Reena Virk was a 14-year-old Canadian girl who was murdered for no reason at all in Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The horrifying crime, which was described as a watershed moment for girl violence in the late 90s, is the subject of Hulu’s limited series Under the Bridge, starring Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone.
Reena’s case is a vital subject for a true crime series since it hinges on senselessness and indifference. There was no compelling motive in the murder, which was committed by seven girls and a single boy, all teenagers, on the evening of November 14, 1997. Reena was targeted on the basis of her race, her size, and a perceived “other” status bestowed upon her against her will. She was killed for fun, and an uninterested local police department only paid attention when her body was discovered.
What happened to Reena Virk?
Reena Virk | Image via Oak Bay News
Reena was lured to a party near Craigflower Bridge, where she was beaten, burned, and eventually murdered by a group who called themselves the Shoreline Six.
Reena was subjected to two horrific beatings within a short time. During the first, she had multiple cigarettes extinguished on her, she was punched, kicked, and stomped, and attempts were made to set her hair alight. In the second, which occurred shortly afterward after several other members of the group had dispersed, she was beaten again and dumped into the water under the bridge.
Reena’s body was discovered on November 22, 1997, when she washed ashore partially clothed at the Gorge Inlet, a major waterway on Vancouver Island. Rumors were circulating by this time, but nobody had officially reported her as missing and police were not investigating.
The coroner ruled she had died of drowning, but that her head injuries were severe enough to have killed her had she not been dumped in the water.
Why was Reena Virk killed?
Vritika Gupta as Reena Virk in Hulu’s Under the Bridge
Several motives were cited for Reena’s murder, none compelling.
The likeliest motive for Reena’s murder was the same reason she was bullied in the first place — she was different. Several of Reena’s tormentors were alleged to have targeted her for racial reasons since Reena was Indian in the predominantly white area.
Further, Reena’s family had converted from Hinduism to Jehovah’s Witnesses and considered many of Reena’s attempts to fit in as being paganistic and thus not allowed. This also isolated Reena and her family from Victoria’s predominantly Sikh South Asian community.
The conservatism of her home life is likely what compelled Reena to rebel, smoking marjiuana and cigarettes, as well as taking such drastic action as falsely accusing her father of molestation in the hope of being moved to a foster home and thus having more freedom.
Who killed Reena Virk and what happened to them?
Kelly Marie Ellard | Image via Vancouver Sun
The six female perpetrators in Reena’s case were named as Nicole Cook, Nicole Patterson, Missy Grace Pleich, Courtney Keith, Gail Ooms, and Kelly Marie Ellard. The male was named as Warren Paul Glowatski. All seven perpetrators admitted involvement.
All six females were sentenced for the beating of Reena, with sentences ranging from 60-day conditional sentences up to a year in jail. Warren Paul Glowatski and Kelly Marie Ellard, who followed Reena after the first beating, attacked her again and dumped her in the water, were both sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder.
Glowatski was released on full parole in June 2010. He was a minor at the time of the crime, meaning he was eligible for parole after serving seven years. His parole hearings were heavily swayed by the discovery during his incarceration that he was Métis, a rural community tracing ancestry back to the First Nations. This meant that subsequent parole hearings had to factor in his elders and forms of restorative justice, including Glowatski hugging the parole board and Reena Virk’s parents.
Kelly Marie Ellard Was Convicted Of Murder Twice
Kelly Marie Ellard | Image via Global News
After being convicted of second-degree murder the first time, Kelly Marie Ellard’s conviction was overturned in 2003 due to improprieties in the way Ellard was questioned. Her second trial was declared a mistrial due to a hung jury.
In Ellard’s third trial in 2005, she was once again convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without eligibility for parole within seven years.
In 2006, Ellard appealed this conviction, asking for a fourth trial. The case was taken before the Supreme Court of Canada and the conviction was reinstated.
Where is Kelly Marie Ellard Now?
As of May 2022, Ellard, whose name is now Kerry Marie Sim, did not feel she was ready to return to society and waived her right to a parole hearing. She remains in prison.
Ellard had previously been granted conditional day parole in November 2017, which was extended in October 2018. However, in August 2021 she failed to report an instance of domestic violence, leading to her parole being revoked. It was subsequently reinstated.
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