Murder of Reena Virk

Reena Virk (March 10, 1983 – November 14, 1997) was a resident of Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Her status as a bullied murder victim attracted substantial media scrutiny in Canada.

Reena Virk
Born(1983-03-10)March 10, 1983
Saanich, British Columbia, Canada
DisappearedNear the Craigflower Bridge, in the city of Saanich, British Columbia
DiedNovember 14, 1997 (aged 14)
Cause of deathHomicide by forcible drowning
NationalityCanadian
Parents
  • Manjit Virk (father)
  • Suman Virk (mother)

Virk was first swarmed by a group of "friends." The names of six of the girls involved in the first beating, known collectively as "the Shoreline Six," have not all been released. Following the first beating, Warren Glowatski and Kerry Marie Sim (formerly, Kelly Marie Ellard) murdered Virk. Glowatski was given a life sentence after being convicted of second-degree murder. Sim (Ellard) was tried three times. The verdict of her third trial, a conviction, was set aside. The verdict was appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada which ruled not to hold a fourth trial in an 8-1 decision, upholding the conviction and sentence.

The Globe and Mail commented at the time that her case had been "elevated into a national tragedy."[1] A pair of Canadian sociologists have described the case as a watershed moment for a "moral panic" over girl violence by the Canadian public in the late 1990s.[2][3]

Reena Virk

Virk came from a large extended family who had immigrated from India. An article in Saturday Night described her immediate family as "a minority within a minority," as they were of the Jehovah's Witness religion in the local South Asian community of 3,000 which was predominantly Sikh.[4]

Virk has been described as a girl who was desperate for acceptance amongst her peers, but was taunted and/or ostracized by these girls whose subculture was influenced by Los Angeles street gangs.[1]

The murder

On the evening of Friday November 14, 1997, Reena Virk was invited to a "party" by her "friend" near the Craigflower Bridge, in the city of Saanich, British Columbia.

While at the bridge, it is claimed that teenagers drank alcohol and smoked marijuana as Virk stood among them. Virk was presently swarmed by a group later called the Shoreline Six. Witnesses said that one of the girls, Cook, stubbed out a cigarette on Virk's forehead, and that while seven or eight others stood by and watched, Virk was repeatedly hit, punched and kicked. She was found to have several cigarette burns on her skin, and apparently attempts were made to set her hair on fire. This first beating ended when one of the girls told the others to stop.

Virk managed to walk away, but was followed by two members of the original group, Sim (Ellard) and Glowatski. The pair dragged Virk to the other side of the bridge, made her remove her shoes and jacket, and beat her a second time. Sim (Ellard) denies allegedly holding Virk's head under water but, would admit to rolling her beaten, unconscious body into the water at her day parole hearing on November 30, 2017.

Despite an alleged pact amongst the people involved to not "rat each other out," by the following Monday rumors of the alleged murder spread throughout Shoreline Middle School. Reena Virk was a student at nearby Colquitz Middle School. Several uninvolved students and teachers heard the rumours, but no one came forward to report it to the police. The rumors were confirmed eight days later, on November 22, 1997, when police using a helicopter found Virk's partially clothed body washed ashore at the Gorge Inlet, a major waterway on Vancouver Island.

The coroner ruled the death was by drowning. An autopsy later revealed that Virk had sustained significant injury, and that the head injuries were severe enough to have killed her if she had not been drowned. Virk was 14 years old.

Perpetrators

The six female perpetrators are referred to in court documents as N.C., N.P., M.G.P., C.A.K., G.O., and K.M.E. N.C. is known to be Nicole Cook and M.G.P is known to be Missy Grace Pleich. N.P is Nicole Patterson, C.A.K is Courtney Keith, and G.O is Gail Ooms who is now deceased. Both have admitted involvement.[5] Kerry Sim (Kelly Ellard) is referred to in some documents as K.M.E.

One girl in this group was found to be incapable of being kept in jail due to suicide attempts. This is due to PTSD since she had witnessed her fathers violent death when she was a child.

Warren Paul Glowatski

Warren Glowatski was born April 26, 1981 in Medicine Hat, Alberta. He was convicted of Virk's murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Glowatski and his parents moved around frequently prior to their separation in 1996; he lived in Estevan and Regina, Saskatchewan, and Castlegar, British Columbia.

In 1996, Glowatski and his father moved to Nanaimo, British Columbia on Vancouver Island. By 1997, they had settled in a trailer home near the southern tip of the Island in Saanich.

The following year Glowatski's father married a woman he met in Las Vegas, Nevada. Warren Glowatski decided to remain in Saanich, living alone in the trailer and supported by money sent by his father.

On the night of Virk's murder, for unknown reasons, Glowatski involved himself in the fight and twice kicked the victim in the head. When the beating ended, Glowatski and Kerry Sim (Kelly Ellard) followed Virk. According to Glowatski, Sim (Ellard) smashed Virk's face into a tree knocking her out. With Glowatski's help Sim (Ellard) dragged Virk into the water where Sim (Ellard) drowned her.

In June 1999, Glowatski was convicted of second-degree murder and given a life sentence. Because he was 16 at the time of the murder, he was eligible for parole after serving seven years. In November 2004, he was denied his first chance at day parole.[6]

The Virks did not contest the parole, because Glowatski expressed remorse and responsibility for his part of the murder. In July 2006, he was granted unescorted temporary absences from jail. By December 2006, Glowatski was eligible to apply for day parole again, which he was granted in June 2007.[7]

During his incarceration, Glowatski discovered that he is Metis. This played a large role in parole hearings as he asked the parole board to incorporate his elders into the process and various healing circles and other forms of restorative justice were used bringing Glowatski and Virk's parents together. In receiving day parole he proceeded to hug every member of the parole board and those present, including the Virks.[8]

Warren Glowatski was released on full parole in June 2010.[9]

Kerry Marie Sim (formerly known as Kelly Marie Ellard)

Kerry Sim (Kelly Ellard), born August 9, 1982, was 15 years old when she and Warren Glowatski drowned Virk. Sim (Ellard) has stood trial three times for the murder, and been convicted twice. On June 12, 2009, the Globe and Mail reported that the Supreme Court of Canada had overturned the judicial ruling of the BC Court of Appeals in an 8-1 ruling. Sim's (Ellard's) third trial was judged to be fairly executed.[10]

Evidence was cited in the book about the case regarding Sim's (Ellard's) sociopathy and violence in middle school. The reason for the absence of her birth father in her life is never revealed.

Sim (Ellard) was initially convicted in March 2000 for second-degree murder in Virk's death. In February 2003, this conviction was overturned and a new trial was ordered. The second trial ended in a mistrial (as the result of a hung jury) in July 2004. A third trial was ordered and Sim (Ellard) was convicted again of second-degree murder in April 2005 and given an automatic life sentence with no parole eligibility for seven years.

The Supreme Court ruled that her conviction stands because the error by the original trial judge was "harmless".[11]

Nicole Cook

Nicole Cook, born 1983, lived in a group home at the time. On MSNBC's documentary Bloodlust Under the Bridge, Cook spoke about how she took a lit cigarette and put it out on Reena Virk's face, initiating the mayhem that followed. Cook further explained how she repeatedly punched and kicked Virk as she was being pummeled by the other assailants. At the end of the MSNBC interview, Cook then lambasted the accusation that she had anything to do with Virk's actual murder because Sim (Ellard) was the participant charged for the murder. Veteran Dateline reporter Keith Morrison then asked, "Would the murder have ever happened if you hadn't started the fight by burning her face with your cigarette?" and Cook replied, "I don't know. Maybe."[5]

Cook also returned to the crime scene the day after the killing, accompanied by Pleich, and retrieved Reena's shoes and sweater. They took these items back to their group home and forced another, a younger resident named "Stephanie"[12] to hide them in her closet. They also forced this same younger girl to make phone calls to Suman Virk, Reena's mother, while the search for Reena was still active.

Possible motives

A book about the case, Under the Bridge by Rebecca Godfrey, details some of the motives that may have led to Virk's death.[13] Two of the girls convicted in the initial beating allege that Virk stole a phone book from Nicole Cook and started calling Cook's friends and spreading rumours about her. Cook stubbed out a cigarette on Virk's forehead during the attack. Another girl, M.G.P, was allegedly angry with Virk for stealing her boyfriend. Virk once lived with the two girls in a youth group home. It is suggested she may have done those things in order to assert herself as "tough".

The book also reveals that Virk was initially considered a runaway when her mother first reported her missing to the Saanich Police Department, the police agency in which the Virks resided. The book Under the Bridge incorrectly documented the Missing Persons report as being made to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Two Russian sisters, who lived in the youth group home, were prompted to contact the police upon hearing that Virk was most likely dead.[13]

Timeline
  • November 14, 1997, Reena Virk is killed
  • November 22, 1997, Reena Virk's body is found
  • February 9, 1998, three teenage girls plead guilty to assault causing bodily harm for their roles in the attack
  • February 13, 1998, three more girls are convicted of assault causing bodily harm
  • Between April and May 1998, six teenage girls are sentenced for their roles in the beating of Virk. Sentences range from 60-day conditional sentences to one year in jail
  • June 1999, Warren Glowatski, the only male involved in the crime, is convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for seven years
  • March 9, 2000, Kerry Sim (Kelly Ellard) is convicted of second-degree murder in adult court, where she is sentenced to life in prison with no chance of full parole for five years
  • November 15, 2000, 3 years and 1 day after the murder of Reena Virk, her parents, Manjit and Suman Virk, sue the teenagers who took part in the beating, the BC government, and several other parties
  • February 4, 2003, the BC Court of Appeal announces that due to improprieties in the way Sim (Ellard) was questioned during her first trial, a new trial would be ordered[14] It is impermissible for the crown to ask the accused why witnesses would lie about the accused.[15]
  • June 14, 2004, Sim's (Ellard's) second murder trial begins
  • July 18, 2004, a mistrial is declared in Sim's (Ellard's) second trial after the jury declares it is deadlocked 11-1[16]
  • February 21, 2005, Kerry Sim's (Kelly Ellard's) third trial opens
  • April 12, 2005, Ellard is found guilty of second degree murder. She is given an automatic life sentence with no parole for at least 7 years[17][18]
  • July 20, 2006, after serving nearly nine years of a life sentence, Warren Glowatski is granted unescorted temporary passes by the National Parole Board, moving him a step closer to becoming part of society. The Virk family supports the decision.[19]
  • August 9, 2006, Ellard appeals her conviction, asking for a fourth trial or an acquittal. Crown has the option to appeal, hold a fourth trial or abandon prosecution.[20][21]
  • April, 2009, Sim's (Ellard's) appeal goes before the Supreme Court of Canada.
  • June 12, 2009, The Supreme Court of Canada reinstates the second-degree murder conviction against Kerry Sim (Kelly Ellard), putting an end to a legal case that spanned more than a decade.[22]
  • June 23, 2010 Warren Glowatski is released on parole.
  • January 18, 2017 Sim (Ellard) is denied parole.[23]
  • November 30, 2017 Sim (Ellard) granted day parole
  • August 22, 2019 Sim (Ellard) granted overnight leaves and extended day parole.[24]

The murder case has been the subject of an award-winning and bestselling book, Under the Bridge. The True Story of the Murder of Reena Virk (2005) by Rebecca Godfrey,[13][25] which is currently being developed into a feature film,[26] and partly inspired a monologue play, The Shape of a Girl (2001), by Joan MacLeod,[27] and The Beckoners by Carrie Mac. The film rights for the book Under the Bridge have been purchased by Type A Productions, a film production company, for adaptation into a movie.[28]

The murder of Reena Virk was also the subject of a thesis published in a book edited by Christine Alder and Anne Worrell titled Girls' Violence; Myths and Realities. The author of the thesis, "Racism, 'Girl Violence' and the Murder of Reena Virk", Sheila Batacharya, discusses the murder of Reena Virk from feminist perspective and looks at why the argument from media and police that the murder was not racially motivated may not have been entirely accurate. Batacharya also argues that the narrative of 'girl violence' which academics policy makers and journalists have asserted is evidenced by Virk's murder, obscures other investigations and explanations surrounding this murder.[29] Reena's father, Mr. Manjit Virk, has written a book about the murder of his daughter: Reena: A Father’s Story (2008), which is highly critical of the B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development and the B.C. justice system; Reena was murdered under the voluntary care of the Ministry, yet no apology was given or responsibility taken.

In December 2010 and 2012, students from Walkerville High School in Windsor, Ontario performed a play based on the death of Reena Virk for members of the community, as well as the Virk parents.[30]

In May 2011, Meghan Gallagher from The Bush School in Seattle self-directed and performed The Shape of a Girl.

In 2015, Soraya Peerbaye published a series of poems dedicated to the murder of Reena Virk entitled Tell: poems for a girlhood. The book was shortlisted for the 2016 Griffin Poetry Prize.

See also

References
  1. "Reena Virk's short life and lonely death," The Globe and Mail, 27 November 1997
  2. Barron, Christie; Lacombe, Dany (1 February 2005). "Moral panic and the Nasty Girl". The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology. 42 (1): 51. ISSN 0008-4948.
  3. Jiwani, Yasmin (1999-09-01). "Erasing Violence: The Story of Reena Virk". Canadian Woman Studies. 19 (3). ISSN 0713-3235.
  4. "Who was Reena Virk?" 1 April 1998, Saturday Night, 15 Vol. 113, No. 3
  5. Convo, David. (Producer). Morrison, Keith (correspondent). "Blood-lust Under the Bridge," Dateline NBC, Season 509, Episode 0529. Airdate: 05/29/2009. New York, NY: Peacock Productions, NBC News.
  6. "Glowatski denied parole in Virk murder". CBC.ca. November 19, 2004. Archived from the original on May 10, 2007. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  7. "The murder of Reena Virk and trials of Kerry Sim (Kelly Ellard)". CBC.ca. June 12, 2009. Archived from the original on April 17, 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  8. "One of Virk's killers granted unescorted passes". CTV News. Victoria. Jul 19, 2006. Archived from the original on 1 August 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  9. "(no title)". The Province. Retrieved 2018-06-06. Cite uses generic title (help)
  10. "Supreme Court restores Ellard conviction in Virk case". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. 2009-06-12. Archived from the original on June 13, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
  11. "R. v. Ellard, 2009 SCC 27, [2009] 2 S.C.R. 19". January 17, 2014.
  12. "5 Insane Realities Inside The Foster Care System". Cracked.com. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  13. Goldberg, Nicola Maye (26 June 2019). "Rebecca Godfrey on Small-Town Violence and the Evolution of True Crime". CrimeReads. CrimeReads. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  14. "R. v. Ellard, 2003 BCCA 68". September 5, 2008.
  15. "CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, BC Law Society, Chapter 5, p 70" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  16. "Judge declares mistrial in Kelly Ellard case". CBC News. July 19, 2004. Archived from the original on May 10, 2007. Retrieved 2006-12-30.
  17. "R. v. Ellard, 2005 BCSC 1087". July 7, 2005.
  18. "3rd trial finds Kelly Ellard guilty of murder". CBC News. April 13, 2005. Archived from the original on February 27, 2007. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
  19. "One of Virk's killers granted unescorted passes". 2006-07-19. Archived from the original on 2009-07-31. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
  20. "Ellard conviction overturned in death of Victoria teen Reena Virk". CBC News. September 5, 2008.
  21. "R. v. Ellard, 2008 BCCA 341". September 5, 2008.
  22. "Ellard conviction restored in Reena Virk murder case". CBC News. June 12, 2009. Archived from the original on June 15, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
  23. "Kelly Ellard, B.C. woman convicted of killing 14-year-old girl in 1997, denied parole". National Post.
  24. "Reena Virk's killer Kelly Ellard has day parole extended by six months". Vancouver Sun.
  25. "0002000679 - Under the Bridge: the True Story of the Murder of Reena Virk by Rebecca Godfrey - AbeBooks". www.abebooks.com. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
  26. "Vancouver company joins Reese Witherspoon for film on Virk murder". 2010-04-24. Archived from the original on 2010-04-24. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  27. Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
  28. Witherspoon Goes Under the Bridge - ComingSoon.net
  29. [Alder. C and Worrell A [Eds.](2004) Girls Violence; Myths and Realities. Albany: State University of New York Press
  30. "Windsor play strikes chord with parents of slain teen". 2010-06-15. Archived from the original on 2010-06-15. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
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