Man who killed Glasgow Caledonian student ‘keeping his head down’ 10 year after murder

The man who murdered Glasgow Caledonian student Karen Buckley and attempted to dissolve her body in a barrel is said to be “keeping his head down” behind bars, 10 years on from the killing.

Alexander Pacteau, now 31, was jailed for a minimum of 23 years in 2015 after pleading guilty to the murder of 24-year-old Karen in Glasgow’s West End.

Karen, from Cork, was studying occupational therapy at the time of her death. It is understood her family marked the tragic anniversary privately at home in Ireland.

Meanwhile, Pacteau continues to serve his sentence in a Scottish prison, where he is reported to be avoiding trouble after earlier clashes with fellow inmates.

A prison source told the Irish Sun: “There were issues with Pacteau during his first few years behind bars, where other inmates were giving him a hard time.

“He was hated by other cons as he was in protection, and they are mainly killers or serious sex offenders. He had to switch prisons a couple of times.

“But over the last number of years, there has been no talk around him. He’s just been keeping his head down and not causing any trouble.”

In 2019, Pacteau reportedly moved prisons following a row with staff over mail checks for drugs. Two years earlier, he had complained to officers that fellow inmates were urinating in his soup.

Pacteau, a former private schoolboy, brutally murdered Karen after meeting her at Glasgow’s Sanctuary nightclub. He lured her to his car, where he strangled her and repeatedly struck her with a foot-long wrench.

Most Read

Good lord, Bonnie Blue opened up about what Beavo was like in bed and I’m traumatised

Netflix has launched a brand new subtitle option for YOU, and it’s a game-changer

‘We were never in love’: Tori heartbreakingly speaks out about why she and Jack split after MAFS

He then transported her body to his flat in Kelvindale, where he attempted to dissolve her remains in a bath of caustic soda before ultimately dumping her body in a barrel at a farm near Milngavie, on the outskirts of Glasgow.

Pacteau buying a corrosive substance via Police Scotland

In an effort to destroy evidence, Pacteau had his car professionally cleaned, but soil left on the tyres linked him to Dawsholm Park, where Karen’s handbag was later found.

Retired Detective Superintendent Jim Kerr, who led the investigation, revealed in 2022 that Pacteau had followed another woman on the same night he murdered Karen. CCTV footage showed him “ducking in and out of parked cars” as he tailed the unknown woman near the nightclub.

“She was the luckiest woman alive,” Jim said, believing she may have originally been the intended target.

In 2016, Karen’s father, John Buckley, collected her posthumous degree from Glasgow Caledonian University in an emotional ceremony honouring her memory.

Featured image via Police Scotland and Facebook