A 21-year-old Glasgow man has pleaded guilty to the murder of Irish student Karen Buckley in Scotland earlier this year.
Alexander Pacteau appeared at the High Court in Glasgow this morning where he signed a section 76 letter admitting that he murdered the 24-year-old student nurse.
Ms Buckley disappeared in the early hours of the morning of 12 April during a night out with friends.
Her body was found four days later on a farm on the outskirts of Glasgow.
The court was told that while Pacteau and Ms Buckley had been at the same nightclub, there was no evidence to suggest they had met one another in the nightclub or that they had ever met before.
CCTV showed Ms Buckley speaking to Pacteau in the Dumbarton Road area near the nightclub shortly after 1am.
Police say their investigation shows that she was killed shortly afterwards - between 1.20am and 1.30am - in Pacteau's car in the Kelvin Way area of Glasgow.
She died from multiple blows to the head and compression of the neck.
Warning: Readers may find this detail distressing
In court this morning the prosecution said Pacteau had repeatedly hit Ms Buckley with a spanner.
Her disappearance sparked one of the biggest police investigations ever in Glasgow.
The court heard evidence of how Pacteau tried to cover up his crime in the days after the murder.
He made several attempts to destroy her body using corrosive agents, both at his home and on the farm where she was eventually discovered.
He kept her body at his flat in Dorchester Road in the city for two nights before taking her to High Craigton Farm where he hid the body in an outhouse he had rented from the landowner.
Ms Buckley's father John, mother Marian and brothers Brendan, Kieran and Damian were all in court for today’s hearing.
Pacteau to be sentenced next month
Sentencing in the case will take place on 8 September.
Judge Lady Rae said: "This crime is a very shocking and disturbing case. You killed a young woman who was a stranger to you in what appears to be a motiveless, senseless, brutal attack."
The judge said that in view of Pacteau's age and the fact that he had never been in custody before, she would look for more information about him before sentencing.
The court was told by the defence counsel that Pacteau said he had no rational explanation for why he murdered the Irish student.
Counsel John Scullion QC said Pacteau accepted "full responsibility" for his actions.
"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 give any comfort to them, and whilst I too recognise that nothing said on his behalf is likely to lessen the pain and suffering which he has caused to those who loved Karen Buckley, those are my instructions," Mr Scullion said.
He said Pacteau had been drinking heavily and has a limited recollection of what happened that night.
He said he and Ms Buckley spoke briefly outside the nightclub before going towards his car.
He believes that in the car an argument began after he took offence at a trivial remark Ms Buckley made.
His recollection is that this triggered the attack. He stopped the car in Kelvin Way and attacked Ms Buckley, hitting her numerous times with a spanner which was in the car.
While in Kelvin Way he realised that Ms Buckley was dead, and he acted at that time in a state of panic.
He drove around and he accepts he disposed of Ms Buckley's bag.
Pacteau's silver Ford Focus was captured on CCTV leaving the area and heading towards Dawsholm Park, where the following morning a member of the public found Ms Buckley's handbag near a bin.
He then returned to his flat and carried in her body.
He accepts his subsequent attempts to dispose of Ms Buckley’s body were despicable.
Born in Glasgow, Pacteau has three siblings and comes from what was described as a supportive background.
His family has remained in contact with him since he was charged.
Meanwhile, police in Scotland have released images of scenes of significance in the case:
Police released an image of Alexander Pacteau's car.
Ms Buckley was killed in Pacteau's car in the Kelvin Way area of Glasgow .
Pacteau's apartment building in Dorchester Avenue, Glasgow.
A handout picture from Scotland's Crown Office shows Pacteau's bedroom.
Pacteau threw the spanner he used in the murder into Forth and Clyde canal in Glasgow.
High Craigton Farm, where the body of Ms Buckley was found.
Police also released an image of Pacteau being questioned by detectives.
Pacteau said he had no rational explanation for why he murdered the Irish student.
The court was told that Pacteau left Ms Buckley's body on the farm at High Craighton and then left his car to be valeted.
While waiting for the Ford Focus to be cleaned, Pacteau used his phone to create an advert to sell his car.
Police officers knocked on his door around two hours later after he was identified on the CCTV footage.
As he opened the door to the police Pacteau said: "I was just coming to see you".
The officers noticed a strong smell of bleach in the flat and a tool box and other items in a bedroom.
He told police Ms Buckley had fallen and injured herself on the bed frame but he did not notice she had been bleeding until the following morning and when he realised police were looking for information regarding her disappearance he panicked.
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.
Meanwhile, police searching his flat found traces of Ms Buckley's blood.
When he was detained by police, officers recovered a hand-written note containing the account of what he had earlier told police.
The court heard how a witness had contacted police after reading that Pacteau was the last person to see Ms Buckley and told officers about the storage unit at the farm that Pacteau used in the past.
Police went to High Craigton Farm where they found Ms Buckley's body.
Police also released footage of detectives in Scotland interviewing Pacteau.
Footage released of detectives in Scotland interviewing Alexander Pacteau https://t.co/fDMWOWbFcF
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) August 11, 2015
