, the fact that they came in through the front door also raised suspicions. But initially, Jennifer – the only witness – was treated as a victim.
Her First Story
Jennifer probably didn’t think ahead because she never imagined that her plan would fail. She went in to give her witness statement but didn’t say anything incriminating. However, her body language showed otherwise. Her cries seemed fake, and she was clearly lying about something.
Detectives brought her in for questioning to confirm her story a few days later. She claimed that she was tied upstairs while her parents were taken into the basement. She said she had her phone in her pocket that she hid from the thieves and managed to call 911.
No Other Witness
Unfortunately, Jennifer was the only witness they could go by. Her father was still in a coma, and doctors said that even if he did wake up, he would suffer brain damage and probably wouldn’t remember anything. Meanwhile, Jennifer didn’t learn from her mistakes and continued to lie.
The pathological liar told police that they kept the house dark, so it was difficult for her to see. She even said the only time she saw light was when they opened the refrigerator to look for her mother’s purse. But nothing about this story made any sense, and the police were on to her.
Holes in Her Story
Investigators brought Jennifer in again to make sure they had her story straight, but after speaking to Jennifer, it was evident that she was lying about something. Her emotions were totally faked, and it was obvious to the experienced detectives.
At one point during the interrogation, the investigator gave Jennifer a tissue when she pretended to cry. That same investigator later testified that the napkin was completely dry. There were no tears. It was clear that she didn’t care that her parents were dead; she was just scared of getting caught.
What Really Happened
Meanwhile, something miraculous happened. Jennifer’s father woke up and remembered everything. He told investigators his version of events, and they contradicted Jennifer’s story. He told police everything, including the fact that Jennifer was walking around the house and seemed to know the robbers and that she was also never tied up.
At this point, police detained Jennifer and brought her in for questioning. Since her father suffered brain damage, they were worried that the court could throw out his statement. Therefore, police knew they needed a confession to ensure a conviction.
Now She’s a Suspect
Now, police were telling Jennifer that they knew her story was a lie. It made absolutely no sense that robbers wouldn’t take anything valuable, kill two people, and leave a witness. Jennifer denied any involvement at first, but there were more holes in her story.
The investigator used a popular tactic where he showed how he understood her. He explained to her that he knew the pressure she was under and that anyone in her situation would do the same thing. That’s obviously not true, but he started getting Jennifer to crack.
Playing the Victim
Jennifer then made up another story. She basically told investigators that the hitmen were hired to murder her and not her parents, but there was some miscommunication. She played the victim and made it seem like her life was so hard, and her parents put so much pressure on her that she just wanted to die.
Nobody bought it. This time, Jennifer wasn’t given tissues to wipe away her non-existent tears. But she continued with her story of being depressed and suicidal and that the hitmen just made a mistake.
You Are Now Under Arrest
None of her statements matched up, and besides admitting to hiring a hitman in the first place was a big mistake… even though they claimed that they were hired to kill her. But if she truly wanted to die, she could have overdosed on pills or something. Who hires a hitman to kill themself?
Although this was before her full confession, she admitted to hiring the hitmen, and for that, police were able to keep her. Jennifer wasn’t going home after that interview. At that moment, police ordered her arrest. The whole truth came out in court.
Life Behind Bars
Jennifer’s sentence finally arrived in early 2015. 28-year-old Jennifer Pan, her boyfriend Daniel Wong, and the hitmen involved in this fake robbery – Lenford Crawford, David Mylvaganam, and Erick Carty – were sentenced to life in prison.
They were convicted of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to commit murder with no possibility of parole after 25 years. However, after 25 years, in 2039, they may request the procedural benefit of parole. If this measure is admissible, Jennifer could be released, which is a scary thought. But she would be watched and monitored by authorities, just like her parents did throughout her life.
Serving Her Time
Jennifer is now 34 years old and will be 59 when they review her case for provisional release. Jennifer has been serving her time at Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ontario. She is also forbidden from contacting Daniel Wong.
Jennifer’s dad was obviously devastated and heartbroken. He said, “When I lost my wife, I lost my daughter at the same time. I hope my daughter Jennifer thinks about what happened to her family and can become a good, honest person someday.”
Not the Parents’ Fault
Many people believe that Jennifer’s parents’ caused this, but I want to mention that they didn’t do anything wrong. Sure, they may have been tough on her, but they never physically or mentally abused her. Plus, Jennifer has a brother who turned out just fine.
They clearly just wanted to give their children the best life. Many parents are strict, overprotective, and even controlling of their children. But as parents, it’s their job. Most kids with strict parents don’t decide to kill them. There was obviously something more sinister going on with Jennifer if she thought this was a solution.
A Pathological Liar
The problem with Jennifer is that she is a pathological liar. She was tangled in a huge web of lies, and she did it to herself. She was the one who changed her grades on her report card and lied to her parents. Then, to keep up that lie, she pretended to graduate.
The next step is college, so she literally pretended to attend university in order to keep her parents happy. It was Jennifer who didn’t come clean at any point. This was her own fault. Jennifer tried to keep up these elaborate lies for years, and when they caught up to her, it ended in murder.
A Dark Motive
In the end, it’s unclear what Jennifer’s real motive was. She was an adult and didn’t have to live with her parents if she didn’t want to. Reportedly, they gave her a choice, telling her that if she lived under their roof, she had to follow their rules. That sounds fair to me…
But that included not seeing her boyfriend. After lying to her parents for years and misleading them into believing they were paying for her college when she was running around with her secret boyfriend, it only makes sense that they would take extra precautions.