| Reena Virk’s murder was one of the most shocking in Canadian history. The death of the young teenager in a sleepy Victoria, B.C. suburb that hadn’t seen anything so violent before, became for the rest of the country a sign of the cold and callous violence that kids inflict on each other daily. For a moment, the consequences of bullying and its aftermath drew the attention of the media and parents.
Virk was like many teenagers – unsure, railing against her parents, trying to be cool. The popular kids – Kelly Ellard, Josephine Bell, Warren Glowatski and others – didn’t want to have much to do with her. Like all tragedies, minor details and misunderstandings conspired. Within days, Virk was found beaten and drowned.
"I’d done stuff for art magazines, but nothing investigative," says author Rebecca Godfrey (The Torn Skirt). "I think it gave me an advantage. The biggest challenge was getting access to private documents. Ultimately, I got the entire police file. Navigating the kids was easy, as I could relate to them."
The new edition of Godfrey’s Under the Bridge: The True Story of the Murder of Reena Virk (HarperCollins, 350 pp.) contains an afterword commenting on the lives of the girls and families involved in the murder. Even now, almost 10 years later, the murder has left a stain on nearly everyone involved. Kelly Ellard, one of the key participants in the murder, was found guilty last year of second-degree murder. She remains as angry and pensive as ever, uncooperative with guards and the courts. "I’m surprised that she has such viciousness in her, even after all of this time," says Godfrey.
Josephine Bell maintains her innocence. "She’s an instigator," says Godfrey. "I’ve said this before – she reminds me of this noir woman, manipulative."
Perhaps the most positive story is that of Warren Glowatski. Still in prison, he’s an adult now, involved with Restorative Justice programs, where convicts meet their victims and families – which included Reena’s own. Ultimately, the murder was seen as perpetrated by Ellard and Glowatski, although the latter bore the brunt of the punishment. "I still think that the legal system was much tougher on Warren and gave Kelly breaks," says Godfrey. "It’s a kind of sexism, having to take care of this poor little girl. It has been frustrating to observe."
After her experiences writing true crime, Godfrey doesn’t see herself returning to it in the future. "I finished the book three years before it came out," she says. "It kept me in this limbo creatively. I don’t want to do that again – it’s hard to be in that world, around so much pain and tragedy. If you’re serious, you just can’t walk in and out of people’s lives."
Godfrey has seen the book go on to make a positive influence. "Now it has a life of its own – kids write letters and plays, and that’s great. I think there was a lot more vulnerability with these kids, an ominous play-acting of gangsters and things went crazy. People know now that kids can go to this horrible place." |
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