What Jennifer Did is a true-crime documentary film released on Netflix, shedding light on the complex murder case which shocked everyone. It is written and directed by Jenny Popplewell and has a runtime of about 1 hour and 27 minutes.
The documentary features investigators involved in the case including Detective Bill Courtice, Detective Alan Cooke, Deborah Gladding, David Macdonald; and acquaintances – Hong Ngo, Nam Nguyen, Fernando Baldassini and others.
What Jennifer Did investigates the violent crime that shook a quiet Canadian town, where mysterious intruders broke into the home of a Vietnamese family, terrorised and shot the parents, and left a traumatized daughter as the only witness. When Jennifer called 911 for help, she didn’t realise that she would become the primary focus of the brutal case.
-This Article Contains Spoilers-
What Jennifer Did Review
If you have been chronically online, scrolling through YouTube looking for something to watch, you might have come across a video with a thumbnail of an Asian girl sitting in a white interrogation room. It would mostly have a clickbait title like “You won’t believe what this girl did” or give some psychology/body language lesson on the girl’s mannerisms. If you were curious enough, you might have clicked on the video and got to know about Jennifer Pan and everything she did to cover her bloody trail. If you didn’t then here’s what happened.
Jennifer Pan made a frantic 911 call on the night of November 8, 2010, from her family home in Markham, Ontario, Canada. She reported that three gunmen had broken into the house, tied her up, and shot both of her parents while demanding money before fleeing. While pleading for help, Jennifer’s father, Huei Hann Pan, who had survived the shooting, could be heard in the background needing urgent medical attention. Sadly, her mother, Bich Ha Pan, died instantly.
At first, it seemed like a rare and random robbery case gone wrong, considering the peaceful locality with a low crime rate. Nobody could fathom the terror and pain that the survivor, Jennifer, must be going through and empathised with her completely. However, investigators were having a hard time connecting the dots, as to why the crime even happened and the motive – but to no avail. Until the sole witness’ facade slowly started to come off and the pieces covering her ulterior plans were taken apart.
According to Jennifer’s testimony, three armed men broke into her house and tied her to the bannister near the stairs. They threatened her parents downstairs, asking for money and eventually shot them, due to lack of it perhaps. Despite her hands being tied behind her back, she was able to take her phone out of the back pocket and call 911 for help. While her mother couldn’t be saved, her father was still alive as the bullet passed down from his nose (where he was shot) to the throat, leaving him in a critical condition. Based on her statement, it’s really hard to find a clue or motive behind the crime as the family was perceived as hospitable, generous, and hard-working with no criminal/dangerous links.
Until, they dug deeper into Jennifer’s life and the lies she had been living with for years. The first red flag was her relationship with ex-boyfriend of 7 years, Danny Wong. Her parents were apparently against their relationship because he was a drug dealer and didn’t have bright future plans. Both Jennifer and Danny describe Bich Ha Pan and Huei Hann Pan as strict and controlling parents, who more or less dictated what Jennifer Pan’s life should be like. From taking her phone to stop her from contacting Danny, telling her what to study to taking her everywhere by themselves, they might have isolated their daughter while trying to stop her from going astray.
However, none of those measures seem to work on her and in fact, pushed her in the worst direction. It was revealed during the investigation that she lied about her accomplishments, including her acceptance to college for almost 4 years. She told her parents she was studying to be a pharmacist, and even forged a diploma to complete the ruse. At first, the investigators thought that Danny’s drug activities and Jennifer’s desperate involvement in his life, despite the breakup could be a lead for the crime. What they didn’t expect her to become the main conspirator in the case.
Due to Huei Hann’s critical condition, he was kept in an induced coma until the doctors could treat him. With Jennifer being the only witness and survivor, the investigation went around what she had told the officers and that didn’t lead them anywhere. Miraculously, when Huei Hann finally woke up from his coma the complete picture of that terrorising night came to light. Contrary to the daughter’s statement, Huei revealed that he was woken up by an armed man, while another had his wife at gunpoint. They were placed across each other on the sofa and their daughter Jennifer was roaming free, having normal/friendly conversations with the strange men.
His statement changed the complete narrative of the case, making Jennifer a victim to the one accused. Jennifer doesn’t accept her involvement at any time in the course of the documentary, saying that they were supposed to kill her because she didn’t want to live anymore etc. But it became evident quickly that she enlisted Danny Wong’s help to organize a plot to murder her parents. Not having moved on from Danny, Jennifer’s phone chat history revealed how she would try to persuade him to be with her. And despite having a new girlfriend, he would go along with her in conversation – even to the extent of hooking her with the hitmen.
What solidified the claims against her was that this was actually Jennifer’s second attempt to pull off a murder-for-hire. Ten months earlier, she had asked another acquaintance to kill her parents. Although Jennifer maintains her innocence until now, the collected chats and admitted guilt by the co-conspirators – Danny Wong, Eric Carty, David Mylvaganam and Lenford Crawford aka Homeboy was enough to convict them of first-degree murder of Bich Ha Pan and attempt to murder of Huei Hann Pan and conspiring for murder.
What Happened to Jennifer Pan? Where Is She Now?
During the 2014 murder trial, Huei Hann Pan testified for the prosecution. Jennifer was sentenced to life in prison with the chance of parole after 25 years. The other defendants, Danny Wong, David Mylvaganam, and Lenford Crawford, were also found guilty and received a similar sentence. Eric Carty’s trial ended in a mistrial, but in December 2015, he was sentenced to 18 years after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit murder. He was eligible for parole after nine years but passed away in jail in 2018.
Mr Huei Hann has been granted a lifetime non-contact order against Jennifer. However, in May 2023, the Court of Appeal for Ontario stated that the jury should have been able to choose between second-degree murder or manslaughter as potential verdicts, leading to the overturning of first-degree murder convictions for the accused. The Supreme Court of Canada is now considering whether to take on the case.
Final Thoughts
Initially, based on Jennifer and Danny’s account of the parents, makes one believe that her parents must be relentlessly strict and suffocating to live with. Although it doesn’t excuse her crime but makes it somewhat understandable that she could develop resentment against her birth-givers. But as the web of lies came forward, one can only empathise with the poor parents. It’s quite clear that they wanted the best for her and any parent would stop their kid from dating a good-for-nothing drug dealer. And like typical Asian parents, they wanted her to have a ‘reputable’ profession.
This is the point where things get tricky. From a third perspective, it looks like Jennifer had many choices to live the kind of life she wanted. Either rebel against her parents to study what she wanted, move out or find a job to sustain herself. Maybe even continue her relationship out of the parent’s control. However, Jennifer’s actions leave you wondering about her mindset. She even says it herself that she could have left if she wanted, instead of hurting her parents (as a defence to prove innocence). Then why didn’t she? Why did she stay in the restrictive environment, lying for years about going to college and whatnot?
Although it’s evident that her obsession with Danny stems from the sense of freedom, she wanted for herself. But from her endless lies and manipulative actions, it doesn’t seem like she was that helpless and could only resort to such an extreme measure to get out. Hearing the 911 call again after knowing everything, just gives you chills to think that she was acting so naturally after ordering to shoot her parents. Would she have laughed after the call ended, over how they believed her easily or gone over the story she was going to spin? No one except her can know the exact reasons behind everything What Jennifer Did.
What Jennifer Did is available to watch on Netflix.
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