A man has admitted murdering Irish student Karen Buckley, whose body was found on a farm in Glasgow in April.
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A qualified nurse, she had decided to study for a masters degree in occupational health therapy at Glasgow Caledonian University.
Her body was found days later at High Craigton Farm on the outskirts of the city.
Karen died by Pacteau in Kelvin Way, in Glasgow’s West End, during one-.10am on Sunday April 12.
STV News has acquired the court transcript of the previous trial where Pacteau was described as a “daft young lad” who was involved in an incident that went “horribly wrong” by his counsel Sarah Livingstone.
“Two days, later after the funeral Mass, our three sons and I lowered Karen’s coffin into her grave, her final resting place”.
He told them he had burned the mattress and clothes on a forest road because he was aware he was the last person to see her alive.
“He has instructed me to convey on his behalf an apology to Karen Buckley’s family and friends but he understands that such words are unlikely to offer much comfort to them”. They had started walking up Baliol Lane when Pacteau grabbed the woman and threw her to the ground behind a vehicle in the lane before carrying out the sexual assault.
Pacteau eventually dumped the student’s remains inside a barrel at a farm in Drymen, Stirlingshire.
“A trivial argument – this was the trigger for his subsequent actions”.
The lawyer also said his client accepts his actions in attempting to dispose of her body were “despicable and beneath contempt”.
The vehicle was parked on the street for 12 minutes, during which time Pacteau attacked and murdered her by grabbing her neck and delivering 12 or 13 blows with the spanner.
He later dumped the heavy, foot-long weapon in a canal near his home.
Pacteau had rang the young man on his mobile phone to check how long he would be away from the flat – before the killer began researching the chemical properties of caustic soda on his smart phone.
He then travelled to a B&Q store where he bought caustic soda, masks and gloves.
He eventually returned the corpse to his bedroom – before his flatmate came home to find Pacteau cleaning the hall and tenement close.
After returning to the farmland to burn a mattress, he took the barrel from his flat and drove back to the farm, stopping off to buy padlocks.
He texted his flatmate to make sure he was out for the day, then returned to the flat and left Ms Buckley’s body in the bath.
Suspicious officers noted the flat reeked of bleach and that parcel tape, a nail brush and a tool box were lying in the bedroom.
His victim gave evidence in court.
He pleaded guilty to the charge on Tuesday, admitting attacking her in his vehicle on April 12 by strangling her and repeatedly hitting her with the spanner. He now faces a mandatory life term when he is sentenced for her murder on September 8th.
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Speaking outside court as his wife clutched a picture of their daughter, Mr Buckley thanked those who have helped the family over the past four months, and the Scottish police for bringing her killer to justice. “He is truly evil and we hope that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars”.
