All of us might have heard-
“There’s always an Asian better than you!”
How far does it go though? Essentially, The Asian culture is infamous for believing in a stringent, traditional process and definition of achieving happiness - ‘happiness’ literally translating to monetary prowess and well social standards. And more than often, it leads to one of the most excruciating pursuits.
Huei Hann Pan and his wife Bich Ha Pan both immigrated from the Chinese diaspora in Vietnam to Canada as political refugees. Hann worked as a tool and die, maker, while Bich made car parts at Magna International -simultaneously sulking over the poor quality of the work they had to do to earn a livelihood. Therefore, they worked really hard and ensured savings to fulfill every dream of their children. The Pan children were by all accounts, nearly perfect. Felix was away pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering at a prestigious university while Jennifer was an Olympic-caliber figure skater, an award-winning pianist, and a straight-A student. However, their lives were about to change for the worse.
11/8/2010; 9:40 P.M.
Jennifer: “Help”! Helen Avenue.
Dispatch: Where are you, ma’am?
Jennifer: We just got robbed, and I don’t know where my parents are!
Dispatch: Ma’am? Ma’am? Clam down. What’s the…
Jennifer: And some people broke into our house and they just stole all our money …
Dispatch: OK! OK! Okay, Ma’am?
Jennifer: And I could hear my parents yelling downstairs Please send help!
Dispatch: Can you spell the na... the street name for me, please?
Jennifer: Dad!
Hann: Help! Help!
Dispatch: Can you tell me the address, Ma’am?
Jennifer: Avenue!
Dispatch: Avenue Road?
Jennifer: Yes!
(To her dad): I am calling 911, calling 911!
Dispatch: Ma’am I need to know your address. Avenue Road? Can you please just spell that for me?
Jennifer: H E L E N. My dad just went outside screaming….
Dispatch: Can you say what happened?
Jennifer: Someone broke in and I heard … shots...like pop …I don’t know what’s happened I am tied upstairs.
Bich was severely mutilated by the gun-shots. She was once shot in the neck and head respectively and immediately succumbed to her injuries. Hann was shot twice as well, once in the shoulder and once in the face. He was rushed to the hospital and admitted to an induced coma. The chances of him surviving were slim to none. Surprisingly, Jennifer was graciously spared by the goons and had merely got small injuries, something that was about to decide the fate of the Pan family for years to come.
Jennifer was taken to the same hospital as Hann’s and then to the Markham Police Station to give a statement as a witness.
09/11/2010; 10:00 A.M.
Jennifer is made to enter a room for investigation and is sworn in by the Bible. She promises to tell the truth and only the truth and nothing but the truth, after which an investigator enters the room to gather information about the tragic event.
“The door creaks and the officer enters into the room and slides the chair towards him to sit down beside Jennifer. The officer first asks Jennifer to fill a form as a regulatory purpose. He proceeds as follows.
"Do you understand that everything that is being said in this room is being videotaped, audio-recorded and digitally- recorded? You are here voluntarily to help us and you only talk when you are not comfortable, okay."
Jennifer nods in a yes.
"Are you ready to give the statement under the oath of solemn affirmation and declaration?"
Then, fluttering with the papers he says, "Could you please take yourself back to earlier on today.. yesterday … being the 8th of November… tell me about your day, you can start at any point in time wherever you feel comfortable and then walk me through your day okay?”
Jennifer answers, "Yesterday, in the morning, probably around 9 O'Clock or 9:30, my mother woke me up and told me that she is going to meet my grandfather who’s ill. She practiced piano, studied piano history, talked to her friends on Facebook, and had dinner with her friends. Her mother left for Line dancing at 8:00 pm and returned home at about 9:30 at which time Jennifer was alone in her room watching T.V. Then she says, “Suddenly I just heard my mom calling my dad to come down, which made me lower the volume of my T.V.
I obviously heard voices that I weren’t quite familiar with and I was really scared I sat in my room. A guy came towards me... he had strings his hands and tied my hands and said that he has a loaded gun. Jennifer broke down and said that do what I say, tell me where the money is and I won’t hurt you, she paused to take a deep breath before resuming, I had some money saved from when I was waitressing and he took and put it in his pocket….and then they pushed me towards my parent's room and asked me if there was any money but honestly I didn’t know. My mom kept trying to get up but wouldn’t allow her to. They were trying to find her wallet but …her English’s not good ... so, she kept saying ‘purse’ and they kept pushing her down to the chair…
Jennifer couldn’t control herself and started weeping reminiscing the events…
The officer realises the trauma Jennifer is undergoing and immediately advances to pat her leg and calm her. He says, “Take your time, all this is very important so take your time.”
One of the gentlemen asked my father where his wallet was and they took me because I was next to the stairwell and up the stairs to show me where the wallet was ... I didn’t know where the wallet was...(Jennifer takes a deep breath)
The intruders had recovered $1100 from my parent's bedroom and tied Jennifer to the upstairs bannister.
(Crying) "The next thing I know is I hear my parents downstairs and my mom called the robbers to let me come with them, but they, according to would not let me come with her."
The last thing I heard them yell was, “You lied, you lied to us”!
And then I heard two pops. My mom screamed and I yelled out for her... and a couple more pops.
The officer could see Jen’s condition and handed over the box of Kleenex to her.
Jen continues that her mom moaned in pain and how one of the robbers said they needed to go as it’s been too late.
"And then they ran out of the door and I heard my dad go up the stairs...
Till this point, the detective clearly sees Jennifer as a victim.
In the next moment, she however makes a mistake. She says that she made a phone call to the police when she had earlier confessed to her hands being tied up.
Jennifer quickly hesitates, stutters, and quickly looks at the officer for approval twice before she moves on. I had my phone in my po ...on me... behind me, that I had hidden there that they didn’t know about …Jennifer meekly continued.
This is exactly when things began turning upside down.
So when I heard them leave and my dad coming upstairs I whipped my phone out and dialed 911. The officer’s look had completely changed by now which certainly reflects on his style of questioning from now on.
He now asked Jennifer to describe the appearance of the intruders. She described the supposed mastermind as having dreadlocks and that he was a black male.
The detective asks, "Do you remember if his head or face were covered or not and did he have a gun? " Jennifer replied in negation saying just his dreadlocks flopping around his face but he had a black gun. Jennifer said that she couldn’t see much as they kept it very dark.
That made the detective a tad more suspicious again as to how Jennifer could understand the race of the intruder even if it was stark dark.
The intruders according to Jen were three in total whom she saw together once or twice. The first one had a Canadian accent. The second remained quiet while the third had a Caribbean accent.
"I had two pops and my mom yelled, followed by a lot of commotion downstairs, heard that my father was opening the door and going out."
They had made the first round of gunshots and then the first one said, "okay let's go"
"Okay, and what did you do then?"
" I reached out to my phone and called 911"
The detective asks Jennifer if there could be any reason Jennifer that might have led the robbers to target your family so brutally? "Your mom drives a Lexus and your father a Mercedes! Is that one of the potent reasons?"
No, we kind of led a routine life and then she smiles. It takes the detective a few moments to notice that whenever she smiles she tries to remember that she's not exhibiting the correct behavior and snaps back into her solemn state.
The questions end here and the detective leaves the room for half an hour to see if Jennifer needs to stay or can be freed to go. Although detectives be a lot careful to not overdo the questioning part to spare trauma to victims in such cases, Jennifer was strategically called for another round of investigation a few days later. The police officers had developed a certain amount of doubt which could not be ignored.
DATE- 11/12/2010;
TIME- 9:00 A.M.
The interrogation on this day started with a different detective and on a much rough tone.
He asked Jennifer to completely forget what they had talked about in the first interview. He said
"Put it aside and just feel like we have never spoken before, okay. So, we are starting afresh. That way, you are not going to say, “I think I already told him that” Don’t worry about what you told me. We are going to see if we have learned anything or you have remembered anything else. And there are some questions with respect to that statement that I am going to ask you about. Okay, so I am let you start again and let’s move forward from any time in that day where you want to start, okay?"
Jennifer clearly was not aware of the no-nonsense approach of the new officer and is taken aback by how less sympathetic this new detective appears. She says,
"I am just ...very nervous...and I…"
"Let me ask you why are nervous?! Why exactly are you nervous, tell me!"
She weekly replies, "Because I don’t wanna say the wrong thing ... you know(stammers) that day was a lot to me and I’ve been scattered and some bits and pieces are here and there. I am just.."
(Cutting her short)
"So, I just want you to sit back on your chair take a deep breath close your eyes and follow my line okay? The chair leans back. Jennifer looks particularly discomforted and cups both her hands into one another and starts rubbing them, even though she is told to not be nervous. Most people who aggressively rub hands are uncomfortable and sometimes fearful of what lies ahead.it is a coping mechanism to dissipate stress and afford self- assurance.
Jennifer claims to wake up, have her breakfast practicing on the piano study piano history playing games on her phone and speaking with her friends on Facebook during the morning hours. Her mom left to visit her grandfather at around noon and made dinner at around 3 and father came home after an hour after which dinner is served. Her mother leaves for Line dancing at 7 and returns at 9:30. Jennifer is at the bed talking to her friend and Hann is in the computer room. It is now when her mom yelled out to her father.
"What did she yell? "
"She called my father by his name to come down." Jennifer is completely aware that the statements she is about to give demand a mournful voice.
"As I hung up the phone hearing my mom, I heard louder thuds of someone coming up than that of my parents."
The first intruder robs Jennifer at gunpoint and then, they take her to the ground where her parents were sitting next to each other on the couch.
"Are you on the floor or…? "
"Yes, I am."
"Alright, where are your hands? They had tied my hands as I said…"
Jennifer had just forgotten that previously she told that she was first tied up before being taken downstairs. Everything that Jennifer had said till this point correlated with her previous statements however the officer was going to interject her more often…realizing that she has some irreparable loopholes in her story.
"So, let’s go back to the stairs...remember what you said.."
The officer however does not grill her yet as he prepares to collect as much conflicting information as possible, to confront her at a later stage.
"Okay so where does the string come from… the one they tied your hands with?"
"I am not sure but they tied me with it after I gave him the money."
She iterates how her mother was pushed to the couch and the second assailant was asking for money...however she made her second mistake here.
She had said that the second robber didn’t utter a word however now she claims to hear him say her mom to sit down. As a follow-up question, Jennifer is asked to describe the second robber’s clothing. Jennifer said that he wore a vest.
"He had a vest?"
"No, a hoodie.."
Realising her mistake, Jennifer froze for a second.
However, the detective lets the contradictions slide once more.
Okay let’s just take you back to the time where you are tied to the bannisters.
"I am sorry I don’t remember.."
"Don’t apologize." The officer almost scolded Jennifer. He continues, " I am trying to ask you questions to clarify and double-check. If you don’t remember its okay. Just don’t apologise cause if you do it means you are lying."
Jennifer recalls her mom in basement yelling and the pop sounds. "I heard the intruders leave through the door and I heard my father cry-yelling “Yeah”. He ran up the stairs and all I could hear was moaning. Once I heard him starting to move us when I pulled out my phone and I called 911."
This is untrue because she only realised her father was alive midway through her 911 call. The final part of the statements for collecting information to set up the main strategy for Jennifer’s interrogation that will take place ten days later. They go through Jennifer’s past to gather intel to lay the foundation for what’s known as the - *How and why solution.*
The detective resumes his interrogation.
He says, "Generally in most cases, random events are not random, (looking straight into her eyes). There’s a reason those assailants had come to your house. But you have told us that it was just money, was it a specific amount of money? "
"No."
"So you are telling me you have no involvement in the incident…. meaning, not how the result came but you had no involvement in any type of illegal activity that would have drawn your attention to have bad people come at your house looking for large sums of money. "
"The real and concerning question obviously Jennifer is …you are upstairs and they are downstairs why would they leave you alone? You can’t answer that question, can you!"
Jennifer was inconsolably sobbing and for the first time, she looked that her tears were out of pure fear.
She says,"The only thing he said was that I cooperated. I told him to take me."
"Who's to say that this whole thing you are telling to me isn’t a lie? Because if you are indeed lying it is the most cold-blooded thing that I have ever faced."
Jennifer is taken back by his words and says, " Oh my God! Why would I do that." He doesn't say anything.
"Now back to another very difficult question is that, the resentment that you may have had towards your parents for their interference in your relationship and your life and locking you up in the house."
" At the end, I chose my parents and chose to be with them and take care of them."
" So, this wasn’t some evil plot that you thought up too."
"Oh god, no! No interaction, no belief; you didn’t have to do anything with this thing at all, whatsoever? No. no illegal activities?"
"No."
"Jennifer, look, we are in the process of adding credibility to what you tell us. And that’s through the process of asking the people and doing whatever. Through that very process, it’ll be very easy to find flaws in what you’ve said which again then turns back the focus on back to you. It’s a natural programme that investigators do, we eliminate people or we draw our attention to them. "
Again Jennifer was allowed to remain in the room for 20 minutes as he left the room and she was allowed to stew in her thoughts before they ended their statement. But he came back to add one last bit of psychological pressure that he disguises as reassurance in hopes of her coming clean. Jennifer will be terrified but still, believe the police are on HER side when they clearly aren’t.
"We are done. Miss, how are you feeling?"
"It’s a relief (scoffs), you scared me though!"
"What did I do? Take a load off and relax"
Jennifer seems to be all over the place and hesitant.
"Look honey I don’t want you to leave this room thinking I’m a bad man because I am actually helping YOU find your mom’s murderer. Sometimes we have to ask really difficult questions, but it’s our job. You are our only link until your dad gains consciousness. If you have been truthful, the last thing that you should be is being afraid."
Jennifer says, "I am just afraid you know I feel that everything is pointing negatively towards me all of a sudden, like the way you’re speaking to me and I already told you that there are ideas in my head but I am afraid to say it loud." Jennifer frantically moves her hands to say.
Now that was certain Jennifer is not a saint, she was kept under close observation. She was monitored even in her mother’s funeral and for the entirety of the service, she had no emotions showing whatsoever, except a couple of times which were hugely feigned.
Here, Jennifer’s dad had woken up from his induced coma and miraculously remembered EVERYTHING, too much disbelief to doctors who claimed that he could never even function properly. He would give a secret statement to the police on November the 16th and much of his part of that night's story was in contradiction to Jennifer’s story.
11/22/2010
Detective William Gates( aka Bill) was assigned the duty to interrogate Jennifer for the third and the final time so that the entire truth could be out and known.
As a result of that, your father was injured and your mother was tragically killed.
The detective goes through Jennifer’s history of teaching piano and high-level figure skating which was abruptly ended by her leg injury.
He asks her, “Would you continue doing it if it wasn’t for the injury?"
Yeah, I would although I was like average. "
"And do you still teach piano?"
"No, they got to high school and lost interest, Jennifer replies chuckling." Bill bursts into laughter. "They are too big for piano, right? I remember taking piano lessons too and Swans On the lake, and I just know that."
He’s just continuing this to make Jennifer believe she’s in safe hands. Jennifer too for the first time looks actually relaxed and not forcing emotions. Bill also asks Jen about her future plans in educational lines and she tells him that she will pursue a career in health care. Here's where the detective shifts the blame from her to the circumstances that forced her to commit the crime.
"Now if you could pick any job for yourself, what would you choose? Like give piano lessons in the meantime and be a… lab technician in the daytime maybe. This very clearly indicates how Jennifer's idea of livelihood was at stark odds with her parents."
"Now we if we discuss Daniel, what happened to that relationship?"
Jennifer reveals -" Yeah I hid it from them at first as they didn’t agree with me having a boyfriend, especially because he was of mixed race.
"And they told me to stop seeing him."
" How did it make you feel?"
"Just…(she waited for a long pause) he filled an empty lonely void of mine so it felt like a part of mine was missing and got umm, depressed."
"How did they find out?"
"One day when my mother come to pick me up he had dropped me off and so she saw us."
" So, what happened then?
"They wanted to meet him. So, I brought him home one day and they automatically didn't like him. They told me to stay away. I agreed to it at first but then broke the rules and kept the relationship private from my parents"
Her trail of lies just become more and more uncovered.
She further explains that she was living with him for two years while her parents believed her to be studying at University. Jennifer reveals how she bought a fake diploma among many other avenues to continue her lying spree. She had actually lied to her parents about a girl that she was allegedly staying with. one day her mother called her and she was “groggy” and revealed that Jen wasn’t home. She then goes on to explain the ultimatum she was given and the restrictive measures she was put in to forbid her from seeing her boyfriend.
"So how did that feel? Being in restrictions for 18 long months?"
"Umm, it was okay, not the best feeling but yeah, I chose to be with my family.
She had the choice of being with her parents under restrictions or leaving the house and being with her boyfriend.
"And do you feel you had a choice at all?"
"I mean… no…’cause family comes first."
"Okay. And who told you to believe that family comes no.1?"
"My mom. " Jen sobs.
The detective then brings up Jennifer’s assertion of depression and then affiliates it with restrictive measures she was put in. She reveals that she used to cut herself with a knife in numerous places in her body.
"And did you think of killing yourself ever? "
"Yes, when I was 19 on sleeping tablets overdose. My self-harm was a distractor from the pain I had to go through over the years."
"Do you feel they expected a little to me from you? How so?"
"Comparison to other people like classmates and ..they said they wished could be like them. It's what I have heard all my life so… it's nothing."
"Did you feel ever that ..i know you are smart but did you ever feel that they believed you to be smarter than you actually are? They had their hopes up, right? They wanted you to become a doctor right, not everyone can achieve that. "
"Yes," Jennifer replied sadly.
"How did it feel having to lie about all those years?"
"Hard, really hard, like I wanted to tell them but they always looked down on me in disappointment."
"There were days when you decided to tell them…? "
"Yup."
" The opening strategy of the why and how the solution was already executed and the connection and narrative desired have been established. The detective is all set to execute the “Confrontation” strategy by first inducing fatigue by interrogation and then fear.
"When was the last time you spoke to your dad? “
"This morning, he asked me if Daniel was behind it!”
"Okay."
" I told him that it could be but I feel that he isn’t."
"Why did he ask that?"
" Because he believes that we are still in touch."
" Really is it so?"
" I think he’s moved on, so no."
Jennifer is asked to go through the entire incident once more but unlike the first two times, her non-existent tears induced by fake crying are no longer given tissues to wipe with. The detective sits in distance, watching her, offering no consolation having a no-nonsense approach.
"Why do you think they tied you up but left out your parents? "
"Because I was upstairs away from them the whole time."
Although that made no sense to Bill, he continues asking, “Why would they leave a witness behind, does that seem odd to you or doesn’t -because you are describing their appearances."
"They just said they were running out of time."
"But it doesn't take long to kill someone."
" I know… I don’t know. "
Jennifer's dramatics intensify as the discussion of the home invasion continues. She tries to give off the non-verbal cue that she wants to move past the incident but the detective doesn't respond. He jumps from the beginning to the end to the middle, then back to the end and then back to the beginning. It's not for the purpose of information gathering. He's doing it to induce fatigue and diminish Jennifer's critical thinking. This way she cannot focus on the long-term consequences before making a statement. She starts to get exhausted because it is impossible to put up with such an act when it's not genuine. She will eventually dwindle and her story will seem to become less convincing.
"Were you injured during the process?"
" Not really, a little."
Step 2 is now about to commence. he will tell Jennifer that he has an abundance of proof at his disposal to tell Jennifer that it's useless to resist to admitting to the crime she has committed.
Bill says, "The reason I am here today is that I am an expert... and I know when a person is not being straightforward with me, okay?"
He tells Jennifer briefly about police tactics and forensic techniques entirely true but somewhat embellished. He says that police use “ infrared satellite imagery” to locate occupants of a house which is entirely false.
"At the end, I know if you’re lying."
He brings the incident full circle by reestablishing the notions and rationale. He makes sure to induce fatigue and scare in Jen but yet makes her feel he's on her side.
Nothing surprises me in my job, anybody on the earth is capable of making a mistake okay? Given the circumstances, Jennifer everyone is capable of making a mistake. The only key here is, it's okay to be making a mistake but not keep making it okay? At the end of the day, in this case, I have spent a week going over information over and over again, speaking to every other expert. At this point Jennifer, I know that you’ve been untruthful to the police. You have spent the last seven years of your life, telling half-truths purposely hiding things. And I don’t blame you, your life has been tough. What's happened to you is basically abuse. And now you are under another stressful situation, does it feel good inside does it?"
" No."
"I know that you indeed are a good person I know that you have a good heart, in this case, you’ve made some mistakes and are involved in this , I know! There's no question, but do you want to keep making these mistakes? Are you not gonna face the reality like just you’ve been doing for the past seven years?"
"We need to resolve this. I need to know; what really happened. I know whys it happened. You’ve spent your life trying to live up to expectations that weren’t capable of meeting. You're a 24-year-old treated like a 15-year-old. You are being treated tribble without any reason in your life. Okay, you didn’t tell me you are dating a guy, a big deal! I know you are under an unbelievable amount of pressure."
"Now Jennifer , we are going to get down to this okay, tell me the truth what happened that day?
"Because you know who was in that house that night."
" No."
" You do Jen there's no doubt in that."
While remaining empathetic and understanding the detective still needs to keep Jennifer's confidence low. As soon as he sees her denying he immediately stops her.
The detective shifts the focus of the magnitude of crime Jennifer had committed to the justifications about she would be committing the crime. He knew that this was the only possible way to let Jennifer accept her truth
"Their intentions might have been good but they are not realistic right? Were they? Jen??"
"Mmm."
"They weren't realistic were they?"
"You couldn't live up to them, could you? You tried though! Am I right?"
"Yep."
"And finally you had to bite back right?"
No response.
"You felt like you had no other choice..no options, you thought of everything else including killing yourself! This is the 21st century, we are in Canada. You can have expectations but not everything the way you want. It doesn't feel good to have secrets does it? You have to let me know how it happened okay?"
"I said how it happened. Okay but you were involved right? That's the part we need."
No response again.
The detective appears to get nowhere and now lowers the gauge of admission.
"You knew before that night that they were coming right?"
No response.
"Jen, it's not worth it anymore , it's hurting you."
"What happens to me? "
"But I can tell you one thing, is that we already know that and you can't change it. You wanted it to stop. I know, it got far, you didn't it would it this far did ya? Could you? Jen."
"I wanted it to stop. I didn't know them. "
"But you did know the planning. Tell me that part. Prove that you did want it to stop."
"What happens to me?"
"I need to know what you did. We will work through this together. The most important thing is we do the right thing for your mom. Right?"
"Mmhm."
Appealing …
"What this all was, a last-ditch effort to love your own life. To be yourself and make your own decisions. Look at your friends. Does anyone have a curfew of 9 O'clock for 24 years of age? You had no choice Jen I know.
When did you first start planning? What was the final straw?"
No response.
" Do you want to be a good person now?"
" Yes."
Whenever a question is incriminating she answers whereas she remains silent otherwise which makes it incredibly difficult for the detective.
"What happens to me?"
"You're gonna prove to people that you know what the right thing to do is, that's what's gonna happen. Your mom's watching us, wondering if Jen will do the right thing."
"But what happens to me?" The detective takes a deep breath!
" Well, you've told and explained in detail. Be brave. She buries her face in her hands."
3 hours,20 minutes and 26 seconds, the exact time it took Jennifer to emotions which were genuine.
"You're sorry aren't you?"
"Mmhm."
" Jen ...it's okay."
"They were supposed to kill me. Don't wanna live anymore."
" They were supposed to take the whole family out?"
" No just me!"
" What went wrong then?"
" I don't know. "
The detective has the ball in his court now as she at least admitted to having the invasion planned all along. It was enough to put her behind bars.
Jennifer is no longer going home after this interview.
Bill knows she's lying and his new task is to lock her in the labyrinth of lies as much as possible.
" Why did it change? Why you?"
"I wanted everyone to be free from me, I looked like a disappointment."
" Why did it happen? "
"Cause when I tried suicide I failed."
"How were they supposed to kill you?"
"Don't know, just kill me."
"Okay, who did you get to do this then?"
"I don't know him, just his number."
She later gives multiple fake names. She allegedly got a number of the supposed hitman from an acquaintance named Rick and that she took everything from there over the phone. She seems to not give up or even mention her boyfriend's name.
She got to the point that she asked the hitman to come home and kill her and how he "asked her over and over" if she really is sure.
"And why didn't that happen in your parents' absence."
" Cause I am never alone."
"Did you tell Rick about your request or ..? No I just told him to arrange someone to kill me. "
"What did he say? Okay, let me take care of that. And gave me the number."
"And when he came, what discussion did you two have? The real one, not the ones you told us!"
"He asked where the money was!"
" Did he ask you how you wanted to be killed? "
"No he didn't say anything like that. "
"Did you request anyway for him to do it? "
"Yeah to make sure no one was around. I told him to take me along with my mom."
" Does it make any sense to you?"
" It does not!"
All along she was burying her face in her hands, avoiding eye contact with the detective.
Bill says,
"Okay now, look at me! Sit up for me a minute.
What I do believe is that you went up to somebody. You did pay them 2000$. However, what's not true is that it was never meant to be YOU! It was okay, Jen. You asked them to do this job on your parents. Nobody's gonna come there and get the wrong people Jen."
" No it was for me."
"Well, then they could've done it...like take you outside. If you really wanted to die, they would just pull you up in a car and shoot you. So they came, you paid, they did what they were supposed to do. The plan was for your parents."
"Okay, Jen you have to be honest. The entire police department feels sorry for you. All this tension on you, basically just like a volcano. Someday it was destined to erupt and it did! Once you contacted the hitman there was no going back.
You said that you hid your cellphone. Why did you do it if it was for you?"
"No I didn't hide it is just ...I just put it there naturally."
"You said on tape that you hid it Jen doesn't matter."
"They looked at you not as a person but as a success story. They weren't like, okay if Jen wants to work at Eastside Mario or be a piano teacher or do figure skater for the rest of her life, that's okay. "
"Okay, why didn't you tell us that night? "
"I was scared. "
"To tell the truth? "
"Yes, that I wanted to die."
"If you wanted to die you would tell us everything as it wouldn't matter. It matters, the wrong person got hurt.
That's what was supposed to happen. But your dad did live and that's where it went against the plan.
If you could make this decision over again you would change it. Right?"
"Of course if I knew who was gonna get hurt."
"Jen you KNEW who was gonna get hurt. That's the issue here.
You gave the plan for your parents."
"No, they were to kill me." She looked helpless."
"Tell me what happened ."
"I told you. No, all of it. Say, Bill, yes I made a mistake. Bill, I made a mistake."
However, from this point, the detective gets no further admission from Jennifer.
He leaves Jennifer alone for 3 minutes from here and she is seen in the videotape playing with her hair. He comes back and charges her with first-degree murder. He says,
"Okay, I need to listen to me closely Jen. I am going to be arresting you for murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy for murder. So do you have your own lawyer?"
"No…"
"No? Okay. Do you have a lawyer you would like to speak to? Would you like to speak to duty counsel?"
"I want to talk to someone who can help me understand. "
"Who's that?"
" I don't know."
"You said you were on my side." Jennifer cried.
"I am Jen. What would you like to do?"
"I have no idea. You want me to call duty counsel for you?"
"Okay… is there any lawyer?"
"I don't know anyone."
" Okay empty your pockets on the table here and I will call duty counsel okay? Do you need water? "
"No, do you have to leave?."
Jennifer was clinging onto the last hope as the officer
"Yes I do have but I will come back " Bill replied.
Her testifying on trial began on the 14th of March 2014, and Jennifer pled not guilty to all charges. Hee interrogation tapes were the most damning evidence put by the prosecutors. However, the most chilling ones were the 116 text messages in the 6 hours leading up to the murder. They thought that using burner phones would cover the tracks but the forensics were able to track every word of these messages. In these, they covered in detail about how the crime would be executed. These were all enough to convict Jennifer, her boyfriend, and three hitmen. They were given life sentences without the possibility of parole for 25 years. Jennifer is in Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ontario. She will be first eligible for parole in November 2035.