Karen ‘was hit with a spanner and lef t in barrel on farm’
student Karen Buckley was beaten with a spanner and strangled before her battered remains were stuffed into a barrel, court papers have revealed.
Miss Buckley, 24, became the subject of a huge police search after she went missing during a night out in Glasgow with her university friends.
Just a few days later, her body was found on farmland to the north of the city.
Yesterday, the man charged with her murder appeared in court as the details of Miss Buckley’s last hours emerged.
Alexander Pacteau is accused of attacking her then covering her body in ‘corrosive substances’ and putting her in a barrel.
the 21-year- old appeared in the dock at a private court appearance yesterday for the second time for a full committal hearing.
Pacteau, from Glasgow’s West end, made no plea or declaration and was remanded in custody by sheriff Kenneth Hogg.
It is expected Pacteau will stand trial later this year.
Papers from Glasgow sheriff Court claim that on April 12 at his dorchester Avenue flat and elsewhere, he repeatedly hit Miss Buckley on the head with a spanner or similar object.
the murder charge also reads that Pacteau ‘compressed her neck’.
Pacteau faces a second charge that between April 12 and 13 at his West end f l at and at High Craigton Farm, drymen, stirlingshire, knowing that he had killed Miss Buckley, he ‘applied corrosive substances’ to her body.
It is alleged he put her body in a plastic barrel and ‘concealed’ it in a storage shed.
Miss Buckley, a qualified nurse, went missing following a night out at the sanctuary nightclub in Glasgow on April 11.
A Crown Office spokesman said: ‘Alexander Pacteau, 21, from Glasgow, made a second appearance at Glasgow sheriff Court today charged with the murder of Karen Buckley and with attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
‘He made no plea or declaration and was fully committed and remanded in custody. no further court dates have been set at this time.
‘It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage in proceedings.’
Miss Buckley, from County Cork in Ireland, graduated with a general degree in nursing in her homeland last year.
she came to scotland to study occupational health at Glasgow Caledonian university in January.
Flatmates at her home in Garnethill in the centre of Glasgow raised the alarm when she failed to return from a night out at the nightclub in the city’s West end. A massive search was launched, which led police to dawsholm Park, where her handbag was f ound three days after her disappearance.
the search switched to a property in dorchester Avenue and then to High Craigton Farm, where her remains were discovered the next evening.
Miss Buckley’s family travelled to scotland in the desperate hope she would be found safe and well – but, instead, ended up dealing with the worst news a parent can receive. Her father John told how Miss Buckley’s death had l ef t t he f amily devastated.
He said: ‘Marian and I, with our sons Brendan, Kieran and damian, are absolutely heartbroken.
‘Karen was our only daughter, cherished by our family and loved by her friends. We will miss her terribly.’
tributes including dozens of bouquets of flowers, cards and pictures were left at the entrance to the farm.
the family attended a tribute in Glasgow’s George square.
‘Applied corrosive substances’