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 drowned by two of them, Kelly Ellard, age 14, and Warren Glowatski, age 16, in Saanich, British Columbia. Before her murder, Reena had been bullied, which drew significant media attention across Canada. Eight teenagers were tried and convicted in connection with her death.
Profile Summary
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Reena Virk |
| Date of Birth | March 10, 1983 |
| Place of Birth | Saanich, British Columbia, Canada |
| Date of Death | November 14, 1997 (aged 14) |
| Place of Death | Saanich, British Columbia, Canada |
| Cause of Death | Homicide by forcible drowning |
| Father | Manjit Virk |
| Mother | Suman Virk |
Age
Reena was born on March 10, 1983, in Saanich, British Columbia, Canada.
Biography
Reena Virk was born on March 10, 1983, and lived in Saanich, British Columbia, where she went to Colquitz Junior High School. Her father immigrated from India, and her mother was from an Indo-Canadian family that converted from Hinduism to Jehovah’s Witnesses after moving to Canada. Her family was described as “a minority within a minority” because they were Jehovah’s Witnesses in a local South Asian community of about 3,000 people, most of whom were Sikh.
People described Reena as wanting to fit in with her peers, but she was often teased and excluded by other girls. Because of this, she started rebelling, including smoking marijuana and cigarettes. She was bullied about her weight and felt limited by her family’s religious rules. In 1996, Reena reported her father for sexual abuse, which led to her being placed in provincial care for several months. She later dropped the charges and returned home.
Murder
On November 14, 1997, when she was 14, Reena Virk was attacked and beaten by a group of teenagers under the Craigflower Bridge in Saanich, British Columbia. As she tried to leave, two of the attackers assaulted her again and took her to the Gorge Waterway, where they killed her. Police divers found her body on November 22, 1997, in a shallow tidal pool about one kilometre from where she was murdered. Laurel Gray, the pathologist who did the autopsy, found that Reena had serious bruises inside and outside her body, her brain was swollen, and there was a shoe print on her head “consistent with a stomping or a kick.” She also found pebbles in Reena’s throat, which matched drowning face down in shallow water.
Reena’s murder, along with her history of being bullied and the ages of those accused, drew a lot of media attention in Canada. Six teenage girls, aged 14 to 16 and known as the “Shoreline Six,” were tried and convicted for assaulting her. Two others, Warren Paul Glowatski and Kelly Marie Ellard, were convicted of her murder.
Warren Glowatski and seven girls were charged with various crimes related to Reena’s death. Six of the underage girls were identified 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).
Timeline
- November 14, 1997, 11:00 p.m. – Reena Virk arrives at a gathering of youths at Shoreline Community Middle School in View Royal, which disperses when police arrive. The youths trap her at the booth, take her under the Craigflower Bridge, and beat her before leaving. As Virk walks away, Ellard and Glowatski follow, strike her head against a tree, rendering her unconscious, and then drag her into the Gorge Waterway, where she drowns.
- February 9, 1998 – Three teenage girls plead guilty to assault causing bodily harm for their roles in the attack.
- 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.
- June 14, 2004 – Ellard’s second trial begins.
- February 21, 2005 – Ellard’s third trial begins.
- August 9, 2006 – Ellard appeals her conviction, asking for a fourth trial or an acquittal. The Crown has the option to appeal, hold a fourth trial, or abandon prosecution.
- April 2009 – 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 Ellard, putting an end to a legal case that spanned more than a decade.
- January 18, 2017 – Ellard is denied parole.
- July 14, 2024 – Ellard (Sim) has his day parole revoked.
