Suman Virk said Monday she cannot understand why the B.C. Appeal Court has overturned the conviction of Kelly Ellard

Suman Virk said Monday she cannot understand why the B.C. Appeal Court has overturned the conviction of Kelly Ellard in connection with Virk's November 1997 death.mother of murdered Victoria teen Reena Virk says her family is in shock that one of the accused in her daughter's beating and drowning death may face a fourth trial.She said her family has been grieving Reena's death with no real sense of legal closure for almost 12 years."I was shocked," Virk said. "I never imagined that they would honour her appeal one more time. She's had three serious trials and so far nobody's found her not guilty."She said she feels the justice system cares more about the accused than victims of crime.Six other teenage girls were convicted of assault in 1998 for a swarming-style beating Reena received on the night she died. She was killed after staggering away from the beating to walk home.
Warren Glowatski, who was 16 at the time of the murder, was convicted of second-degree murder for following Virk after she left, and taking part in beating her to death under the Craigflower bridge in suburban Victoria. Glowatski was granted day parole last year.Ellard has been tried three times, resulting in two convictions and one hung jury.In a Friday ruling, the appeal court said the judge at her third trial made a mistake and they overturned Ellard's conviction and ordered a new trial.
The Crown must now decide whether to appeal the decision, proceed with a fourth trial or stay the charges against Ellard, who was 15 when the murder took place.
The Virks launched a civil lawsuit against the B.C. government over the death of their daughter, who was in government care at the time.Last March, a B.C. Supreme Court justice dismissed the case, saying they had waited too long to bring the case to court."It just seems like the system is working for the accused, especially since our case against the (B.C. government) was not allowed to proceed because it was too long and took too much time," Suman Virk said."It's been 12 years for Kelly and the system and there's still no end of it, so it's really hard to understand the way the system works."Virk said her husband, Manjit, has written a book about himself and Reena to help him deal with the tragic loss. The book, Reena: A Father's Story, will be published next month.Virk said the book helped her husband deal with some of the grief and guilt he has felt and fought since Reena's death."It's like an autobiography of his life and what he wanted for his children, and the way his hopes and dreams got derailed and how our family has worked together to deal with our loss and carry on," she said.Virk said the book places great emphasis on the strength of family bonds and how people can survive tragedy. But she said Reena's death deeply affected her husband."It was hard to deal with the fact that he was unable to save Reena," she said. "There's a lot of guilt, and loss of your direction in life, and it was difficult for him to come to terms with that."So, this book has really helped him to go over events again and come to terms with the feelings that came up."