Shivangi Sinha
The revelation that Jennifer Pan had enlisted three individuals to murder her parents — Huei Hann Pan and Bich Ha Pan — was shocking beyond belief. It was unfathomable to comprehend what could have motivated her to carry out such a heinous act. Upon further investigation, it was revealed that her relationship with a man named Daniel Wong, disapproved of by her parents, was a significant factor driving her to such extremes. In the Netflix documentary ‘What Jennifer Did,’ additional insights into Daniel’s role in the crime are provided.
Daniel Wong Broke up with Jennifer Pan 2 Years Before the Murder
Daniel Chi-Kwong Wong, a young man of Chinese-Filipino heritage, resided in Ajax, Ontario, Canada. He first crossed paths with Jennifer Pan while they were in high school at Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School. Daniel later transferred to Cardinal Carter Academy in North York, Toronto, yet remained committed to Jennifer. Upon completing high school, he pursued studies at York University, with Jennifer often visiting him, all while deceiving her parents about her whereabouts, pretending to be at university herself.
Daniel consistently sensed a lack of acceptance from Jennifer’s family. He was never extended invitations to join them for dinner and was never formally introduced to them. While attending university, he concurrently worked as a manager at a local pizza establishment called Boston Pizza and engaged in selling marijuana on the side. His involvement in this illicit activity led to a run-in with the law, resulting in charges of possession and trafficking. Daniel believed that Jennifer’s parents harbored negative opinions about him due to his economic status and deemed him unsuitable for their daughter.
Feeling overwhelmed by the need for secrecy and concealment in their relationship, Daniel decided to end things with Jennifer around 2008. However, he underestimated the difficulty Jennifer would face in moving on. Shortly after starting a new relationship with a woman named Christine, he found himself bombarded with frequent texts from Jennifer, often containing bizarre accusations against Christine. When Jennifer’s parents were killed and she became a person of interest in the investigation, she mentioned Daniel as someone close to her, prompting authorities to bring him in for questioning due to his past run-ins with the law.
During his interrogation, Daniel revealed that in the days leading up to the incident, he and Jennifer had both been receiving numerous crank calls daily. When he stopped responding to these calls, strange messages such as “We are watching you” began appearing. A few days before the murder, he received a single text message that simply read “Bang. bang. bang.” This detail raised significant concern among police authorities, suggesting that Jennifer’s parents might have been mistakenly targeted, with Daniel potentially being the intended victim of the invaders.
As the truth regarding Jennifer’s orchestration of the crime emerged, investigators delved into her phone records. They found out that the first individual she had enlisted for the act was someone acquainted with Daniel. Lenford Roy Crawford, also known as “Homeboy,” shared ties with Daniel and operated as a drug dealer. A text exchange between Jennifer and Daniel just days before the murder revealed Jennifer’s desperation, questioning him about his feelings for her and expressing her distress over his new relationship with Christine. In response, she threatened to call off the entire plan if he didn’t reconcile with her. On April 26, 2011, amid the arrests of two other suspects, Daniel was apprehended while on duty at Boston Pizza.
Daniel Wong is Serving His Sentence Today
During Daniel Wong’s trial commencing in March 2014, prosecutors put forth the allegation that Daniel’s motive for orchestrating the murder of Jennifer’s parents was financial gain. They asserted that he aimed to benefit from the life insurance payouts Jennifer would receive, viewing it as an incentive. In contrast, Daniel’s defense team refuted these assertions, arguing that the incriminating text message, upon which the case largely relied, could be interpreted in various ways and did not necessarily implicate him.
Despite the defense’s efforts, Daniel was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 25 years. Daniel is presently serving his sentence at Collins Bay Institution in Kingston, Ontario. In 2023, along with the four other individuals convicted alongside him, he filed an appeal contesting their first-degree murder convictions. The courts accepted the appeal, but as of now, a hearing date for the appeal has not been scheduled.
Read More: Huei Hann Pan: Where is Jennifer Pan’s Father Now?
