Glasgow police have said Karen Buckley’s encounter with her murderer outside a nightclub was entirely random, but they believe the man was intent on attacking some woman that night.
Det Supt Jim Kerr said he did not believe Alexander Pacteau’s version of events to the High Court in Glasgow in which he said he attacked Ms Buckley in his car after a row broke out over a comment she made about the men attending the Sanctuary nightclub.
Det Supt Kerr led the murder investigation which ended with 21-year old Pacteau pleading guilty in the High Court to Ms Buckley’s murder on April 12th last.
He said he did not find Pacteau’s story credible and believed he set out that night intent on attacking some woman.
“I think there was a premeditated plan that night to find some young woman - there’s no question he saw an opportunity but whether that was Karen Buckley or somebody else remains to be seen.
“We cannot see anything from our investigation that would have predicted what he did on the night (but) I would describe him as callous and calculating - that could have happened to any female that night,” he said.
Det Supt Kerr stressed Pacteau and Ms Buckley were complete strangers. While he may have stalked or targeted her in the Sanctuary nightclub, police had found no evidence to support that, and believed their encounter was entirely a chance affair, he said.
He said police still did not know why Ms Buckley got into Pacteau’s car which he had parked 100 metres from the nightclub, but it might have been to get a lift home.
Pacteau, he said, did initially drive in the direction of her flat on Hill Street in Garnetthill.
Det Supt Kerr said Pacteau’s actions after murdering her in Kelvin Way indicated a “very callous and calculating” individual who went to huge lengths to try and destroy any evidence, including his victim’s body, that would link him to her disappearance.
“They were complete strangers and he made a concerted effort to destroy any evidence of Karen’s whereabouts. He had the opportunity at various times during this investigation, particularly during the first crucial three-day period, to tell us where she was and he didn’t do that either.”
Det Supt Kerr confirmed Pacteau moved from being a witness - as the last person who had seen Ms Buckley alive - to a suspect when a trained dog was brought to his car and indicated a body had been stored in it.
When the results came back from a forensic examination of Pacteau’s car confirming blood found on the passenger’ side belonged to Ms Buckley, it confirmed police suspicions about him and he was upgraded from a witness to a suspect and detained for questioning, he said.
Det Supt Kerr said CCTV footage played a crucial part in the investigation, enabling police to track Pacteau’s movements on Sunday, April 12th and in the days after the murder because it indicated he was lying about his movements.
“CCTV footage was crucial - we visited and obtained CCTV footage from over 49 premises, both private and public sector, and we viewed and examined over 1,900 hours of CCTV footage so it was crucial in our investigation.”
