When we talk about Asian parents, the first thing that often comes to mind for many people is “Tiger parenting” and their high expectations for academic achievement imposed on their children, a stereotype depicted by the Western media, Hollywood if you will.
Such depiction, though deeply negative and exaggerated, isn’t necessarily wrong as as they do stem from real experiences. While many Asian children do navigate the pressures placed upon them and find success in various fields (although not all of them manage to become doctors or lawyers), some take quite a tragic turn. Jennifer Pan is one of them.
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Before you read: This article is mainly based on my own observation and research, information from various sources will be used for reference but it might contain holes and shortcomings. Read at your own discretion.
1. Are Children Born Evil?
Looking at the innocent girl above, it's hard to believe she would be the one to come up with the kill-for-hire attack targeting at her own parents. But before we jump to that part, let’s learn why she did what she did.
Jennifer Pan was born on June 17, 1986 in Markham, Ontario, Canada. She was the daughter of Huei Hann and Bich Ha Pan, the Sino-Vietnamese immigrants who were described as strict parents.
To Jennifer, having strict parents meant achieving straight-A performance at school was a must. Every order from her parents was absolute, and she had to obediently attend extra classes, piano sessions, figure skating, and martial arts.
She was an excellent student when she was at Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School in Markham. At some point, her parents often referred to her as their “golden child”, and not to disappoint them, Jennifer even won a scholarship for early admission to Ryerson University in Toronto [1].
True to her father’s wish, she soon graduated from University of Toronto’s prestigious pharmacology program with flying colors and was then accepted to work in a blood-testing lab at SickKids hospital [2]. A truly golden child to her parents, a dream child of any parents.
If your instinct says “No way, it’s too good to be true” while reading what I’ve written above, then you’re right. Those were just blatant lies fabricated by Jennifer herself.
Jennifer’s parents. Source: www.thestar.com
The truth? Well, Jennifer did not graduate anything, she didn’t even make it out of high school and universities were basically out of her league.
Jennifer’s parents had escaped Vietnam in 1979. Her father, Hann, was brought up in Vietnam and moved to Canada as a political refugee while her mother, Bich, came separately. Later, they met and got married in Toronto, settled in Scarborough, and had two children: Jennifer in 1986 and Felix three years later. [3]
Hann and Bich devoted their lives to offering their children the opportunities they had never experienced. Both of them worked at the auto parts manufacturer Magna International. They eventually bought a large home, a Lexus and a Mercedes, and saved up $200,000.
Jennifer showed her potential in figure skating. Source: talkmurder.com
Hoping their children would work as hard as they did to lead an easier life, they put Jennifer in piano classes when she was four. Turns out, Jennifer was indeed a brilliant child. She showcased her talent and had already amassed a collection of trophies and awards by the time she reached elementary school. It wasn’t enough, they enrolled her in figure skating where she trained almost everyday. Jennifer was exceptionally talented and at some point, she was even expected to compete in the National Competition and become a worthy contender for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. However, Jennifer got a serious knee injury in which she tore her ligament at the age of 14 [4]. Her dreams came to an abrupt end.
“Some nights during elementary school, Jennifer would come home from skating practice at 10 p.m., do homework until midnight, then head to bed. The pressure was intense. She began cutting herself—little horizontal cuts on her forearms.” - according to Jennifer’s high school friend, Karen K. Ho.
Her dream was blown off like a candle. Couldn’t fulfill her parents’ wishes to become an extraordinary athlete, Jennifer was forced to meet her parents’ expectations in a more traditional way: education. There was nothing else she could do but follow the order, then she got into Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School where she played the flute in the school band [5].
Jennifer in high school. Source: allthatsinteresting.com
“She had practised martial arts, she was a good swimmer and on top of all of her extra curricular activities, she also studied late into the night.” [6]
The issue is Jennifer's academic prowess didn't match her athletic abilities. To take matters further, her parents even forbade her from going to any high school parties, sleepovers and even dating boys to make sure she wasn’t distracted from her educational accomplishments.
And so, in order to live up to the impossible expectations of her parents, Jennifer had no choice but to forge her report cards. And this is when things started to go south.
2. The Double Life
According to an old friend of Jennifer, Karen K. Ho, Jennifer was an excellent student during her elementary school years. However, by the middle of Grade 9, her grades began to decline, averaging around 70% in all subjects except for music, where she excelled as she was in the senior stage band.
So instead of having a heart-to-heart conversation with her parents, Jennifer decided to deceive them with lies. Old report cards, scissors, glue, and a photocopier came in handy. She fabricated a new report card with perfect As, which of course made her parents brimmed with proud.
Believing that universities typically didn't consider how well students performed in Grade 9 and 10 for admissions, she convinced herself that it wasn't significant.
During this time, both Hann and Bich took turn to pick her up when classes ended every day, and they closely supervised her extracurricular activities [7]. Despite feeling trapped in the never-ending loop of lies and strict management of her parents, Jennifer still involved in a romantic relationship with Daniel Wong in Grade 11.
Daniel Chi-Kwong Wong, Jennifer’s boyfriend. Source: www.thesun.co.uk
Jennifer found solace in Daniel, who was one year older, somewhat goofy and outgoing, accompanied by “a big laugh, a wide smile and a little paunch around his waistline.” [3] And this relationship was surely something that her parents would never approve of.
“Their relationship was platonic until a band trip to Europe in 2003. After a performance in a concert hall filled with smokers, Jennifer suffered an asthma attack. She started panicking, was led outside to the tour bus and almost blacked out. Daniel calmed her down, coaching her breathing. “He pretty much saved my life,” she later said. “It meant everything.” That summer, they started dating.” - Karen K. Ho
The appearance of Daniel seemed to mark a new chapter in Jennifer’s life, as he was her biggest ally until the crime unfolded. Daniel was also known as an active marijuana dealer and had been charged for drug trafficking once.
As her grades kept declining, Jennifer still received an “early acceptance” to Ryerson University in Toronto. However, Jennifer failed Calculus in Grade 12 and couldn’t graduate high school, thus her early admission was rescinded. Fearing that her parents would take things too far once they found out she had failed so miserably to fulfill their wishes, Jennifer put up a smile and said that she’d be starting at Ryerson in the fall and planning to pursue two years of science before transitioning to the pharmacology program at the University of Toronto, as her father’s wish [8].
Of course, the Pans were extremely satisfied at the news. Her father was so pleased that he bought her a laptop as a reward for this extraordinary accomplishment. Meanwhile, Jennifer bought used biology and physics textbooks and school supplies to complete the ruse.
Whenever her parents questioned how she managed to cover her tuition fees without requesting money from them, she modified documents indicating that she had won scholarships and was receiving an OSAP loan. The Pans' worry dissipated, replaced by proud smiles.
Each day, Jennifer would pack her books and take buses downtown, pretending as she was going to classes. But in fact, she showed up in public libraries or cafes, jotting down whatever she found related to her supposed “major” in her notebooks. Sometimes, she spent her time visiting Daniel at York University. Jennifer found some jobs to cover her needs, such as taking shifts East Side Mario’s as a server, tutoring piano and even working as a bartender at a Boston Pizza, where Daniel worked as a kitchen manager.
Until the time when she was supposed to transfer to pharmacology program at University of Toronto, Hann asked if his daughter would still be able to switch. She said yes and confirmed to be accepted into the program. The family was thrilled. Hann had always wanted to ask her more about her studies, but only to be intervened by his wife, saying "Let her be herself. Too much interference will not be good."
3. The Truth Revealed
Everything was in order; Jennifer spent time in the libraries filling her books with copious notes, visiting her boyfriend, and working part-time elsewhere. She told her parents that she wanted to stay with a friend named Topaz for three nights a week. Bich, aware of her daughter's long daily commute, persuaded Hann that it was a good idea.
You already know the truth, Jennifer never stayed at Topaz’s, she was with Daniel and his family in Ajax from Monday to Wednesday. She lied to Daniel’s parents, saying that her parents were fine with her staying here and always brushing off their invitations to have Hann and Bich over for dim sum.
Finally, after two years of pretending, it was supposedly time for Jennifer to graduate from U of T. Jennifer and Daniel hired someone online to fabricate a counterfeit transcript, straight As of course. And for the graduation ceremony, Jennifer told her parents that there were insufficient seats available due to the extra-large class size [9].
However, her lies did not collapse for such an excuse, but for something she had disclosed to her parents while she was “studying” at University of Toronto. As she said she was volunteering at SickKids Hospital in a blood-testing lab, her father knew something was off:
“The web of lies finally unravelled in 2009, when the suspicious father noted his daughter had no uniform or key card for the Toronto hospital she said she was volunteering at.
"I was frustrated and I was concerned that something was not right," Mr. Pan told jurors through a Vietnamese interpreter.”
And so, the Pans decided to follow her to school to find out the truth. They decided to drive her to work the next morning, but as soon as the car stopped, she bolted and disappeared. Hann told his wife to follow her through the waiting area of the ER, where she hid for a few hours after realizing her mom was tailing her.
The next day, Hann and Bich decided to call Topaz for his daughter’s whereabouts, only to receive an answer that Jennifer didn’t stay with her. Jennifer came home and confessed the truth. Hann was so mad that he confiscated her laptop and cellphone, threatened to kick her out of the house [10].
The tiger parents, Bich and Hann. Source: nationalpost.com
She admitted to having stayed with Daniel the whole time and confessed that she had never been to the University of Toronto or SickKids hospital for volunteering. However, she omitted some other facts: she had never graduated from high school, and her time at Ryerson was fabricated.
Her devices were confiscated for two weeks. Afterwards, her time spent on the devices must be under close supervision of her parents, her messages were also randomly checked. No boyfriend, no outings, no freedom whatsoever. Jennifer returned to her old route: studying, only under a stricter management. However, despite the odds, Jennifer still communicated with Daniel in secret, sneaky calls and whisperings in the dark were practically her love language.
“They ordered her to quit all of her jobs except for teaching piano and began tracking the odometer on the car.” - Karen K. Ho
Hann found out that his daughter still entangled herself with Daniel Wong, he gave her a ultimatum: Cut ties with him or leave the family forever. She chose to remain at home not have contact with Daniel [11]. Later, it was revealed that Daniel broke up with Jennifer, feeling weary of their secret romance and moved on with another girl named Christine.
Things were supposed to end there, where Jennifer would continue her calculus and got her high school credit, applying to a college as her parents still hoped she could become a laboratory physician or a nurse. But no.
The nightmare began from here.
4. The Heinous Plot And The Strike
a. The Plot
Jennifer felt suffocated, her long-time boyfriend broke up with her, her parents supervised almost everything she did. Eventually, when she was given a brief moment of freedom, she came up with something sinister.
“She figured she’d never be allowed to do what she wished as long as they were still alive.” - Jeremy Grimaldi, author of “A Daughter's Deadly Deception”
In spring 2010, Jennifer reached out to one of her elementary classmates for help, Andrew Montemayor, who frequently bragged about committing theft at knifepoint during their school days.
As someone who suffered the same parent issue, Andrew was willing enough to help by introducing her to his roommate, Ricardo Duncan. The two met on several occasions, in which Jennifer often vented about her parents. However, at some point in July 2010, Duncan deliberately ended his friendship with Jennifer over a phone call as she requested him to “come kill my parents.”
Duncan stated he didn’t know whether Pan was venting in anger or genuinely asking him to kill her parents. Nonetheless, he felt offended by the request, told her to “fuck off” and ceased contact with her immediately. [12]
As her request was denied, Jennifer went and looked for someone else who could help her get rid of the “stress” in her life. Daniel Wong re-entered the conversation.
Daniel Wong being interrogated. Source: tuoitre.vn
They were reportedly back together, exchanging texts and calls on a daily basis. Jennifer knew Daniel had numerous criminal contacts through his drug dealing business.
Daniel introduced Lenford Crawford, who went by the nickname “Homeboy”, to Jennifer. Together, they had plotted the strike under the guise of a home invasion gone wrong.
David Mylvaganam and Eric Carty. Source: www.thesun.co.uk
Jennifer enlisted the help of two more men, David Mylvaganam and Eric Carty, and agreed to the price of $10,000 for double assassination. If everything went well, she would inherit $500,000 from her parents’ insurance.
But did thing go well to their plan? Nope.
b. The Strike
The Pan residence in Unionville, Markham. Source: kenh14.vn
On November 8th 2010, after exchanging the details of the plot and when to execute it, Jennifer received a text from Homeboy that read ““After work OK will be game time,” marking the time when the crime began.
In the evening of that same day, Jennifer was watching TV in her room and Hann was reading Vietnamese news downstairs. Her mother, Bich, had gone out for dancing class with her friend and cousin. The clock hit 9:30, Bich came home and changed into her pyjamas.
Five minutes later, Jennifer received a call from David exchanging the last details about the plan. Jennifer then came downstairs, on her way to say good night to her mom, she unlocked the front door, creating an infiltration opportunity for David and his accomplices.
Crime scene where the home invasion took place. Source: www.thesun.co.uk
At 10:02 p.m., light in the study room upstairs turned on, and switched off a minute later, signaling the assailants. Lenford Crawford, David Mylvaganam and Eric Carty entered the resident through the front door, carrying firearms.
The attack occurred. The intruders took the Pans to the basement, covered their heads with blankets. They went upstairs and tied Jennifer to the banister while she was yelling for her parents frantically. How ironic, her parents begged the criminals to leave Jennifer unharmed.
“How could they enter the house?” Bich asked Hann in Cantonese. “I don’t know, I was sleeping,” Hann replied. “Shut up! You talk too much!” one of the intruders yelled at Hann. “Where’s the fucking money?” Hann had just $60 in his wallet and said as much. “Liar!” one man replied, and pistol-whipped him on the back of the head. Bich began weeping, pleading with the men not to hurt their daughter. One of the intruders replied, “Rest assured, she is nice and will not be hurt.” - Karen K. Ho
Carty after directing Jennifer back inside received a sum of $2,500 in cash and $1,100 in U.S. funds in her mother’s nightstand, he continued to search for her mother’s purse in the kitchen. To wrap up, they shot the parents. Bich Ha Pan was killed instantly with 3 shots at close range, Hann got shot twice but was lucky enough to survive and crawled his way to the neighbor’s house.
Jennifer demonstrated how she called 911 while being tied. Source: allthatsinteresting.com
Jennifer pulled out her phone and called 911. She reported that her family was being attacked by three unknown assailants, and she heard “a couple pops” and constantly yelling for her parents on the phone. She was more panic when she heard her father moaning out of agony while making his way outside.
Ambulance and policemen arrived at the crime scene, escorting Hann to hospital and taking Jennifer in for questions. She was stilled considered an innocent victim/witness of the event, but as the investigation went on, she gradually became the chief suspect.
5. The Aftermath
Jennifer and Felix, her brother, at the funeral of their mother. Source: www.yorkregion.com
Jennifer was called in for questions four times. In the first time, she was still the witness and victim of the crime. But then, inconsistencies started to appear in her testimony, which she changed way too frequently. Policemen then called her in for the second and third time, she wasn’t aware of the fact that she had become the main suspect from that moment.
Hann woke up from a coma in the hospital, he said that his daughter might have something to do with three random burglars broke into their home, as he saw Jennifer “whispering to one of the hitmen in a friendly and soft manner” [7]. However, his testimony was not considered reliable as he suffered from minor brain damage, which could be used to defute his testimony in court; not to mention the potential personal resentment toward his daughter.
In the last interrogation, Jennifer finally admitted being a part of the crime.
“You’re involved in this. I know that,” said the interviewing detective.
“There’s no question about it. The only question right now is: Are you going to keep making mistakes?”
After hesitating, Jennifer replied: “But what happens to me?”
Arrested on the spot and charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder, Jennifer finally went on trial on March 19, 2014, along with Daniel and Homeboy, as well as hired muscle David Mylvaganam, 34, and Eric Carty, 25. [13]
And so, Jennifer was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years for the first-degree murder charge. Additionally, she received another life sentence, to be served concurrently, for the attempted murder of her father. Wong, Mylvaganam, and Crawford were also given the same sentence.
Unlike the other co-accused, Eric Carty was found dead in his cell at a British Columbia prison, according to the police, he could’ve been stabbed to death [14].
Jennifer, now 38, is still spending her time in Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ontario [15], however, it looks like she doesn’t quit fighting for herself. As of May 2023, Jennifer and her three accomplices filed appeals, leading to the Court of Appeal for Ontario (ONCA) ordering new trials for their first-degree murder convictions [16]. However, the ONCA dismissed most of the grounds of appeal. Therefore, while the appeal was partially successful in reducing the charge from first-degree murder to attempted murder, it was not entirely successful in overturning all convictions [17].
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I recall hearing about this story on a true crime podcast some time ago, and seeing someone delve into such detailed analysis in an article is truly fascinating. While this particular case has been resolved, unlike the mysteries I often write about, the underlying narrative is one that should not be overlooked. Yes, the daughter hired someone to kill her own parents, but when we reflect on the story, the parents also played a significant role in shaping their daughter's mindset. They exerted pressure on her, forcing her into activities she didn't enjoy—a scenario that sometimes reminds me of my own childhood, with extra lessons after school and the like (fortunately, my parents weren't that extreme). However, recalling how the whole family was disappointed in me for getting two 7s in my grades is a situation children should never have to face; they shouldn't have to worry about calculations like 17 * 21 at their age.
I appreciate how the author divided each part and conducted thorough research for this article without showing bias towards either the parents or the daughter (as they are all culpable in this tragic tale). The style, imagery, and overall presentation are well-balanced, making it a piece worth studying and learning from.
Perhaps a collaboration in the future? Ms. Nguyen?
I recall hearing about this story on a true crime podcast some time ago, and seeing someone delve into such detailed analysis in an article is truly fascinating. While this particular case has been resolved, unlike the mysteries I often write about, the underlying narrative is one that should not be overlooked. Yes, the daughter hired someone to kill her own parents, but when we reflect on the story, the parents also played a significant role in shaping their daughter's mindset. They exerted pressure on her, forcing her into activities she didn't enjoy—a scenario that sometimes reminds me of my own childhood, with extra lessons after school and the like (fortunately, my parents weren't that extreme). However, recalling how the whole family was disappointed in me for getting two 7s in my grades is a situation children should never have to face; they shouldn't have to worry about calculations like 17 * 21 at their age.
I appreciate how the author divided each part and conducted thorough research for this article without showing bias towards either the parents or the daughter (as they are all culpable in this tragic tale). The style, imagery, and overall presentation are well-balanced, making it a piece worth studying and learning from.
Perhaps a collaboration in the future? Ms. Nguyen?
As a therapist I have observed that sometimes people can be pushed in a corner and they believe no healthy options are available.