School bully murderess who helped beat and drown classmate is ordered back to jail

A notorious Canadian killer was arrested on Tuesday after violating the conditions of her release. 

Kelly Ellard, who changed her name to Kerry Sim, was convicted in April 2005 for the brutal 1997 murder of classmate Reena Virk, 14, in Saanich, British Columbia. 

Sim was serving a life sentence for the murder but was granted day parole in 2018 under conditions that she would remain sober, not contact the Virk family, follow a treatment plan, and report all intimate relationships. 

A spokesperson for the Surrey Police Services confirmed Sim's arrest to DailyMail.com. The Corrections Service of Canada, which issued the warrant, did not provide specifics on which conditions she violated. 

Sim was arrested again in 2021 and was ordered twice to attend a hearing for her behavior after testing positive for codeine and for domestic violence. She had been living in a community-based residential facility after her release. 

While in prison, Sim had two children. Her first child was conceived during a conjugal visit with her boyfriend, who was also an ex-convict. 

She had a second child with the same person and was a mother of two by 2020. 

Sim was thrust into the public eye for her involvement in the brutal killing of Virk after luring her to a party. 

Virk was a victim of bullying at her predominately white school, where she felt like an outsider and struggled in her home life. 

Her parents, who had converted to Jehovah's Witnesses, kept Virk under strict religious rules.

She had previously run away and was placed in the care of her grandparents before being moved to a foster home. 

Her life came to a tragic end on November 14, 1997, when a group of classmates invited her to a party. 

Unbeknownst to her, the group was planning to attack Virk. She arrived at the gathering and found her eight classmates drinking and smoking. 

The teens violently accused Virk of spreading rumors about them before assaulting her.

The six girls convicted of assaulting Virk were known as the 'Shoreline Six.' Sim and the one boy at the party, Warren Glowatski, were later convicted of murder.  

Virk was eventually able to escape, but Glowatski and Sim followed her and dragged her under a bridge. 

They continued to beat her until she was unconscious and drowned her body in the water. Glowatski later said that Sim held Virk's head underwater, but she denied that claim. 

Virk's parents reported her missing, but because of her history of running away, police didn't find her body until eight days after the attack. 

A coroner's report later revealed the extensive injuries she endured, mirroring those of car crash victims. 

Speculation over who killed Virk began to grow in Saanich when when other students overheard those involved talking about the murder. 

Police eventually arrested Glowatski and Sim, who were 16 and 15 at the time. Due to the vicious extent of their crimes, the two teens were tried as adults. 

Glowatski was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. He completed a restorative justice program in prison and sought forgiveness from the Virk family.

Virk's mother, Suman, who died in 2018, previously explained to The Globe and Mail why she forgave Glowatski. 

'I think the most important reason why we've forgiven Warren is so we can just put this whole matter aside and for our own healing and sense of wholeness,' she said.

Sim, on the other hand, didn't seek reconciliation for her crimes. Her conviction wasn't as straightforward as she went through multiple trials. 

Her first conviction in March 2000 was overturned after the defense argued she didn't receive a fair trial. She awaited a second trial in prison until she appeared in court again in June 2004. 

Sim said that she wasn't the one who killed Virk, resulting in a deadlocked jury and a mistrial. Her third conviction a year later was overturned on appeal.

The case made it to Canada's Supreme Court, where Sim's conviction and life sentence were reinstated. 

The judge at her 2005 trial was convinced that Sim wouldn't rehabilitate, telling her, 'You alone are responsible for your situation, and until you reach this elementary conclusion you will not grow.

'You will not rehabilitate; you will be forever stalled in this nightmare which you have created.'

The other six girls involved in the attack were convicted in juvenile court for assault and served sentences of under a year. 

Virk's parents remained outspoken about their daughter's death in the years that followed and became advocates for victims of bullying. 

Virk's father, Manjit, penned a novel about his daughter titled, Reena: A Father's Story. 

Virk's story has been sensationalized and became the inspiration for several books, movies, and documentaries. 

The most recent retelling was detailed in the popular Hulu series Under the Bridge, starring Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone. 

Keough portrayed Rebecca Godfrey, a journalist who wrote a book under the same name about the horrific incident, while Gladstone played a cop investigating the crime.

Godfrey was living in New York at the time but became enthralled by the case from her hometown in Canada. She spent nearly a decade researching the case for her book. 

Since the Hulu series was released last year, there's been a renewed interest in the tragic events that occurred in November 1997.