Reena Virk

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Reena Virk
Reena Virk

Reena Virk (March 10, 1983 – November 14, 1997) was a resident of Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Her bullying and murder attracted substantial media attention in Canada. Virk was first swarmed by seven females and one male. The single male and one of the females subsequently beat and murdered her. The Globe and Mail commented at the time that her case had been "elevated into a national tragedy".[1] 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] Warren Glowatski was given a life sentence after being convicted of Virk's second-degree murder. The names of the six girls involved in Virk's first beating are concealed. Kelly Ellard was tried three times for murder. The verdict of her third trial, a conviction, was set aside. The crown may appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, hold a fourth trial, or elect not to retry Ellard.

The murder case has been the subject of an award-winning and bestselling book, Under the Bridge (2005) by Rebecca Godfrey,[3] and partly inspired a monologue play, The Shape of a Girl (2001), by Joan MacLeod.[4] 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.[5]

Contents

[edit] The victim

Reena Virk was a girl who came from a large extended family who had emigrated from India to Canada. 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 East Indian community of 3,000 which was predominantly Sikh.[6]

Virk has been described as a girl who was desperate for acceptance amongst her peers, but was teased and/or ostracized by these girls whose subculture was influenced by Los Angeles street gangs.[1] At the beginning of her adolescence, Virk had become estranged from her family. She began to rebel against her immediate family and their strict religious beliefs. She began to smoke, disobey family rules and spent a few days at a group foster home where she first came into contact with the local youth gang culture to which she became attracted.[7] There also had been allegations that she may have been sexually[8] abused by her father though the charges (filed in January 1996) had been stayed in court and after leaving home for six weeks, Virk returned home.[6][9]

[edit] The crime

On the evening of Friday November 14, 1997, Reena Virk was invited to "party" at a location used for gatherings of teenagers near the Craigflower Bridge, which is located west of the city of Victoria, British Columbia. Virk, who had already been having difficulty fitting in with her schoolmates, decided to accept the invitation.

While at the bridge, it is claimed that teenagers talked amongst themselves, drank, and smoked marijuana. Virk was swarmed upon by eight adolescents, seven girls and one boy. Witnesses said that one of the girls 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. The fight 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, 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. It is believed that Ellard forced Virk's head under the water and held it there with her foot until Virk stopped struggling.

Despite an alleged pact amongst the people involved not to "rat each other out", by the following Monday, rumors of the alleged murder spread throughout Shoreline Secondary School, where Virk was a student. Several students and teachers had heard the rumors, but no one came forward to report it to the police. The rumors were confirmed eight days later, on November 22, 1997, when police divers 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. However, an autopsy later revealed that Virk had sustained several fractures, and that the head injuries were severe enough to have killed her if she had not been drowned. Virk was 14 years old at the time of her death.

[edit] Perpetrators

It is known and admitted that Virk was first beaten by Warren Glowatski, Kelly Ellard, and six other girls. The six are collectively known as the Shoreline Six. Per the Youth Criminal Justice Act and the Young Offenders Act all individual names are not reported due to their ages when the crime was committed. Five of these young women are referred to court documents as N.C., N.P., M.G.P., C.A.K. and G.O. The beating began after N.C. stubbed a lit cigarette into Reena Virk’s forehead. Prior to the beating M.G.P. had asked at least one other person to help her assault Virk. G.O. died of illness after Ellard's first trial. Ellard, in some documents called K.M.E., is the step-daughter of former prominent soccer player George Pakos.

[edit] Possible motives

"Under the Bridge" 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 one of the girl's phone book and started calling her friends and spreading vicious rumors about her. The girl stubbed her cigarette on Virk's forehead. The other girl was angry with Virk for stealing her boyfriend. Virk, who once lived with the two girls in a youth group home, may have done those things in order to assert herself as a "tough girl".

The book also reveals Virk was initially considered a runaway when her mother first reported her missing to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Two Russian sisters, who lived in the youth group home, were prompted to call the police upon hearing that Virk was most likely dead.

[edit] The murder case of Reena Virk: A timeline

  • February 9, 1998, three teenaged girls plead guilty to assault causing bodily harm for their roles in the attack.
  • February 13, 1998, three more teenaged girls were convicted of assault causing bodily harm.
  • Between April and May 1998, six teenaged girls were sentenced for their roles in beating Virk. Sentence ranged from 60 days conditional sentence to one year in jail.
  • March 9, 2000, Kelly Marie Ellard was tried and convicted of second-degree murder; her case was raised to adult court where she was 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, sued the teenagers who took part in the beating, the BC government, and several other people.
  • February 4, 2003, the BC Court of Appeal announced that due to improprieties in the way Ellard was questioned during her first trial, a new trial would be ordered. [10] It is impermissible for the crown to ask the accused why witnesses would lie about the accused.[11]
  • March 4, 2004 While awaiting the second trial in the Virk murder, Ellard was charged in an unrelated assault and beating of a 58 year old Vancouver, BC woman. Because of the bail violation, Ellard's bail was revoked and she was taken back into custody.[12]
  • June 14, 2004 The second murder trial begins.
  • Between June 16 and June 22, several witnesses including Glowatski testified that Ellard had admitted to killing Virk. It was said that Ellard bragged about "finishing (Virk) off" and had actually conducted tours to the murder scene.
  • July 6, Ellard admitted to taking part of the initial beating but only for self-defense. Throughout the trial, Ellard was given to sarcasm or throwing tantrums in the witness box while denying her part in the crime. In one infamous instance during the second trial, Ellard said to the proscecutor "I'm obviously going to be convicted," She then dissolved into tears saying "My life is over. You got what you wanted. I'm going to be convicted."
  • July 18, 2004, a mistrial was declared in Ellard's second trial after the jury declared it was deadlocked 11-1.[13]
  • February 21, 2005, Kelly Ellard's third trial opens.
  • July 20, 2006 After serving nearly 9 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 support the decision.[1]
  • August 9, 2006, Ellard appealed her conviction, asking for a fourth trial or an acquittal.
  • September 5, 2008, Ellard's appeal is granted. Crown has to option to appeal, hold a fourth trail or abandon prosecution.[16][17]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Reena Virk's short life and lonely death", The Globe and Mail, 27 November 1997
  2. ^ "Moral panic and the Nasty Girl", Barron, Christie & Lacombe, Dany; 1 February 2005 The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 51 ISSN: 0008-4948; Volume 42; Issue 1
  3. ^ Rebecca Godfrey: About the New Book
  4. ^ Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
  5. ^ Witherspoon Goes Under the Bridge - ComingSoon.net
  6. ^ a b "Who was Reena Virk?", 1 April 1998, Saturday Night, 15 Vol. 113, No. 3
  7. ^ Under the Bridge, Rebecca Godfrey, 2005
  8. ^ Jiwani, Yasmin (1997-December). "Reena Virk: The Erasure of Race". The FREDA Centre for Research on Violence against Women and Children. Retrieved on 2008-09-23.
  9. ^ "B.C. victim's life plagued by angst, family trouble, abuse", Canadian Press, 28 November 1997, Kitchener-Waterloo Record
  10. ^ "R. v. Ellard, 2003 BCCA 68" (September 5, 2008).
  11. ^ "CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, BC Law Socierty, Chapter 5, p 70" (PDF).
  12. ^ "CBC News: B.C. woman waiting for beating death trial arrested for assault". Retrieved on 2006-12-30.
  13. ^ "Judge declares mistrial in Kelly Ellard case" (July 19, 2004). Retrieved on 2006-12-30.
  14. ^ "[hhttp://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/sc/05/10/2005bcsc1087.htm R. v. Ellard, 2005 BCSC 1087]" (July 7, 2005).
  15. ^ "3rd trial finds Kelly Ellard guilty of murder" (April 13, 2005). Retrieved on 2006-12-30.
  16. ^ "Ellard conviction overturned in death of Victoria teen Reena Virk" (September 5, 2008).
  17. ^ "R. v. Ellard, 2008 BCCA 341" (September 5, 2008).

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reena_Virk"
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