Murder of Reena Virk

Reena Virk (March 10, 1983 – November 14, 1997) was a 14-year-old Canadian girl, who was beaten by a group of teenagers and then murdered by two of those teenagers, in Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Her status as a victim of bullying prior to her murder attracted substantial media attention in Canada. Eight teenagers were tried and convicted in relation to her death. The Globe and Mail commented at the time that her case was "elevated into a national tragedy". 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.

Early life

Reena Virk (born March 10, 1983) lived in Saanich, British Columbia and attended Colquitz Junior High School. Her father was an immigrant from India, while her mother came from an Indo-Canadian family who had converted from Sikhism to the Jehovah's Witness religion after arriving in Canada. Her immediate family was "a minority within a minority," as they were Jehovah's Witnesses in the local South Asian community of 3,000 which was predominantly Sikh.

Virk was described as desperate for acceptance amongst her peers but was taunted and ostracized by girls. She began to rebel due to such peer influence, smoking marijuana and cigarettes. Bullied for her weight and insecurity, she was said to feel restricted by the rules of her family's faith. In 1996, she reported her father for sexual molestation. As a result, she was moved from her family's home into the province's care for several months in 1996. She later dropped the charges and returned home.

Murder

On November 14, 1997, when she was aged 14, Virk was swarmed and beaten by a group of teenagers, under the Craigflower bridge in Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. When Virk was trying to leave the area, two of her attackers assaulted her again and took her back to the Gorge Waterway, where they murdered her.^:5 Virk's body was found by police divers on November 22, 1997, in a 'shallow tidal pool' around 1 kilometre away from where she was murdered. Laurel Gray, the pathologist who conducted Virk's autopsy, found that she had severe internal and external bruising; her brain was swollen and there was a shoe imprint on her head "consistent with a stomping or a kick". She also found pebbles in Virk's throat, which was consistent with drowning face down in shallow water.

Virk's murder, for her prior bullying and the young accused, attracted substantial media scrutiny in Canada. Six teenage girls, aged 14 to 16 and referred to as the "Shoreline Six", were tried and convicted for assaulting Virk. Another two teenagers, Warren Paul Glowatski and Kelly Marie Ellard, were convicted for her murder.

Perpetrators

Warren Glowatski and seven female perpetrators were charged for various crimes pertaining to Virk's death. Six of the underaged female perpetrators were referred to in court documents as N.C. (Nicole Cook), N.P. (Nicole Patterson), M.G.P. (Missy Grace Pleich), C.A.K. (Courtney Keith), G.O. (Gail Ooms), and K.M.E. (Kelly Marie Ellard).

Warren Paul Glowatski

Warren Glowatski, born April 26, 1981, in Medicine Hat, Alberta, was 16 years old when he murdered Virk. Glowatski and his parents moved around frequently; he lived in Estevan, Saskatchewan; Regina, Saskatchewan; and Castlegar, British Columbia.

In June 1999 Glowatski was convicted of second-degree murder and given a life sentence. An appeal for his conviction was dismissed in November 2001. 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.

The Virks did not contest the parole, because Glowatski expressed remorse and responsibility for his part in 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.

During his incarceration, Glowatski discovered that he was Métis; 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.

Glowatski was released on full parole in June 2010.

Kelly Marie Ellard

Kelly Ellard (born August 9, 1982) was 15 years old when she drowned Virk. Ellard stood trial three times for the murder, and was convicted twice: initially in March 2000 for second-degree murder in Virk's death, a conviction that was overturned with a new trial ordered in February 2003, followed by a second trial that ended in a mistrial (hung jury) in July 2004.

A third trial was ordered and Ellard was convicted again of second-degree murder in April 2005 and given an automatic life sentence with no parole eligibility for seven years; however, the BC Court of Appeals overturned the conviction based on an error by the original trial judge. On June 12, 2009, the Supreme Court of Canada (Supreme Court) overturned the BC Court of Appeals in an 8–1 decision, ruling that Ellard's third trial had been fairly executed, that the error by the original trial judge was "harmless", and that her conviction would stand.

Ellard was granted conditional day parole in November 2017 to attend medical appointments and mother-toddler programs, following the birth of her child. In October 2018, when her day parole was extended, the documents from the Parole Board of Canada revealed that Ellard had changed her name to Kerry Marie Sim. In August 2019, her parole was extended to overnight stays outside of custody.

In May 2022, the then 39-year-old Sim (Ellard) waived her right to a parole hearing, as she did not yet feel ready to return to society on a full time basis. By law, the Parole Board of Canada was still required to review her feasibility for full parole, and also deemed her unworthy of moving beyond day parole. In January 2025, Sim (Ellard) was arrested for breach of parole. A Canada-wide warrant had been issued for her before the arrest, though the specific conditions she violated have not been publicly disclosed. In June 2025, her day parole was canceled, in a decision which confirmed that Sim had failed repeated drug tests starting with the January incident, and expanded to state that "You disregarded minimum supervision expectations and when this was addressed with you, you became hostile, argumentative, antagonizing, lacked accountability and deflected blame."

Nicole Cook

Nicole Cook, born 1984, lived in a group home at the time. In the MSNBC documentary Bloodlust Under the Bridge, Cook spoke about how she took a lit cigarette and put it out on Virk's face, initiating the mayhem that followed. Cook further explained how she repeatedly punched and kicked Virk as she was being pummelled by the other assailants. At the end of the interview, Cook then lambasted the accusation that she had anything to do with Virk's actual murder because Ellard was the participant charged for the murder. Veteran Dateline NBC 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 not. Maybe."

Cook also returned to the crime scene the day after the killing, accompanied by Pleich, and retrieved Virk's shoes and sweater. They took these items back to their group home and forced another resident of the group home to hide Reena's clothing. The resident proceeded to inform staff at the group home, who then notified the police.

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. 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. Another girl, M.G.P, was allegedly targeting Virk because of her race alongside the others in the group such as Glowatski, who allegedly were known to have bullied Virk. 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 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.