New book part of healing process: Virk's father

The father of a Victoria teen who was killed in 1997 says writing a book about his life has helped the healing process.

The ten-year-old murder was back in the headlines on Friday, when Kelly Ellard, who had been convicted of second-degree murder in Reena Virk's death, was granted a new trial — her fourth — on the charge. The Crown has not said whether it will try Ellard again.

Manjit Virk, whose book Reena: A Father's Story will be published by Heritage House in October, said Friday his family will not participate in the court process if a fourth trial held.

"It has almost become like a bad joke," the slain teen's father said. "We have come to a point now that other things have to take precedence over this case. I think we have almost wasted 11 years of our life dwelling on that."

He said frustration over the legal system is one of the reasons he spent the past year writing about his life and how his daughter's death has affected it.

"I think people have to also see that any normal family, no matter how they try hard to keep their family intact, they can be derailed by this system. I think that's what has happened here and I hope others can find something about the book that they can use in their lives," he said.

Virk said he hopes the book will set the record straight and let the public know his was a normal family like any other.

At the time of her death, Reena Virk was in the care of the Ministry of Children and Family Development after falsely accusing her father of physically assaulting her in order to escape the strict rules in her home. She later recanted her accusation.

When the Virk family tried to sue the ministry over their daughter's death, the court threw out the claim, saying they had waited too long to make it.

Virk said he can't help but note the irony in that decision, given the fact that the justice system has made way for a fourth criminal trial more than a decade after her death.

He said it's time his family move on and put this tragedy behind them.

Reena Virk was 14 years old when she was swarmed by a group of teens who had lured her under a bridge on the Gorge waterway. She staggered away from a severe beating, but was hauled back beneath the bridge where she was killed. 

Kelly Ellard and Warren Glowatski faced murder charges in Virk's killing.

In 1999, Glowatski was convicted of second-degree murder and  sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for seven years. He lost his appeal in November 2001, when the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled he actively took part in Virk's killing.

Ellard, now 25, was found guilty of second-degree murder in her first trial in 2000, but the verdict was overturned on appeal. Her second trial, in 2004, ended in a hung jury. Ellard was found guilty in a third trial in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for seven years.

On Friday, the B.C. Court of Appeal overturned Ellard's second conviction, saying the trial judge erred in his instructions to the jury.