‘We will never see her smiling face. Hear her laugh. There are no words’
ALEXANDER Pacteau has been branded “truly evil” by the devastated father of nurse Karen Buckley.
For the first time since their only daughter disappeared, her parents Marian and John looked into the eyes of her killer.
They were in court yesterday, along with Ms Buckley’s older brothers Brendan, Kieran and Damian, to hear details of the horrific case.
Mrs Buckley, 61, stared through 6ft 5in tall Pacteau as he was led from the cells to the dock.
Speaking outside the court yesterday afternoon, Mr Buckley, 62, said: ““No words of ours can do justice to our feelings towards him. He is truly evil and we hope that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
“Our hearts are broken at the thought of Karen’s final moments on this world. The thought of her being alone, frightened and struggling for her life haunts us.
“The panic and fear she must have experienced as she fought for her very survival but she had no chance against that coward.
“The last face she saw and the last voice she heard was of that cold-blooded cowardly murderer, who calmly set about trying to dispose of her body so she would never be found.
“Only for the swift action of the police and the people of Glasgow were we able to find Karen and bring her home and give her a dignified burial.”
John Scullion QC, defending, said Pacteau wished to convey an apology to Ms Buckley’s family and friends. Her family shook their heads as they listened to his attempts at showing remorse.
The advocate said Pacteau had limited recollection of what took place on the night of the killing. “His recollection was that shortly after setting off they began to argue. The accused recollects a trivial argument in the car.
“He reacted angrily, stopped the car in Kelvin Way and assaulted Karen Buckley resulting in her death.”
Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland paused before reading out the details of Karen’s injuries, giving her relatives the chance to leave the courtroom. However, they choose to stay.
Later, in a rare move, Mr Mulholland gave judge Lady Rae a number of treasured photos of Karen, along with three victim impact statements. The folder included photographs of her Holy Communion as a child, with her brothers and her graduation from the University of Limerick. A picture of her grave was also included.
Her dad, Mr Buckley continued: “Marian and I, together with our family, would like to thank everybody here in Glasgow and back in Ireland, that have helped us cope with this terrible tragedy.
“We thank the Scottish police for their professionalism in the search for Karen, and in bringing her killer to justice.
“Coming back to Glasgow where our beautiful daughter, sister was brutally murdered, is incredibly difficult for all of us.
“It’s every parent’s worst nightmare as we know now, when we got that phone call, Karen was missing in Glasgow and her phone had gone dead. We went over, waited, hoped, and prayed day and night for her safe return, only to be told she had been murdered. We were devastated. Having to phone our three sons and give them the dreadful news before they heard it on the media was one of the hardest things we ever had to do.
“I dread to think of them trying to deal with the shock and horror of being told that their only sister had been brutally murdered.
“When Karen’s body was released a week later, we went back to Glasgow as a family and brought her to our home in Mourneabbey.
“That was a very special night as we were all together again under the one roof where Karen and her three brothers had grown up.
“Two days later after the funeral mass, our three sons and I lowered Karen’s coffin into her grave, her final resting place. What a waste of a young life.”
Throughout the hearing, Pacteau stared at the ground and showed no emotion.
Mr Buckley added: “Not only did he rob Karen of her precious life and future but he robbed us of our beautiful daughter/sister.
“It’s too late now for Karen but in the future we hope Glasgow will be a safer place for women to walk in, which is their right and to not have this evil murderer to fear.
“Karen was a normal 24-yearold girl very kind, always smiling, always happy, the youngest of four, our only daughter, and our baby.
“Like many young people, Karen loved to travel, she made lots of friends and thoroughly enjoyed her life.
“We will never see Karen again in this life.
“Never see her smiling face, hear her laugh and hear her voice.
“There are no words to describe our loss.”
‘‘ Having to phone our sons to give them the dreadful news was one of the hardest things we ever had to do