Why Jennifer Pan has been granted a retrial as viewers left outraged
Any true crime lovers out there have been in for a proper treat as of recent with Netflix dropping a whole load of docs in the increasingly popular genre.
One of which was none other than What Jennifer Did which landed on the streaming platform earlier this month (10 April).
Netflix viewers clearly can't get enough of the doc now that it's climbed to the prestigious 'No. 1 in Films Today' spot.
Check out the official trailer here:
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Now, in case you've yet to watch it, the flick tells the chilling story of Jennifer Pan, who was jailed back in 2010 for hiring a pair of hitmen to murder the very two people that brought her into this world: her parents.
The doc features never-before-seen interview footage and spine-tingling first-person accounts exploring the circumstances which led the Canadian student to believe that murder was the only means of escape from her difficult home life.
The incident occurred back in 2010 when a group of intruders 'broke into' the Pan home in Ontario, home of Vietnamese immigrants Bich Ha Pan and Huei Hann Pan, who lived with their daughter, Jennifer.
What appeared at first to be an armed robbery - with the three men demanding that the married couple hand over all of their money - soon evolved into a brutal killing, after the group took Jennifer's parents down into the basement and shot them.
Her mother, Bich, was instantly killed upon impact, while her father managed to survive the ordeal, crawl back up the stairs and be rushed to the nearest hospital.
It was Jennifer who had alerted the emergency services, managing to ring them from her mobile while tied to the staircase.
After an in-depth police investigation, officials ultimately found Jennifer to be the main suspect.
Following an emotional court case, Pan was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 25 years and no possibility of parole for the murder of her mother, and attempted murder of her father.
Her three co-accused - her on-again, off-again boyfriend Daniel Wong, Lenford Crawford and David Mylvaganam - were also convicted on the same charges.
However, Pan and the three other men went on to appeal in 2023, prompting the Court of Appeal for Ontario to order new trials for the first-degree murder convictions.
So, why was there a retrial?
Well, during the 2023 appeal, Pan was granted a new trial for the murder of her mother and her conviction overturned.
The panel of judges presiding over the appeal decided that the original trial judge had made a critical error by instructing the jury that they were only to consider the option of first-degree murder, as opposed to also being able to consider second-degree murder or manslaughter.
Canada’s Supreme Court is still weighing whether or not to hear the case.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Pan’s conviction for the attempted murder of her father remains.
Thus, the life sentence she received for that crime is still to be carried out.
And it's clear that, upon finding out about a retrial, Netflix viewers were far from satisfied with many taking to social media to share their thoughts.
One X, formerly Twitter, user hit out: "Can’t believe they’re getting a retrial!"
A second slammed: "New trial?! We got 50 leven dozen pieces of evidence proving she did it. Bye. Stop wasting ppl time."
"Granted a new trial????" penned a third, while another chimed in: "I remember this story from a decade ago [...] and yet still doesn't answer the title's question because it's up for retrial."
What Jennifer Did is currently available to stream on Netflix.
Full timeline of the Jennifer Pan case:
Jennifer hires hitmen to kill her parents
In the hopes of inheriting a $500,000 (£393,000) fortune and getting rid of her pushy parents, in November 2010 Jennifer, 24 at the time, enlisted the help of hitmen to kill her parents.
What appeared at first to be an armed robbery - with the three men demanding that the married couple hand over all of their money - soon evolved into a brutal killing, after the group took Jennifer's parents down into the basement and shot them on 8 November.
Her mother, Bich, was instantly killed upon impact, while her father managed to survive the ordeal.
The 911 call that changed everything
Jennifer frantically called 911 to report the crime, but police soon began to poke holes in her story about how the incident unfolded - especially as she was left unharmed and was somehow able to call 911, despite her hands supposedly being bound.
Jennifer becomes a suspect
An in-depth police investigation ultimately led to Jennifer as the police's main suspect.
Authorities were particularly alarmed when they learned that Jennifer had managed to fool her parents into believing she was attending university in Toronto for a number of years.
Jennifer's lies crumble and double life is exposed
The naturally average-achieving student claims she was consistently pressured by her parents to achieve top-notch grades, become an Olympic athlete, a martial arts professional and an award-winning musician.
Their pressure supposedly came at such an extent that Jennifer actually faked studying at university, creating false documents and forged loan letters.
Jennifer is jailed
On 13 December, 2014, Pan was found guilty of first-degree murder and attempted murder. She was sentenced the following year to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
Her co-conspirators Daniel Chi-Kwong Wong, David Mylvaganam and Lenford Roy Crawford were convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder in December 2014 and sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
Eric Shawn "Sniper" Carty was given an 18-year sentence after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit murder, with eligibility for parole after nine years. He passed away in prison in 2018.
Jennifer’s 2023 appeal
Last year, Pan was granted a new trial for the murder of her mother.
It was found that the original judge in her trial had made an error by telling the jury they were only to consider first-degree murder, instead of also being able to consider second-degree murder or manslaughter.
At the time of writing, Canada’s Supreme Court is still undecided on whether it will hear the case.
Topics: Netflix, True Crime, Crime, TV And Film, News, World News, Documentaries
Rhiannon Ingle