Kelly Ellard, who took part in the beating and drowning of 14-year-old Reena Virk at the Craigflower Bridge in 1997, has been granted an extension to her day parole.
Ellard, now 35, was convicted of second-degree murder in 2005. She was previously granted six months of day parole by the Parole Board of Canada last November.
Her day parole was extended for another six months in late July, but the decision was not provided to the media until Tuesday.
Reena’s father, Manjit Virk, said he had not heard about the extension but is hoping Ellard can continue to make improvements in her life.
“I would say ‘Good for her,’ ” Virk said. “If she co-operates and obeys the law and does what she’s supposed to do, it will only benefit her and her baby.
“So if she keeps doing it and she reforms herself, I’ll be happy to hear that.”
The parole-board decision said Ellard now uses the name Kerry Marie Sim and is living in a halfway house.
Ellard became pregnant in 2016 during a conjugal visit with her boyfriend, who is also on parole, and the decision said she’s working with a case-management team to help with the care of their son.
In its decision, the parole board told Ellard she was showing more accountability for her actions relating to the murder.
“Your accountability rating is assessed as medium and your motivation as high,” the board said.
“You have progressively taken more responsibility for the [murder] and are motivated to change. You are engaged in correctional programming. Your reintegration potential is medium.”
The board said Ellard’s last violence-related incident was in 2009 and her last instance of substance abuse was over two years ago.
Continuing terms of her parole include the following:
• Not to consume, purchase or possess alcohol.
• Not to consume, purchase or possess drugs other than those that are prescribed. Over-the-counter drugs can be taken as directed.
• Not to associate with anyone she knows or has reason to believe is involved in criminal activity and/or substance abuse.
“Substance abuse has been an ongoing issue and has contributed to your criminal offending,” the board said. “Abstinence will serve to mitigate your risk.”
Further, Ellard can have no direct or indirect contact with the Virk family. “The victim’s family has suffered emotional and psychological trauma due to your decisions and actions, and in order to protect them from further harm you are to have no direct or indirect contact with them.”
In assessing Ellard’s case, the board said its high profile and extensive media attention were due, in part, to the brutality shown by someone so young and the fact that it went through two court appeals before a conviction. The board said Ellard has improved her demeanour since being “unco-operative, abusive and assaultive” when she went to prison following the conviction and is now “open and transparent” with case managers.
“You have been managing your daily stressors well and successfully completed residential treatment,” the board said. “You have demonstrated progress against your correctional plan, however, you have not been in the community for a significant time after your release from the residential-treatment program.”
— With The Canadian Press
