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NETFLIX’S alleged use of artificial intelligence to generate and manipulate images of Jennifer Pan in a recent documentary about her horrifying case is deeply concerning, the accused killer’s attorney says.
Jennifer Pan was convicted in 2015 of paying three gunmen to kill her mom, Bich Ha Pan, and her father, Huei Hann Pan, during a bogus home invasion in Ontario, Canada, in November 2010.
Jennifer’s mom was killed but her father miraculously survived a gunshot wound to the face and later testified against his daughter at her trial.
The twisted case, one of Canada’s most infamous true crime stories, recently received the Netflix treatment in the form of a 90-minute documentary, What Jennifer Did, which aired on the platform earlier this month.
The doc has been trending on Netflix ever since. However, on Thursday, its creators came under fire after a report in Futurism suggested AI-generated or -manipulated images of Jennifer appeared to have been used in the program.
What Jennifer Did features three photos of its titular character wearing a red dress and smiling while appearing to be having a good time at a party or a celebration.
The images were used around the 28-minute mark to illustrate remarks made by one of Jennifer’s old high school friends, Nam Ngyuen, who described Pan as “bubbly, happy, confident, and very genuine.”
While nowhere in the documentary is the use of artificial intelligence disclosed, the three pictures in question appear to have all the hallmarks of AI-generated images, including misshapen facial features, warped hands, and disproportionate teeth.
One of the photos was also used in promotional posters for the documentary, showing a smiling Jennifer in contrast with her solemn mugshot.
Netflix has not yet responded to a request for comment about the claims.
However, Jennifer Pan’s attorney, Stephanie DiGiuseppe, said she is troubled by the allegations.
“The reports circulating online that AI images have been included in the documentary are extremely concerning,” wrote DiGiuseppe in an emailed statement.
“Clearly, members of the public who are interested in Jennifer’s case should approach the documentary with a critical eye, attuned to the potential for bias.”
In earlier comments made to The U.S. Sun, DiGiuseppe accused Netflix of telling only one side of Jennifer’s story: the perspective of the police officers who arrested her.
“What I can say is that the Netflix documentary tells one side of the story and it’s very much the story of the police officers who were involved, their experience of this investigation, and there is, of course, another side to the story – and Jennifer will tell that at the appropriate time,” she said.
“There was no attempt to tell Jennifer’s story in this documentary.
“It doesn’t go into the trial in any detail and there’s certainly no attempt to look at Jennifer more broadly beyond what the police saw or thought was important in their investigation.
“So there’s definitely more to that story of Jennifer Pan that the public will come to learn in the appropriate way: through the trial process.”
MAINTAINING HER INNOCENCE
Jennifer was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder in 2015 along with three of her alleged co-conspirators: Lenford Crawford, David Mylvaganam, and her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Daniel Wong.
Her trial lasted 10 months, making it one of the longest murder trials in Canadian history.
The killer quartet appealed their convictions and, in May 2023, the Court of Appeal for Ontario ordered new trials for the first-degree murder convictions.
She’s also very focused on her reintegration and her self-improvement, and self-betterment, and she’s working holistically towards her goal of one day being released.
Stephanie DiGiuseppe
The court found the judge in the original trial erred by suggesting only two possible scenarios to the jury: that either the plan was to kill both her parents or that her parents were shot in a robbery gone wrong.
The judge also failed to offer the jury alternative verdicts, including second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of Pan’s mother, the court found.
Jennifer and her co-defendants were ordered new trials following the ruling, but prosecutors have appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada, which is weighing the case.
In the same decision, the court denied Pan’s appeal on the life sentence she received for the attempted murder of her father.
Pan’s legal team has cross-appealed the decision to uphold the attempted murder charges, which the Supreme Court will also hear.
DiGiuseppe shared that her client maintains her innocence and is seeking full exoneration of any criminal charges.
“Jennifer has testified and the events she testified to are relevant to the story of what happened, but she maintains her legal innocence, with respect to the death of her mother and father,” DiGiuseppe said.
“She very much hopes to be able to establish that at her retrial.”
DiGiuseppe added that Jennifer is laser-focused on her appeal behind bars and is hopeful of “establishing her innocence and reintegrating herself into the Canadian community.”
“She’s also very focused on her reintegration and her self-improvement, and self-betterment, and she’s working holistically towards her goal of one day being released.”
TWISTED CASE
Jennifer, now 37, remains behind bars and won’t currently be eligible for parole until 2040.
The tangled plot involving Jennifer and her parents began in the middle of the night on November 8, 2010.
It was Jennifer, then 24, who first alerted police to the shooting, hysterically crying to a dispatcher that her home had been stormed by armed intruders and urged them to send help.
By the time officers arrived on the scene, Bich was already dead, having suffered a fatal gunshot wound to her head.
Remarkably, Huei Hann, who had been shot in the face at close range, survived and was rushed to the hospital where he was placed in a medically-induced coma.
Jennifer had survived the purported home invasion unscathed.
She was initially treated with sympathy by investigators as they attempted to piece together the events leading up to the shooting.
At first, the case appeared to be a burglary gone wrong, but investigators found nothing of note missing from the Pan home.
WEB UNFURLED
News of the frightening ordeal made headlines nationwide and sent waves of panic rippling across Ontario.
But within 72 hours, the direction of the investigation would take a shocking turn when Huei Hann stirred from his involuntary slumber, asking the police to “find out what Jennifer did.”
Huei Hann told investigators he remembered seeing his daughter talking to one of the intruders “like a friend” before he and his wife were shot.
Despite her tearful denials, police came to believe that Jennifer had hired three hitmen to kill her strict Vietnamese parents, with the help of her pot-dealing boyfriend, Daniel Wong, whom she’d been forbidden from seeing.
According to investigators, Jennifer and Wong conspired to kill her parents to get their hands on her $500,000 inheritance.
DiGiuseppe is expecting a hearing in the Supreme Court of Canada “probably late 2024 or early 2025.”
Jennifer’s next hearing in the Ontario court is just an administrative appearance on June 14, 2024, according to online court records.
