Jennifer Pan

Jennifer Pan (born 17 June 1986) is a Canadian woman who was convicted of a 2010 kill-for-hire attack targeting both of her parents, resulting in one death, in response to their alleged severely abusive "tiger parenting" into her mid-20s. The crime took place at the Pan residence in Unionville, Markham, Ontario, in the Greater Toronto Area. Jeremy Grimaldi, a journalist of the Markham Economist & Sun and the author of A Daughter's Deadly Deception: The Jennifer Pan Story, stated that the affair "captivated many, if for nothing else than the sheer intrigue of a case involving matricide, a rarity in Canada."[1]

Jennifer Pan
Born (1986-06-17) 17 June 1986
Markham, Ontario, Canada
CitizenshipCanada
EducationMary Ward Catholic Secondary School (did not graduate)
Criminal statusIncarcerated
Parent(s)
  • Huei Hann Pan
  • Bich Ha Pan
RelativesFelix Pan
MotiveRomantic relationship, monetary gain, alleged child abuse
Criminal charge
  • First-degree murder
  • Attempted murder
  • Conspiracy to commit murder
PenaltyLife imprisonment with possibility of parole after 25 years
Details
VictimsBich Ha Pan
DateNovember 8, 2010
CountryCanada

Early life and education

Jennifer Pan's mother Bich Ha Pan (pronounced "Bick"), née Luong[note 1] and father Huei Hann Pan[note 2] were Chinese diaspora (Viet Hoa) immigrants to Canada.[3] Hann was born and educated in Vietnam, moving to Canada in 1979 as a political refugee. Bich also immigrated as a refugee. The couple were married in Toronto and lived in Scarborough. Their two children are Jennifer, born 1986, and Felix, born 1989.[4][5] The Pans found work at Magna International, an auto parts manufacturer in Aurora, Ontario.[4] Hann worked as a tool and die maker, while Bich made car parts. The couple persistently worked hard for their money to ensure that their children had the upbringing and opportunities they themselves had missed out on. Hann and Bich were thrifty and by 2004 were financially stable enough to purchase a "large" house with a two-car garage on a residential street in Markham, a city in the Greater Toronto Area with a large Asian population.[3] Bich drove a Lexus ES 300 and Hann drove a Mercedes-Benz C-Class (W203). They had accumulated $200,000 in savings.[4]

Jennifer's parents set many goals for their children and had extremely high expectations of them. Jennifer was made to take piano lessons at the age of four, as well as figure skating classes where she trained most days during the week. She had hopes of becoming an Olympic figure skating champion until she tore a ligament in her knee. Jennifer attended Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School where she played the flute in the school band.[4] According to her high school friend Karen K. Ho, Hann was seen as "the classic tiger dad," and Bich was "his reluctant accomplice." The Pans picked Jennifer up when classes ended each day and monitored her extracurricular activities very closely. They never permitted her to date boys while attending high school, or to attend high school dances out of fear that these activities would distract her from her academic commitments. Jennifer was not permitted to attend any parties during the time her parents believed she was attending university. At the age of 22, "she had never gone to a club, been drunk, visited a friend's cottage or gone on vacation without her family."[4] Jennifer and her friends reportedly regarded this upbringing as restrictive and greatly oppressive.[4]

Despite her parents' high expectations and that Jennifer had received good grades in lower school, throughout high school her grades were somewhat average (in the 70% range) except for music. Multiple times, she forged report cards using false templates to show her parents that she had received straight As when she had not. When Jennifer failed calculus class in grade 12, Ryerson University rescinded her early admission. As she could not bear to be perceived as a failure, she began to lie to those she knew, including her parents, and pretended she was attending university. Instead, she sat in cafés, taught as a piano instructor and worked in a restaurant to earn money. In order to maintain the charade, Jennifer told her parents she had won scholarships, later falsely claiming that she had accepted an offer into the pharmacology program at the University of Toronto. She went to the extent of purchasing second-hand textbooks and watching videos related to pharmacology in order to create notebooks full of purported class notes that she could show her parents. Jennifer also requested permission from her parents to stay near the campus with a friend throughout the week.[4]

She was actually staying with her boyfriend,[4] Daniel Chi-Kwong Wong,[note 3][7] whom she had met in high school.[4][8] He was of mixed Chinese and Filipino ancestry,[8][9] resided in Ajax,[10] and worked at a Boston Pizza restaurant.[11] Wong, once a student at Mary Ward, transferred to Cardinal Carter Academy in North York, Toronto due to low grades, and later studied at York University.[4] He was an active marijuana dealer.[4][12]

Adult life

While pretending to complete her degree at the University of Toronto, Pan told her parents that she had started working as a volunteer at The Hospital for Sick Children. Hann and Bich soon became suspicious when they realized she did not have a hospital ID badge or uniform. On one occasion, Bich followed her daughter to "work" and quickly discovered her deception. In a state of shock, Hann wanted to throw Jennifer out of the house, but her mother persuaded him to allow her to stay. As she had not completed high school due to failing calculus, she eventually began working to finish high school completely and was later encouraged by her parents to apply to university. She was, however, forbidden to contact Wong or to go anywhere except for her piano-teaching job. Nevertheless, she and Wong spoke secretly during this period.[4]

By the time that Jennifer was 24, Wong had grown weary of trying to pursue a relationship with her. As Jennifer was so daunted and restricted by her parents that she lived at home and only met him in secret, Wong began to date another young woman whom he soon fell in love with.[4] Pan quickly invented a new story and told Wong that a man had entered her house, showing what appeared to be a police badge. She then told him that several men had rushed in and gang-raped her. After this, she insisted that a bullet was mailed to her, telling Wong that it was sent from his new girlfriend.[4]

Murder

In Spring 2010, Pan was in contact with Andrew Montemayor, a high school friend who, she claims, had boasted in their high school years about robbing people at knife point, an assertion denied by Montemayor. Montemayor introduced her to Ricardo Duncan, a "goth kid" whom Pan gave $1,500 to kill her father in the parking lot at his workplace. Duncan says that she once gave him $200 for a night out, but that he returned it, and that he rebuffed her when she asked him to kill her parents.[4]

Pan and Wong were back in contact at this time and according to the police, came up with a plan to hire a professional hitman for $10,000 to kill her parents, calculating that she would then inherit $500,000. They planned to move in together. Wong connected Pan with a man,[4] Lenford Roy Crawford,[10] Jamaican-born,[13] whom he called Homeboy, and gave her a SIM card and an iPhone so that she could contact Crawford without using her usual cell phone.[4] Crawford contacted another man,[14] named Eric Shawn "Sniper" Carty,[15] who in turn contacted Montreal-born David Mylvaganam.[14][3] Crawford lived in Brampton and Mylvaganam lived in Toronto, while Carty,[10] who previously lived in Rexdale, Toronto,[15] at the time did not have a fixed residence.[10] The Crown (prosecution) stated that Mylvaganam was one of the hitmen.[14] Carty was later found responsible for an unrelated murder, and journalist Grimaldi stated that Carty was "a repeat violent offender".[1]

The murder took place at the Pan house in Unionville neighbourhood in Markham, Ontario.[16] On November 8, 2010, Pan unlocked the front door of the family home when she went to bed, then spoke by phone to Mylvaganam. Shortly afterwards, Mylvaganam and two other people entered the home through the unlocked front door, all carrying guns.[4] In the court testimony, the Crown did not establish the identity of the other two hitmen; Wong and Crawford were at work.[14] Carty stated that he was the driver for those who broke into the house, and that he selected them and was involved in plotting the attack. He did not state that he was one of the three or that he directly attacked others.[1] Grimaldi stated that the identity of the triggerperson remains unknown.[1]

After demanding all the money in the house and ransacking the main bedroom, the three men took Bich and Hann to the basement where they shot them multiple times. Bich was killed but Hann survived his wounds. The three men then took all the cash that was in the house including $2,000 from Pan and left. Pan claimed that they tied her up, but that she managed to free her hands and dial 9-1-1.[4] Hann Pan was treated at Markham Stouffville Hospital,[17] before being moved to a trauma unit[18] at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto,[19] by aircraft.[18]

Investigation and arrests

The evening after the murder, Pan underwent her first interview with the police.[20] Pan was arrested on November 22, 2010[21] during her third interview at the Markham police station (5 District) of York Regional Police.[22][23] During that interview Pan admitted that she hired killers, but stated that she hired them to kill her.[24] The interrogating police officer, William "Bill" Goetz,[4][24] falsely told Pan that he had computer software that could analyze untruths in statements and that there were satellites that used infrared technology to analyze movements in buildings;[24] in Canada police are legally allowed to lie to those they are interrogating in regard to the evidence in the trial,[25] as well as in regard to the strategies they are using.[26] Goetz had used the Reid technique to obtain Pan's confession.[27]

Mylvaganam was arrested at the Jane Finch Mall in North York, Toronto on April 14, 2011. Carty was arrested at the prison he was held in, Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton, Ontario, on April 15, 2011.[28] Wong was arrested on April 26, 2011 at his place of employment.[11] Crawford was the final suspect arrested, entering custody on May 4, 2011 in Brampton.[29]

Trial

The trial of Pan and her accomplices began on March 19, 2014 in Newmarket and continued for ten months. All pleaded not guilty to the charges of first degree murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to commit murder. At the trial, York Regional Police evidence included exhaustive tracking of the mobile device movements and text message traffic, including over 100 messages sent between Pan and Wong in the six hours prior to the killing.[30] Further evidence centered around the atypical nature of the "break-in", "robbery", shootings, and irregularities in Pan's testimony. Pan's obsession with Wong, her lack of true emotion and a confession regarding the attack, and recognition of the trauma she underwent were also detailed.[30] A major irregularity was that Pan was not assaulted, blindfolded, taken to the basement, nor shot, leaving behind an eyewitness to the attack. Evidence from Hann, which differed greatly from Pan's version, also undermined her credibility, as did her inability to recreate the conditions of her 9-1-1 call when her hands were bound behind her (given that the police were the ones who had actually cut the shoelace to release her).[30] The trial included over 200 exhibits; over 50 witnesses testified at the trial.[4]

Pan, Wong, Mylvaganam, and Crawford were all convicted on December 13, 2014, and each received a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.[4][31][32][33]

Originally, Carty was tried with the other perpetrators. Edward Sapiano, Carty's lawyer, fell ill,[12] so around the summer of 2014, his case was declared a mistrial. In December 2015, Carty received an 18-year sentence after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit murder. He will be eligible for parole after nine years. According to Carty, he did not wish to subject Hann Pan to another criminal trial.[1]

Penalties and imprisonment

Jennifer Pan was sentenced to life with no chance of parole for 25 years for the murder of her mother, and attempted murder of her father. Pan's father and brother requested a court order that banned her from ever contacting members of her surviving family again. Despite the objections of the defense lawyers, the judge filed the order.[33] Pan is also barred from ever contacting Wong again.[34]

As of 2016, Pan was serving her sentence at the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ontario.[35] Wong, previously held in Lindsay, Ontario, was at Collins Bay Institution in Kingston, Ontario. Mylvaganam was at Atlantic Institution in Renous, New Brunswick.[36] Crawford was at Kent Institution in Agassiz, British Columbia.[37] Carty, who requested to go to a federal prison in Western Canada or Atlantic Canada, was still at the provincial Millhaven Assessment Unit, awaiting his transfer to a federal prison.[35] Carty, who later moved to Kent, died in his cell on April 26, 2018.[15]

Media reaction

According to the South China Morning Post, the case "sent shockwaves across Canada and the Asian diaspora."[3] An editorial in the Northwest Asian Weekly suggested consideration of the "idea of recognizing the mental and psychological symptoms that parenting may have gone too far" in the Pan household.[38] A story by Karen K. Ho in Toronto Life magazine brought the story to widespread attention by framing it an instance of tiger parenting gone tragically wrong.[4][5][38] In 2016, journalist Jeremy Grimaldi published a true crime book about Pan called A Daughter's Deadly Deception: The Jennifer Pan Story.[3][8] The Casefile and My Favorite Murder podcasts and the Deadly Women series also covered the case.[30]

Aftermath

Bich-Ha Pan's funeral was held on November 15, 2010 and took place at the Ogden Chapel in Scarborough. A funeral for Bich Ha's father was held, according to Pan, prior to Bich Ha's to satisfy a Chinese custom that asks for older members of the family to have their funerals first. Jennifer Pan had organized both funerals and had been asked to do so.[39] Bich-Ha was buried on November 19.[40] Hann Pan could not attend due to his injuries.[41]

See also
  • Bart Whitaker – A Texas man who ordered a hit on his family after he faked continuing attending a university
  • Jean-Claude Romand – A French impostor who pretended to be a medical doctor for 18 years before killing his family when he was about to be exposed
  • Sef Gonzales – A similar case involving tiger parenting
  • Suzane von Richthofen – A Brazilian woman who planned the killing of her parents

Notes
  1. Bich Ha Pan: Vietnamese: Phan Bích Hà, Luong: Vietnamese: Lương - In Chinese her maiden name is used: Chinese: 梁碧霞; Jyutping: loeng4 bik1 haa4; pinyin: Liáng Bìxiá[2]
  2. Huei Hann Pan: Vietnamese: Phan Hán Huy traditional Chinese: 潘漢輝; simplified Chinese: 潘汉辉; Jyutping: pun1 hon3 fai1; pinyin: Pān Hànhuī[2]
  3. Daniel Chi-Kwong Wong: traditional Chinese: 黃志光; simplified Chinese: 黄志光; Jyutping: wong4 zi3 gwong1; pinyin: Huáng Zhìguāng[6]

References
  • Grimaldi, Jeremy. A Daughter's Deadly Deception: The Jennifer Pan Story. Dundurn Books, November 12, 2016.
    • ISBN 1459735269, 9781459735262.
    • ISBN 1459735250, 9781459735255.

Reference notes
  1. Grimaldi, Jeremy (December 7, 2015). "Carty gets 18 years for his part in Markham's Pan murder". Markham Economist & Sun. Archived from the original on September 18, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  2. Source of Chinese names: "「乖乖女」被控弒母.萬錦入屋劫殺案峰迴路轉". Sing Tao. November 24, 2010. Archived from the original on December 3, 2010. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  3. Lau, Joyce (8 November 2016). "A murder in Toronto and the dark side of the Asian immigrant dream (book review)". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 25 December 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  4. Ho, Karen K. (22 July 2015). "Jennifer Pan's Revenge: The inside story of a golden child, the killers she hired, and the parents she wanted dead". Toronto Life. Archived from the original on 24 February 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017. – Version in Simplified Chinese Archived 2018-09-17 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Wang, Yanan (27 July 2015). "Tragedy of 'golden' daughter's fall resonates with Asian immigrant children". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 12 February 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  6. "男友爆潘女曾遭5漢性侵 聲稱收警告短訊 矢口否認涉案". Sing Tao Daily. 2014-05-10. Archived from the original on 2016-09-18. Retrieved 2018-09-18.
  7. "4th arrest in Markham home invasion homicide". CBC. The Canadian Press. 2011-04-26. Archived from the original on 2018-07-31. Retrieved 2018-09-18.
  8. Brown, Vanessa (11 December 2016). "When Chinese cubs turn on their Tiger Parents". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  9. Grimaldi, ISBN 1459735269, 9781459735262, Google Books PT 31 Archived 2020-09-03 at the Wayback Machine: "[...]commenting on the fact that he was only half Chinese. "[...]you're [part] Filipino.""
  10. Gillis, Wendy (May 4, 2011). "Fifth suspect arrested in deadly Markham home invasion". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on September 20, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  11. Grimaldi, ISBN 1459735269, 9781459735262, PT 90 Archived 2018-09-20 at the Wayback Machine. "Daniel Wong is arrested at work in front of his colleagues at Boston Pizza on April 26, 2011."
  12. Dimanno, Rosie (September 15, 2014). "The astonishing testimony of Jennifer Pan". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on September 25, 2018. Retrieved September 25, 2018. Seven years until Wong — Pan says he was the one who put her in touch with “Homeboy,” a man he knew through his marijuana dealing
  13. Grimaldi, A Daughter's Deadly Deception, ISBN 1459735250, 9781459735255, p. 81 Archived 2020-09-03 at the Wayback Machine.
  14. Hasham, Alyshah (August 13, 2014). "Crown finishes presenting evidence against Jennifer Pan in murder trial". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on September 20, 2018. Retrieved September 20, 2018. [...]who in turn involved David Mylvaganam, allegedly one of three men who[...]It remains unclear who the other two men who entered the house are. The jury has heard that Crawford and Wong were both at work at the time of the murder.
  15. Grimaldi, Jeremy (2018-06-26). "Eric Carty, linchpin in Jennifer Pan murder plot, dies in jail". Markham Economist & Sun. Archived from the original on 2018-09-28. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
  16. "Markham murder trial resumes with father still on stand". Guelph Mercury Tribune. Markham Economist & Sun. March 26, 2014. Archived from the original on September 19, 2018. Retrieved September 19, 2018. [...]in Unionville in this file photograph. This was the scene of the murder of Bich Pan in 2010.
  17. Grimaldi, ISBN 1459735250, 9781459735255 p. 17 Archived 2018-09-20 at the Wayback Machine.
  18. Grimaldi, ISBN 1459735250, 9781459735255 p. 27 Archived 2018-09-20 at the Wayback Machine.
  19. Grimaldi, ISBN 1459735250, 9781459735255 p. 35 Archived 2018-09-20 at the Wayback Machine.
  20. Grimaldi, ISBN 1459735250, 9781459735255 p. 18 Archived 2018-09-20 at the Wayback Machine.
  21. "Jennifer Pan plotted to have parents killed, says Crown". CBC. The Canadian Press. March 19, 2014. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  22. Grimaldi – Interview date: ISBN 1459735250, 9781459735255 p. 66 Archived 2018-09-20 at the Wayback Machine. "During her third police interview, on November 22, 2016, Jennifer opens up to Detective Goetz[...]" – Arrest: ISBN 1459735250, 9781459735255 p. 74 Archived 2018-09-20 at the Wayback Machine. Also ISBN 1459735269, 9781459735262, Google Books PT 273 Archived 2018-09-20 at the Wayback Machine. "[...]Goetz returns before calmly stating, "[...]At this point of the investigation I will be arresting you for murder,[...]""
  23. Grimaldi, Jeremy (2014-04-29). "Jennifer Pan betrays her own 'web of lies' in videotaped interview". DurhamRegion.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-23. Retrieved 2018-09-23. Ms Pan’s dramatic admission came after more than two hours of questioning in a small windowless room at York Police’s markham station
  24. Grimaldi, Jeremy (April 29, 2014). "'I thought you were on my side', Pan tells York Police". Markham Economist & Sun. Archived from the original on September 22, 2018. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  25. Grimaldi, ISBN 1459735269, 9781459735262, Google Books PT 62 Archived 2020-09-03 at the Wayback Machine. "Police in Canada might be allowed to lie to suspects about the evidence they have collected,[...]"
  26. Grimaldi, ISBN 1459735269, 9781459735262, Google Books PT50 Archived 2020-09-03 at the Wayback Machine. "In 2000, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that police are allowed to lie not only about evidence but tactics, as well."
  27. Grimaldi, Jeremy (November 13, 2016). "The story behind the confession of Jennifer Pan". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on September 17, 2018. Retrieved September 22, 2018. – An excerpt of the book A Daughter's Deadly Deception.
  28. Grimaldi, ISBN 1459735269, 9781459735262, PT89 Archived 2020-09-03 at the Wayback Machine. "Two days after speaking with Denise Brown, Detective Courtice gives the order to take David down.[...]The following day, police descend on Maplehurst Correctional[...]where Eric Carty is held, and charge him with the same." PT88 Archived 2020-09-03 at the Wayback Machine states: "[...]on April 12, when police finally get in touch with Denise Brown,[...]"
  29. Grimaldi, ISBN 1459735250, 9781459735255, p. 109 Archived 2020-09-03 at the Wayback Machine. Also: ISBN 1459735269, 9781459735262, PT 91 Archived 2018-09-22 at the Wayback Machine. "Lenford is arrested on May 4[...]Brampton driveway.[...]no further charges are laid in his case."
  30. "Case 50: Jennifer Pan – Casefile: True Crime Podcast". Casefile: True Crime Podcast. 2017-04-16. Archived from the original on 2018-02-13. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  31. Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press (24 January 2015). "Jennifer Pan, Toronto woman whose plot to kill parents left mother dead, gets life in prison". National Post. Archived from the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  32. "Jennifer Pan sentenced to life without parole for 25 years". cbc.ca. 23 January 2015. Archived from the original on 20 August 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  33. Grimaldi, Jeremy (23 January 2015). "Jennifer Pan: Life with no parole for 25 years in murder of mother, attempted murder of father". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 21 August 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2015. [...]including a non-communication request from Hann Pan, Felix Pan and other family members, banning Pan from contacting any of them.[...]But Justice Crawford disregarded this and went ahead with the ban.
  34. Grimaldi, ISBN 1459735250, 9781459735255 p. 314 Archived 2018-09-20 at the Wayback Machine.
  35. Grimaldi, 1459735250, 9781459735255 p. 313 Archived 2018-09-20 at the Wayback Machine, or ISBN 1459735269, 9781459735262 Google Books PT273 Archived 2018-09-20 at the Wayback Machine.
  36. Grimaldi, ISBN 1459735250, 9781459735255 p. 312 Archived 2018-09-20 at the Wayback Machine.
  37. Grimaldi, ISBN 1459735250, 9781459735255 p. 313 Archived 2018-09-20 at the Wayback Machine.
  38. Editorial (15 August 2015). "Is it possible to love and hate?". Northwest Asian Weekly. Archived from the original on 1 June 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017. – Also at Archived 2019-08-31 at the Wayback Machine ProQuest
  39. Grimaldi, ISBN 1459735269, 9781459735262, Google Books PT49 Archived 2020-09-03 at the Wayback Machine.
  40. Grimaldi, ISBN 1459735269, 9781459735262, Google Books PT50 Archived 2020-09-03 at the Wayback Machine.
  41. Grimaldi, ISBN 1459735250, 9781459735255 p. 59 Archived 2020-09-03 at the Wayback Machine.
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