A Daughter's Deadly Deception

by Jeremy Grimaldi

  The same goes for the scope of her lies. They began with her parents and then eventually widened to everyone in her life. “This behaviour is above and beyond what you’d expect in a child from that culture who wants to please,” Greenberg says. “I think a lot of the kids in those homes are more likely to withhold information than actually fabricate. She was starting to become anti-social or sociopathic at a young age. Her behaviour was very calculated, very planned and deliberate, also signs of anti-social — forging report cards, scholarship letters, then creating a new existence for herself.”

  Greenberg suggests that, while her upbringing might have led to a variety of deceptions, it wouldn’t have caused this magnitude of lies, adding that Bich might have actually contributed to Jennifer’s sense of infallibility by siding with her over Hann. “When you look at the childhoods of people who develop ASPD, you can see tremendous inconsistencies between the parents in terms of how they treat the kids … that’s a good predictor of the development, and you will often see that in their histories. Kids need to get consistent messages of what’s okay and what’s not okay. And kids who get messages from one parent who say that’s okay and the other parent that’s not okay, those are kids who have a harder time developing a good set of clear ethical principals because they are getting inconsistent messages. So while her mother was maybe her supporter and her rock, her mother wasn’t doing her any favours by being more permissive.” As for why her mother would then be a target, Greenberg says, “Love and hate are not mutually incompatible. Think crimes of passion.”

  When it comes to Jennifer’s self-harm, Greenberg says evidence that she was sharing this behaviour widely among those closest to her, and also with complete strangers, such as police officers, indicates that she was doing so to paint herself in a certain light. “My impression was this was not a depressed girl. Clearly, she was a very serious girl. I work with a lot of cutters because I work with a lot of teenagers, and they say the same thing that Jennifer did: ‘That cutting grounds me, allows me to feel again.’ I would suspect that Jennifer may have known other girls who cut, probably did some reading about it. However, she doesn’t fit the personality of a cutter. These girls who cut themselves are very depressed. Not only can they not handle their daily lives, they certainly don’t have the energy to fabricate transcripts and plan murders. I think this was just part of her scheming. [My guess] is her suicide attempt was a manipulative gesture to try and portray herself differently. It’s just impression management. She was trying to give an impression of a depressed girl is my guess. She was a planner. When this girl wanted something done, she went out and did it. I hate to say it in this way, but if she really wanted to kill herself, she would have done it. Frankly, if she was really so depressed, it’s surprising she didn’t kill herself before or after the murders. I’d say the cutting was no more than a ploy to make it look like she was a depressed girl who couldn’t handle her feelings.”

  As for how psychologists treat ASPD, Greenberg says this sort of disorder can be the most difficult to treat, in part because the subjects often end up fooling even the therapist concerning their true intentions and feelings. “ASPD is the least treatable psychiatric illness because the people with this diagnosis have the ability in therapy to really present themselves very differently than they are,” she says. “They’re often very charming … they can fool therapists. Furthermore, it’s very hard to treat someone who feels very little anxiety or empathy. Quite frankly, they’re not working with the same moral system that the rest of us are.”

  What makes Jennifer’s case so astounding, according to Greenberg, is how out of the norm it is for a female to act in this fashion. “More men are diagnosed with ASPD and, secondly, men are more likely to commit crimes like this,” she says. “Men are more likely to act out aggressively against others, and women are more likely to act out against themselves. Women tend to be torturers of themselves, and men tend to be torturers of others.”

  Finally, Greenberg says she ran the symptoms Jennifer displayed through a diagnostic test from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which offers standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders. Although someone only needs to show a pervasive pattern since age fifteen, from what Greenberg can tell, Jennifer fits each and every criteria, barring only the physical violence suggested in the fourth item in the following list:

  Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviours as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are ground for arrest.

  Deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure.

  Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead.

  Irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults.

  Reckless disregard for safety of self or others.

  Consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behaviour or honour financial obligations.

  Lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another.

  When asked how Jennifer might rank on a scale of one to ten in terms of severity of this disorder, Greenberg says she’d be at the high end of the threshold. “[Jennifer would] be a ten,” she says emphatically, adding that an easy way to consider how narcissism comes into play is to imagine someone with great power. “Like politicians who have all these affairs and think it’s okay for them. Jennifer doesn’t appear to think normal rules apply to her.” Greenberg says that the cutting, the suicide attempts, and if it was, in fact, Jennifer behind the messages being sent to Daniel, it truly shows how deranged she really was during this time. “Again, this is all about fabricating and manipulative behaviour,” Greenberg says. “She’s very crafty and creative. This is really a disturbed girl.”

  There have been two suggestions of the sorts of mental health issues Jennifer may have been suffering from in the lead up to the murder. Two lawyers suggested that she was a pathological liar, a person who lies compulsively or impulsively on a regular basis and is unable to control him or herself despite foreseeing inevitable negative consequences or ultimate disclosure of his or her fabrications. Therapist Barbara Greenberg on the other hand suggested Jennifer is a sociopath, someone who lies incessantly to get his or her way and does so with little concern for others. Sociopaths are often goal-orientated (i.e., lying is focused and is done to get one’s way). They have little regard or respect for the rights and feelings of others.

  29

  “She’s Not My Mama”

  For juvenile and flighty Jennifer, the alleged plot might have simply blown over had those around her seen the twenty-four-year-old and her ramblings for what they were — an immature girl trying to find an illogical way out of her problems. This would not be the case. Although the plot seemed to get short shrift at the outset, it eventually gained more steam, with money eventually trumping good sense. After the flurry of communication between Jennifer and Lenford in late August, there was radio silence between the pair for about a month until Jennifer finally called him on September 13. Even then there was little conversation until a month and a half later on October 28. There would be little waiting after this day, with armed gunmen breaking into Jennifer’s home eleven days later. The Crown’s case continued.

  So what changed? Why did the plan kick into action so quickly in and around this date? Only a handful of people might have the answer to that question. What we do know is that at least one man around this time needed money — badly. In the days leading up to October 22, Eric Carty texted Leesha Pompei and complained about a lack of “doe.” In the texts he told her that he felt like a “waste” because he was unable to afford a birthday present for his daughter, bearing in mind he was on the lam at this time and couldn’t carry on business as usual. However, it was also clear this wasn’t the first time the couple had discussed the subject. The pair went on to
argue about her insistence on paying Eric’s dinner bill while out for a family meal at the Mandarin. Leesha continued to reassure Eric, explaining how good a father he was, irrespective of whether or not he could buy his child a gift. Eric eventually replied by making four significant requests of Leesha in two communications, but never mentioned the reason why. In the first message, he told her he needed a new cellphone and a rental car. Within a week he made two more requests: black gloves and a black hat. I found 2 different winterish gloves, but [they’re] black if that helps, Leesha eventually responded, blithely unaware of the reason behind Eric’s requests.

  For Jennifer, October was a busy month. Hann later testified that it was around this time, as Jennifer prepared to attend college in January, that he made a conscious decision to “bring [Jennifer] closer” to the family. October 8 was the last day Felix saw his mother alive. After he returned to school, Jennifer travelled to Boston for a wedding with Hann and Bich. The following weekend she, Bich, and Bich’s sister, who had flown in from the United Kingdom for the wedding, took a “Chinese bus tour” to Ottawa and Montreal. During this trip, Jennifer repeatedly sent Daniel selfies of her stuffed animals posed in front of monuments such as Montreal’s Notre Dame Cathedral. It was on October 24, back at home in Markham, that she withdrew $500 from a nearby bank.

  Five days later, on October 29, Eric sent the following text to Lenford: u gd [good] and can dat gwan [go on] 2night. There was no response. Undeterred, Eric was back on the phone soon after, when he tried to recruit a friend for the job. To a phone registered to another fake user, Duane Stephenson (the name of a Jamaican reggae artist), Eric texted: I nd u 2day gt a money ting 4u.

  On October 30, Eric finally got the phone he’d been asking Leesha for the week before. However, it appeared someone else might have picked it up, since it was registered to Silvia Powell’s address. Halloween 2010 proved to be a pivotal day in the evolution of Jennifer’s master plan. On Sunday, October 31, between 6:30 and 7:12 p.m., Lenford’s phone could be seen travelling east until it ended up at the Scarborough Town Centre shopping mall, about halfway between Rexdale (where Lenford lived) and Ajax (where Daniel resided). Daniel’s phone arrived at the same location. By 8:50 p.m., both cellphones were using the tower closest to Jennifer’s house. It was the perfect night — they were both off work and the children out trick-or-treating through the dark Markham streets provided them with the perfect cover to scope out the neighbourhood in preparation for the murder. Although he was supposed to have been there, Eric was unable to attend. He wasn’t idle, though. He left multiple voice mails for David Mylvaganam, his young associate. In the end, the pair discussed the contract by text message:

  DM: Yo Pop.

  EC: 10 stacks.

  DM: Ya … Wen u ready k.

  EC: Ya 5 each ting.

  DM: Me u.

  EC: Ya bt u all da way and all ten 4u.

  DM: Easy ting.

  EC: Awo.

  DM: De ya a bill link.

  In essence, the exchange was translated by one expert as meaning the job would be for $10,000 — $5,000 for each body. If David shot both, all the money would be his. The roles and contracts were now cemented. Eric, David, and a third man would be the perpetrators of the violence. Lenford and Daniel were the middlemen, communicating information between Eric and Jennifer.

  Before leaving Markham, Daniel met Jennifer in the alleyway behind her home. During that fleeting moment, an exchange was likely made, but whether it was the $500 Jennifer pulled out of the bank days before remains unknown. After showing Lenford the Pan home and its surrounding area, including the route to the highway, Daniel and Lenford left.

  Lenford made one more trip before heading home. He stopped by the home of a man who knew Eric well, and it was the only time he was ever at this address. Whether he was there to drop off a down payment for Eric is yet another plausible but unproven detail. A date for the plan to be carried out was then allegedly confirmed. The murder was to take place on November 3.

  The eight days leading up to the murder were manic for Jennifer. She was on her Bell iPhone constantly, her mind boiling with feelings of envy and gluttony. However, there is also evidence of lust and wrath, with Jennifer experiencing an enraptured feeling, the thrill of the plot, the fearful excitement of the unknown, and at least for a while, a renewed sense of hope regarding her relationship prospects with Daniel. Her text messages from this period also contained worrying references to “sweaty palms and heart palpitations,” revealing a woman racked with worry over Daniel’s feelings for her or lack thereof. Perhaps what was most evident was her callousness and seeming disregard for her parents’ lives. For many people this juxtaposition is hard to fathom and comprehend. How could a daughter be so caught up in her love life and so detached from the havoc she was preparing to unleash on those around her — the very people who loved her more than anyone else?

  On November 1, two days before the murder was originally supposed to take place, Eric was harassing Lenford via text for Daniel’s phone number. Lenford, attempting to adhere to the plan, which was not to involve any communication between Eric and Daniel, didn’t respond to his messages. However, after applying just enough pressure, involving at least one profanity-laced text and a voice mail, Lenford eventually relented and texted Daniel’s number, scolding Eric that he was texting Lenford like his “gal.”

  The intricate web of phone use by a sly Eric to avoid detection can be seen in the next sequence of events. Eric used Silvia’s phone at her Mississauga home to receive Daniel’s phone number. Then he drove to David’s house in Rexdale. Once there, he used David’s phone to contact Daniel. Although it’s unclear what Eric wanted to talk to Daniel about, the financial terms of the contract might be a good guess. At 5:15 p.m. David’s phone and Daniel’s phone shared these texts:

  E: Can we meet up nw bro u kno who it is call me nw?

  D: Who is this?

  E: U kno who it is call me man?

  E: Yo man i was 2c u yesterday [Halloween] wit roy man fuck call me.

  D: Oh u were to c me wit roy yesterday.

  D: Nows not a good time to talk.

  D: Call u wen it is.

  E: When bro im ready nw.

  D: Nows not a good time to talk man.

  E: So what nw?

  The exchange made clear a number of things. First, Eric was supposed to attend the meeting near Pan’s house on Halloween but wasn’t able to. It also showed that Daniel remained very aware that his phone shouldn’t be used to contact anyone involved in or carrying out the plan. Daniel never did call Eric back. In fact, other than a conversation about drugs when Eric berated him in July, this was the only contact between the two men. The following day, November 2, involved further preparations, and a series of texts in the lead-up to the murder gave the police their first insight into Homeboy’s true identity. The late-night conversation began with Daniel asking Jennifer to come and see him at work the following day. Daniel refused to call her, knowing that sometimes meant hours on the telephone satisfying Jennifer’s insatiable need to hear the sound of his voice. Meanwhile, needy Jennifer was clearly not happy that the pair hadn’t talked for some time.

  D: Mama mesa [I’m] fewing dwn [feeling down].

  D: And dun wanna talk on the phone.

  D: Any chance u can come tomolo?

  J: I will try. Fine.

  J: Wat time?

  D: Idk [I don’t know].

  D: Come over for breakfast.

  D: Contact homeboy.

  J: I will in the morning. Runs aways boohoo.

  D: Pls tke care of my monkie mr chipmunk and mr bawbos.

  D: Good nite.

  J: Good nit monkey head.

  D: Y u down munkey head?

  Then, the following morning, there was this from Jennifer: Sad u pomiss to call. I kno wat u said but still sad. No seep fo me. After ca
lling Homeboy, she texted Daniel again: Homeboy said he hadn’t talked to you yet.

  It was only by cross-referencing Jennifer’s contact with Homeboy (who promised to call “in the morning”) and Daniel’s calls to him, given the text that Homeboy “hadn’t talked to you yet,” that investigators were able to identify Lenford as Homeboy. It was also on this day that Lenford’s phone made initial contact with the phone of Tim Conte, a friend of Eric’s, whose phone number reappeared on November 8.

  Later that evening, for some unknown reason, a day before the murder was supposed to take place, Daniel decided to drop an atomic bomb on Jennifer’s hopes. Throughout the plot, Jennifer never wavered in her belief that once her meddling parents were out of the picture the couple would be reunited, with the promise of love, devotion, and money. But Daniel clearly had misgivings:

  D: I’m really down right now jen :t.

  J: What’s wrong??

  D: I’m talking to you as a friend because I have no one else I can talk to like this.

  D: I feel the way u feel.

  D: But about her.

  D: I’m sorry.

  J: What do you mean? Can you please clarify for me because I think I am misunderstanding.

  J: What do you mean when you say that you feel for her the way I feel about who?

  J: What are you sorry for?

  J: Hello? This delay isn’t making feel very good. Can you please answer?

  J: Do you feel for her what I feel for her? Or you feel for her what I feel for you? Which is why you would be sorry? I’m trying to clarify. The suspense is making me all clammy hands and heart racing.

  J: Pls hurry to answer me.