KAREN DID NOT GO TO ACCUSED’S APARTMENT
Student strangled in park, police believe Body put into barrel of chemicals on farm CCTV shows suspect buying barrel day after death
KAREN Buckley never went back to the flat of the man accused of her murder, police in Scotland believe.
Fresh details of the 24-year-old Cork girl’s brutal death emerged last night.
The Irish Mail on Sunday has learned the shocking level of violence used against the master’s student – and her alleged killer’s attempt to cover his tracks. We can reveal: Investigators have found no evidence to suggest she was ever in her alleged killer’s flat. Instead he is thought to have taken her to the park where her bag was later found.
Police are investigating whether Karen was drugged before leaving the club.
Police believe he left her body in the boot of his car overnight while he figured out how to dispose of it.
Other details emerged in court papers:
Alexander Pacteau allegedly hit Karen repeatedly over the head with a spanner from the boot of his car before strangling her.
Hours after allegedly killing Karen, 21-year-old Pacteau bought a water butt or barrel, planning to dissolve her body in acid.
We can disclose that he drove to a nearby B&Q and police have CCTV footage of Pacteau in the store buying a £35 butt.
A source told the MoS: ‘Despite reports,
there is no evidence that she went back to the flat. That’s what he said but after she leaves the club with him, what he says and what the evidence points to begin to separate.’
The source added: ‘Police are looking at the possibility that her killer used Rohypnol. They were strangers, they didn’t know each other. So they are looking into whether that’s how she left the club with him.’
Pacteau told police that Karen willingly went back to his flat but they do not believe this to be the case.
They would have expected to discover some trace of the occupational therapy student at the flat but they did not. Our source said: ‘Police would have expected to see blood or DNA if she was in the flat – and they haven’t found any.’ Instead, the nearby park where her belongings were found in a bin is where they believe she was killed.
‘There or nearby,’ added the source. ‘Police believe that she was hit over the head with a spanner from the boot of his car and then it appears that she was strangled.’
Police believe Pacteau left Karen’s body in his car overnight and the next morning went to B&Q.
Our source said: ‘He bought the water butt in B&Q. Police believe he tried to dissolve her with a dangerous chemical. The Fire Brigade were called to the scene to deal with that.
‘The Environment Protection Agency were also on the scene in recent days.
‘Police have CCTV footage from B&Q. They have him on camera buying the water butt the next day.’
Our source added: ‘It is thought he left her body in his car while he figured out what to do. He brought it to the farm, an area or setting he was familiar with because his mother lives nearby.’
Karen was last seen at the Sanctuary nightclub on Dumbarton Road at 1am last Sunday.
She told friends she was going to the toilet but never returned.
Her friends called the police at 5am after frantically ringing her phone over the course of a number of hours.
Karen was spotted on CCTV leaving the club with a stocky man, later identified as Pacteau, and police are now investigating whether she was drugged by her alleged killer.
Police believe Pacteau took Karen by car to Dawsholm Park – 3km from the club. What happened next is not clear. But police believe he struck her over the head with a spanner from the boot of his car. He then strangled her.
Police believe the company director placed her in the boot of his car overnight while trying to figure out how to dispose of her body. He is also alleged to have thrown her bag and phone in a bin at the park.
The next morning, police believe Pacteau drove 5km to a B&Q in Drumchapel. It is here he is allegedly captured on CCTV buying a water butt.
Yesterday a manager at the B&Q store told an MoS reporter that he could not comment and could not release any CCTV footage.
High Craigton farm is 9km from the B&Q. It is near Pacteau’s mother’s house and it is understood he is familiar with the area.
This is where Karen’s body was placed in a water butt and a corrosive chemical was used in an alleged attempt to dissolve her body.
Meanwhile, Karen’s desperate family and friends had launched a social media campaign to find her as police grew more and more concerned.
Her remains were discovered in the early hours of Thursday morning after a three-day investigation led police to suspect and ultimately charge Pacteau – who has a previous conviction for being in possession of forged bank notes.
On Friday, Pacteau was remanded in custody after he was charged at Glasgow Sheriff’s Court with Karen’s murder and with attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
The hearing before Sheriff Charles McFarlane was held in private and Pacteau made no plea or declaration. He was remanded in custody to appear in court again next week.
Pacteau was initially detained by police on Wednesday and was arrested around 4am on Thursday.
Hours after Pacteau’s court appearance, Karen’s devastated parents joined a candlelit vigil in memory of their only daughter.
John and Marion Buckley comforted each other as they read the many messages of support left for Karen at the vigil. They hugged as they studied floral tributes left by dozens of friends and strangers at Glasgow, Caledonian University, where their ‘cherished’ daughter had studied.
There was another vigil last night in the city, which has been horrified by the shocking crime.
On Thursday, a statement written by Mr Buckley, on behalf of his wife and their three sons, Brendan, Kieran and Damien, said they were ‘absolutely heartbroken’. Paying tribute to his youngest child, he added: ‘Karen was our only daughter, cherished by our family and loved by her friends.
‘She was an outgoing girl who travelled the world where she met lots of people and thoroughly enjoyed her life.
‘We will miss her terribly.’
‘Believe she was hit over the head with a spanner’