Close X
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
ADVT 
National

Reena Virk’s Killer Kelly Ellard Has Day Parole Extended By Six Months

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 22 Aug, 2019 08:14 PM

    VANCOUVER - The Parole Board of Canada has granted overnight leaves and extended day parole for a British Columbia woman convicted in the 1997 swarming and murder of Victoria teenager Reena Virk.

     

    The board says Kelly Ellard, who now goes by Kerry Marie Sim, has show "sustained positive change" since her conviction and life sentence in 2005 for the second-degree murder of the 14-year-old.

     

    Ellard, who is now in her late 30s, received day parole in November 2017, shortly after the birth of a child she conceived during a conjugal visit with her boyfriend.

     

    The board has extended parole in six-month increments since then, and its latest decision authorizes overnight leaves, although it notes her continuing relationship with the child's father, also a convicted criminal, still requires monitoring.

     

    The board ruling, issued late last month but just released to the media, says Ellard is coping well with several sources of stress, and any risk to the public continues to be manageable.

     

    Ellard must still abide by several conditions, including abstaining from alcohol and drugs, and she is not permitted any contact with Virk's family.

     

    "The deceased victim's family has suffered the violent loss of their child, and they have the right to live their lives without any concern of unwanted contact from you," the two-member parole board panel writes.

     

    Ellard was 15 at the time of Virk's murder, but was sentenced as an adult. She was convicted at her third trial in 2005 after a B.C. Court of Appeal decision set aside the guilty verdict in her first trial and her second trial ended with a deadlocked jury.

     

    Court was told Ellard and several other teens swarmed and beat Virk before Ellard and a teenage boy held her head underwater until she drowned.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Trudeau calls out Tory premiers for 'playing games' with national unity over C-69

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says conservative premiers are playing games with national unity by threatening the country's future if they don't get their way on an environmental-assessment bill.

    Trudeau calls out Tory premiers for 'playing games' with national unity over C-69

    Victoria police chief hands out hefty fine to driver who flicked lit butt

    Chief Const. Del Manak said he was travelling on a highway in his unmarked police car when he noticed the driver of a Ford Mustang ahead of him toss the lit butt.

    Victoria police chief hands out hefty fine to driver who flicked lit butt

    Two men dead, three people in hospital after boats collide on B.C. lake

    The bodies of two men have been recovered from Osoyoos Lake in British Columbia's southern Okanagan, following a high-speed collision between two power boats.

    Two men dead, three people in hospital after boats collide on B.C. lake

    Ottawa announces $13 million for Canada's coastal habitats on World Oceans Day

    Federal Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the money would support an additional 24 projects under Ottawa's Coastal Restoration Fund to help restore habitats along Canada's shorelines.

    Ottawa announces $13 million for Canada's coastal habitats on World Oceans Day

    Hundreds rally against Trans Mountain pipeline ahead of federal decision

    Hundreds rally against Trans Mountain pipeline ahead of federal decision
    It could be the last major rally against the pipeline in Vancouver before the federal government makes its final decision on the fate of the project, expected by June 18.

    Hundreds rally against Trans Mountain pipeline ahead of federal decision

    Real Estate Condo developers offer free wine, avocado toast to woo buyers

    As the market slowed, condos began to take longer to sell, hitting 40 days or more on average between December 2018 and February 2019 

    Real Estate Condo developers offer free wine, avocado toast to woo buyers