10 Biggest Details What Jennifer Did Leaves Out From The True Crime Story

The newest Netflix true crime documentary What Jennifer Did recounts a murder conspiracy that took place in Ontario in 2010 but leaves out several important details from the true story. What Jennifer Did relates the investigation into the murder of Bich Ha Pan and attempted murder of Hann Pan, which was discovered to have been planned by their daughter Jennifer Pan. Netflix’s documentary summarizes the circumstances leading up to the murder, where Jennifer always felt the pressure to excel academically and things culminated when she became involved with a man her parents didn’t approve of.

The police were initially bewildered when they learned of the attempted double homicide on the Pans when they appeared to be a normal, hardworking family with no enemies who would want to hurt them. However, the most shocking reveals from What Jennifer Did include that Jennifer lied to her parents for years about attending university, that Jennifer and her ex-boyfriend Daniel Wong conspired to hire men to kill her parents, and that Jennifer presented multiple false stories to the police. However, there are still details about Jennifer Pan that did not make it into What Jennifer Did.

10

What Jennifer Did Leaves Out Jennifer’s Brother Felix

Netflix does not mention Jennifer Pan’s brother, who moved away after his mother’s murder.

The Netflix documentary never mentions Felix Pan, Jennifer’s younger brother, and gives the impression that Jennifer is an only child. Felix is three years younger than Jennifer and faced the same expectations from their parents growing up to succeed academically. At the time of his mother’s murder, Felix was studying engineering at McMaster University in Ontario and was not home when Jennifer left the door unlocked for the hitman she had hired.

Along with his father, Felix wrote a victim impact statement as part of Jennifer’s trial. While Hann made some comments to the press afterward, Felix appears to have remained silent. According to a Toronto Life article written by Karen Ho, a former classmate of Jennifer’s, Felix later moved to the East Coast to work in technology and escape being associated with the homicide. While Jennifer’s actions created tragedy in Felix’s life, Netflix’s documentary focuses on Jennifer and her parents.

9

What Jennifer Did Leaves Out Jennifer’s Figure Skating Career

Piano was not Jennifer Pan’s only extracurricular.

What Jennifer Did paints a picture of Jennifer Pan as growing up always dealing with the pressure to be exceptional. From the time she was a child, Jennifer took piano lessons to broaden her resume with extracurricular activities. Netflix likely chose to retain this detail because Jennifer’s former piano teacher gives testimony relevant to her feelings about her parents. However, piano was not her only major extracurricular.

Jennifer also did figure skating from the time she was in elementary school and hoped to compete in the Winter Olympics until she tore a ligament in her knee. According to Ho, when Jennifer was in elementary school, she sometimes wouldn’t get home from skating practice until 10 p.m. and still had to do homework. This is another example of the amount of time and energy Jennifer put into school and extracurriculars.

8

What Jennifer Did Does Not Describe Jennifer’s Pastimes While Pretending To Be In College

Although someone ponders it, Netflix does not address how Jennifer Pan spent her time while in “college.”

What Jennifer Did leaves open the mystery of what Jennifer was doing with her time while her parents believed she was in college. The documentary recounts how Jennifer, after failing to graduate high school, lied to her parents about being accepted to Ryerson University to study the sciences and eventually go into pharmacology. The lead investigator Det. Bill Courtice even posits the question in the documentary: “What was she doing for the four years?” However, this is never addressed again.

In reality, Jennifer went to the library and researched what she believed were important science topics and took notes, which probably helped maintain the ruse. She also worked as a waiter, bartender, and piano teacher, and spent time with Daniel. What Jennifer Did suggests that Jennifer felt guilty about lying to her parents, and the way she spent her time suggested she was still trying to learn something and be useful as a way to compensate for the lie.

7

What Jennifer Did Does Not Reveal That Jennifer Lied About Winning A Scholarship

Jennifer Pan had to convince her parents of how she was paying for college.

When Jennifer convinced her parents that she had been accepted to Ryerson and that she was attending classes for most of the week, a big part of that lie was how she was paying for college. In What Jennifer Did, Jennifer says in an interview that her parents gave her some money for her education but that they demanded it back when they found out the truth. At a different point in the documentary, she mentions that she forged some loan papers.

This generally encompasses how Jennifer explained the financial aspects of her education. It is not clear if she spent any of the money her parents gave her or had it available to return when they asked. However, what is not mentioned is that Jennifer also told her father she had won a substantial scholarship. This helped Jennifer explain school and is another example of how she lied to her parents about the state of her academic life.

6

What Jennifer Did Does Not Describe Jennifer’s Education Before High School

Jennifer Pan did not start to struggle with academics until high school.

What Jennifer Did concentrates on the Pans’ lives during Jennifer’s high school years and later. Before that, Jennifer was actually a very successful student and was disappointed when she did not win valedictorian at 8th grade graduation. Her previous successes likely made not being able to live up to her parents’ expectations more emotionally difficult later. Ho claims that in high school, Jennifer was dealing with self-doubt, sometimes because of losing skating competitions.

It was also in high school that Jennifer started falling behind what her parents expected her to be achieving in terms of grades, and she began forging report cards. As the documentary reveals, this became standard for Jennifer to avoid confrontation with her parents. Jennifer forged loan papers, a degree certificate, and generally, anything her parents might ask for to verify her educational pursuits.

5

What Jennifer Did Leaves Out Jennifer’s Lie About Staying With A Friend

Jennifer Pan said she was staying with her friend as part of her lie about attending university.

Jennifer’s lies about her education are a major part of the documentary, but Netflix still does not tell the full story. What Jennifer Did briefly reveals that Jennifer, at one point, forged a degree certificate from the University of Toronto. To be more specific, Jennifer told her parents she was attending Ryerson and intended to transfer to U of T after two years to study pharmacology.

When the lie got up to the point when Jennifer was supposed to transfer, Jennifer told her parents she was accepted to U of T. She also convinced them to let her stay with a friend for a few nights a week, allegedly to be closer to the campus. In reality, Jennifer was staying with Daniel during those nights. Again, to keep the documentary succinct, Netflix decided to relate only the main point, which is that Jennifer did lie about being in college.

4

What Jennifer Did Does Not Reveal That Jennifer’s Parents Followed Her To “Work”

Netflix does not include the specific event that led to Jennifer Pan’s parents discovering the truth.

What Jennifer Did does not recount the exact circumstances of how Jennifer’s parents found out about her lying about school. In an interview, Jennifer gives the impression that she eventually told them, and the fallout of this is glossed over. In real life, Jennifer told her parents that she was volunteering at a blood-testing lab at SickKids, potentially so she could stay with Daniel for extra nights.

Hann noticed that Jennifer had no uniform or key card for SickKids and insisted on dropping her off one day, and had his wife follow her into the hospital. While Jennifer hid until her parents left, this was where the lie came undone. This prompted Bich and Hann to call the friend Jennifer was supposedly staying with, and she was eventually forced to confess where she spent her time, that she was not a U of T student, and that she was still in contact with Daniel.

3

What Jennifer Did Does Not Describe How Jennifer’s Mother Tried To Make Things Easier For Her

Jennifer Pan’s mother was less strict with her.

In an interview with the police that appears in What Jennifer Did, Jennifer says that when her parents found out she was still in contact with Daniel (presumably referring to when they also found out about school) they took away her phone, constantly supervised her, and only allowed her to go to piano lessons. What is not mentioned in the documentary is that they also made her quit all her jobs except for teaching piano.

Hann initially wanted to kick Jennifer out of the house, but Bich persuaded him otherwise. Ho claims that during this time, Bich occasionally let her daughter use her cell phone with her husband’s knowledge. Presumably, this is how Jennifer remained in contact with Daniel and eventually, through him, met the people she hired to kill her parents.

2

What Jennifer Did Does Not Reveal The Details Of Jennifer’s First Attempt On Her Parents’ Lives

Jennifer Pan tried to have her parents killed earlier, through an elementary school friend.

Near the end of What Jennifer Did, the documentary reveals that Jennifer previously attempted to arrange hit on her parents. The documentary only briefly mentions that Jennifer was in contact with an old friend about the matter. According to Ho’s article, this was Andrew Montemayor, a friend of Jennifer’s from elementary school. Montemayor introduced Jennifer to his roommate Ricardo Duncan, who apparently convinced Jennifer that he was willing to murder her father.

Jennifer paid Duncan $1,500 to kill Hann in the parking lot of his place of work. After that, Duncan completely cut Jennifer off. When she finally managed to get in touch with him again, he denied that she had given them this amount of money, saying it was only $200 for a night out. Duncan denied Jennifer’s request to carry out the hit and allegedly returned $200 to her.

1

What Jennifer Did Leaves Out Hann Pan’s Life After The Attack

The rest of Jennifer Pan’s father’s life is not discussed in the Netflix documentary.

While the documentary informs the audience of what happened to Jennifer Pan after being convicted in 2010 through the closing credits, it makes no mention of what happened to the man who survived the attack. Jennifer’s father Hann Pan was unable to return to work because of his injuries. According to Ho, Hann has serious anxiety, depression, and insomnia.

At the end of his statement, Hann said: “I hope my daughter Jennifer thinks about what has happened to her family and can become a good honest person someday.” Hann has also tried to sell the house where the attack and murder of his wife took place but has been unable to due to the building’s history. While Netflix’s What Jennifer Did is another chilling true crime documentary, the exclusion of details like this reveals Netflix’s focus.

Source: Toronto Life