The Tragic Case of Jennifer Pan
Jennifer Pan, now 39, broke down in court on Wednesday after finally admitting her role in a shocking plot that left her mother dead and her father fighting for his life. This case has been a long and complicated journey through the Canadian legal system, spanning over 15 years.
Pan pleaded guilty to manslaughter, admitting that she staged a home invasion in 2010 that led to the gunmen she hired shooting both of her parents. Her mother, Bich Ha Pan, was killed, while her father, Hann Pan, was seriously wounded but survived the attack on their home in Markham, Ontario.
According to Pan’s lawyers, Bich Ha Pan was never even supposed to be harmed. The original plan was only to kill Hann Pan, whom Pan described as an abusive and controlling man who treated her like a “piece of property” and an “investment” to improve his reputation with his friends.
In court, Pan apologized to her father, expressing that even though she felt “trapped” with him and “hopeless and degraded,” there was no excuse for what she did. She admitted that she looked for a solution in a “delusional and irrational way.”
“To my mother: I love you more than anything,” she said. “I’m sorry I did not come to you, I’m sorry that we did not talk, I’m sorry that I thought this fantasy would fix all of our lives, and we ended up without you. I’m sorry for all the love you were never able to give to others or to receive from us.”
This case has long captivated the public’s attention and has been made into a book and a Netflix documentary.
Pan was originally convicted of first-degree murder in December 2014 and shortly after, she was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 2040. In May 2023, the Court of Appeal for Ontario overturned her conviction on the basis that the jury should have been given the option to find her guilty of second-degree murder or manslaughter. In April 2025, the Supreme Court of Canada concurred and ordered a new trial. That led to Pan’s guilty plea, which once again earned her a life sentence, though she is now immediately eligible for parole.
In pleading guilty, Pan acknowledged that it was “objectively foreseeable” that her mother could have been killed in the attack she arranged. “The circumstances of this offense of manslaughter are particularly aggravating: Ms. Pan’s initiation of a murder-for-hire of her father, for which she was sentenced long ago, was heinous, whatever her rationale,” Superior Court Justice Michelle Fuerst said in court.
In 2010, Pan, then 24, reached out to her ex-boyfriend, Daniel Wong, to have her father killed, according to an agreed statement of facts. Wong then put her in touch with Lenford Crawford, who then enlisted Eric Carty and David Mylvaganam in the plan. Three armed men entered the home on November 8, 2010, while Pan was at home with her parents.
One of the men tied Pan to a banister upstairs as her parents were marched down to the basement at gunpoint. The men put blankets over their heads before shooting them. Pan was not harmed in the attack and called 911 to report the home invasion.
Eric Carty drove the gunmen to the Pan residence but did not enter the home. He later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and died in prison in 2018. Wong was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to life in February. Last Friday Crawford pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, admitting he acted as an interlocutor between Carty, Pan and Wong.
Prosecutors say David Mylvaganam was one of the men to enter the home, along with the two other yet-to-be identified intruders. It is still unknown who fired the shot that killed Pan’s mother.
Pan’s lawyer, Nathan Gorham, said his client was “abused” by her parents in the leadup to the crime she committed. He explained that she worked a job after school almost every day, while also doing figure skating, piano lessons and karate. “She was a good and hard-working and diligent young daughter, and she was pressed beyond limits that any child of her age should have had to endure,” he said.
Pan also has a brother, Felix, who wasn’t in the house at the time of the killing. In a victim impact statement, he said the overwhelming media attention on the case ruined his ability to trust others and make genuine connections. “I’ve seen my family’s tragedy turned into entertainment for strangers,” he wrote. “It comes back to haunt me constantly in the form of books, YouTube videos, movies, and high-profile documentaries. I cannot even enjoy Netflix without seeing the faces of those who destroyed my life trending as the number one show for weeks. It never stops.”
Most of Pan’s statement in court Wednesday was reserved for her brother, whom she profusely apologized to. “I need my brother to know I never wanted any of the media attention,” Pan said. “I’m sorry that I’ve caused his privacy to be invaded. I did not encourage or profit from any of the media productions of this case.”
Pan’s father and brother were not in court. The court has also imposed non-communication orders on Pan, meaning she cannot contact them in any way.
