A Dark City
Delve into the dark heart of Glasgow, a city with history steeped in mystery and violence. A Dark City takes you behind the headlines to explore the city's most notorious murders - stories that shocked the nation, shattered communities and left scars that still linger. From cold blooded killers to infamous gangland slayings, we uncover the chilling details, the victims stories and the impact on Glasgow's streets.
A Dark City
Karen Buckley
The brutal murder of Karen Buckley shattered Glasgow's sense of safety in April 2015. A vibrant 24-year-old nursing student with dreams of becoming an occupational therapist, Karen's life ended after a chance encounter with Alexander Pacteau outside The Sanctuary nightclub. What appeared to be an offer of a lift home turned into a nightmare that has haunted Scotland ever since.
Karen's background makes her fate all the more heart-wrenching. Born in Cork, Ireland to a close-knit family, she embodied kindness and determination. After graduating with a nursing degree from the University of Limerick, her adventurous spirit led her to Scotland to further her studies. Meanwhile, her killer had been showing troubling signs since childhood, earning the nickname "Trouble" and facing previous assault allegations.
The investigation reveals a chilling picture of premeditated violence and calculated cover-up attempts. After beating Karen with a spanner and strangling her, Pacteau embarked on an elaborate scheme to destroy evidence—purchasing caustic soda from multiple locations, meticulously cleaning his car, burning bloodstained items, and ultimately concealing Karen's body in a barrel at High Craigton Farm. His three different stories to police quickly unraveled as CCTV footage and forensic evidence painted a damning picture of guilt.
Judge Lady Rita Rae's sentencing remarks cut to the heart of the case: for "some unknown, inexplicable reason," Pacteau had "destroyed her life in minutes." The detective leading the investigation believed Pacteau had set out that night with "a premeditated plan to find some victim"—a terrifying thought that underscores the random nature of Karen's selection. Though sentenced to life with a minimum of 23 years, nothing can erase the pain felt by Karen's family, who hope her killer will be "haunted by what he did" for the rest of his life.
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Welcome to A Dark City, the podcast that delves into the shadowy underbelly of Glasgow, a city with a storied past and a reputation for resilience. Here we uncover the chilling true stories of serious crimes that have left their mark on the city's history, from notorious gangland wars to unsolved mysteries. Join us as we explore the darker side of Glasgow and the people whose lives were forever changed by its crimes. On 12th April 2015, 24-year-old nursing student, karen Buckley was murdered in Glasgow, scotland, after leaving a nightclub that she had attended with her friends. At 1am, she was approached by Alexander Pactot, a 21-year-old courier company owner, and entered his car. After presumably being offered a lift home, pactot went on to beat her to death with a spanner, put her body inside a barrel full of caustic soda and hide it at a farm shortly after. Only three days later, on the 15th of April 2015, pacto was arrested as a suspect in Buckley's disappearance after an abundance of evidence pointed to him being potentially guilty. He would later confess to her murder and be sent to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole in 23 years.
Speaker 1:Karen Buckley was born in 1991 and grew up on a farm in Morne Abbey, cork, ireland, with parents, john and Marion Buckley and her three older brothers, karen had a normal upbringing as a teenager. She attended St Mary's Secondary School in Mallow County, cork, and played Gaelic football for Morne Abbey. After finishing secondary school, buckley attended the University of Limerick and graduated with a degree in nursing. Buckley was fond of travel and going out and was often described as kind, compassionate, family-driven and determined. After graduating, buckley secured a job at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Essex, england, where she worked for a few months before moving to Scotland to study occupational therapy at Glasgow University. She lived in an apartment in Garnet Hill, glasgow, near some of her friends.
Speaker 1:Alexander Benjamin Pactot was born in January 1994 to parents Noreen and Guillaume Pactot. His father was French and owned a successful courier business, and his mother was a stay-at-home parent. Pactot was the oldest of four children. Pacto was described badly behaved as a child. He was very obnoxious, often through tantrums, and caused mischief to the point that he was given the nickname Trouble. Pacto grew up wealthy in Bearsden and attended Kelvinside Academy as a teenager, but after his father's business collapsed, pacto switched to attend Bearsden Academy. During childhood, pacto was an average student with a small circle of friends and was socially awkward. Pacto dropped out of school in 2011, at age 17, to begin his own courier business. He briefly attended a business course before dropping out In November 2011,.
Speaker 1:Pacto was accused of attacking a 24-year-old woman. After approaching her outside a nightclub, she agreed to enter a taxi with him. As they were looking for it, he pushed her into an alley and allegedly sexually assaulted her. The woman's screams were heard by two men on a balcony who rushed to her aid. In 2013, he was found not guilty by a court. In 2013, pacto's parents split up, with Pacto choosing to live with his mother in Drymen, eventually moving in with his father in his apartment. Pacto's father would eventually kick him out after a spat with his father's new girlfriend, with Pacto moving into an apartment in Drumshaple. Shortly afterwards, pacto struggled to find employment, leading to an incident in 2014 where he faced a conviction for forging banknotes and being sentenced to carry out 25 hours of community service. In February 2015, pacto moved into a three-bedroom apartment in Kelvin Side, glasgow.
Speaker 1:On 11th April 2015, pacto and a group of his friends planned to attend the Sanctuary, a nightclub in Glasgow. After the group had spent the night drinking at Pacto's flat, pacto arranged for two taxis to collect himself and his friend group, but only one arrived. So Pacto drove half of the group to the club in his Ford Focus, while the taxi took the other half. Pacto's group arrived at 11.38pm and went to a booth in the club that they had booked beforehand. A few minutes after Pacto, at 11.45pm, karen Buckley and some of her friends arrived at the club At around 1am. Buckley told her friends that she was leaving the club and that they would catch up later that day. While her friends expressed concern over Buckley leaving alone, she assured them that she would get a taxi and she would be okay, further assured by the fact that Buckley was not drunk.
Speaker 1:Cctv footage later captured Buckley outside the club, running into Pacto, who had told a steward he was retrieving something from his car, where the two are shown having a brief conversation, presumably Pacto offering Buckley a lift, before walking in the direction of Pacto's car together. The two did not know each other. Later that day, buckley's friends contacted Police Scotland and reported her missing, after she had not returned home like she had intended to, and a wide-scale police operation was implemented. It was found that Buckley had left her jacket in the club and on CCTV she was caught talking to a man who was later identified as Pacto in Dumbarton Road talking to a man who was later identified as Pacto in Dumbarton Road. Police Scotland released several screenshots of the CCTV footage, urging anyone with any knowledge of Buckley's whereabouts the man she was talking to or the Ford Focus shown in the footage to come forward. Her parents flew to Scotland from Ireland soon after the report to plead for Buckley's return In the early morning of the 12th of April, after Buckley entered Pacto's car and the report to plead for Buckley's return In the early morning of the 12th of April, after Buckley entered Pacto's car and the pair drove to Kelvin Way, pacto went on to repeatedly strike Karen with a spanner around 13 times and strangled her.
Speaker 1:Pacto then drove the body to his apartment while his flatmate was gone. He carried Buckley's body to the bathroom and placed it in a bath full of caustic soda, which he had been seen buying on CCTV beforehand, in an attempt to dissolve the body and clear the flat of any traces of blood. However, his flatmate was expected to return soon, so Pacteau, fearful of the amount of time he had left, threw the spanner used as the murder weapon into the Fourth and Clyde Canal, drained the bathtub and placed Buckley's body inside a duvet overnight. The following day he would attempt to clean the mattress and duvet of blood and when that failed, he went on to simply burn everything which Buckley's body had touched, purchase a large blue barrel which he filled with caustic soda and place the body in. He went on to leave the barrel at High Craigton Farm after making a deal to rent an outhouse with the farmer. On top of the barrel he had placed a bicycle wheel sheet and paper shredder. At some point Pacto had had his car thoroughly cleaned and he had hidden Buckley's handbag at Doss Home Park.
Speaker 1:Due to CCTV footage of Pacto talking to Buckley moments prior to her disappearance, pacto emerged as a prime suspect early on After Buckley was last seen. Cctv footage showed Pacto's car a grey Ford Focus, driving down Dumbarton Road, turning to Kelvin Way and re-emerging 12 minutes later. The day after Buckley's disappearance, pacto was seen on multiple CCTV cameras in supermarkets and DIY stores buying various cleaning supplies. He had even asked a shop assistant at another supermarket for recommendations on products that could remove blood from a mattress. He had made other odd purchases following Buckley's disappearance, including over six litres of caustic soda from separate shops, a mask, gloves and a large blue barrel. After searching Pacto's phone, police found that he had looked up chemical properties of sodium hydroxide.
Speaker 1:After Pacto was identified on CCTV and his car matched the one shown on CCTV, officers visited his apartment twice to speak to him. On the first visit no one answered the door, but on the second one, at around 6pm, pacto answered and invited them in. As soon as Pacto opened the door, the officers immediately noticed a strong smell of bleach. The detectives looked around his apartment and in his bedroom they noticed a roll of duct tape, nail brushes, a toolbox and that his mattress did not fit his bed frame. During questioning, pacto told the officers that he met Karen outside the Sanctuary nightclub. Then they went to his apartment and she eventually left at around 4am. Later Pacto agreed to go to Helen Street Police Station in Govan to give a witness statement by the 15th of April. However, when he did this, it was noticed that his story had changed, as he now said that after Buckley went to his apartment the pair had a few drinks, consensual sex and then Buckley had hit her head on the bed frame before leaving the flat at 4am. He stated that he didn't notice the blood on the bed sheet until later in the morning, after she had gone. Pacteau also said that when Buckley was announced as missing, he panicked, knowing he was probably the last person to see her. So he had gotten rid of some of his clothes and the blood-stained mattress from his flat and burned it. Furthermore, after searching his clothes, police found a receipt in his trouser pocket which showed he had purchased padlocks and caustic soda at some point.
Speaker 1:Following the overload of CCTV evidence and his suspicious behaviour, police decided there was sufficient evidence to treat him as a suspect in the murder. Buckley's handbag containing her phone and passport had been found by a member of the public near a rubbish bin at Dossholm Park, resulting in a wide search there which included helicopters and sniffer dogs. This caused more suspicion of Pacto's story, as Buckley would be walking in the opposite direction of the park if his story of her leaving his flat at 4am was true. After Pacto was an official suspect, police cornered his apartment and car off to search it forensically. Pacto was sent to stay at a nearby Holiday Inn. Swabs taken from Pacto's flat later proved traces of Buckley's blood and dirt was found on his car tyres, which proved he had been at Dosholm Park, the area Buckley's handbag had been found at some point.
Speaker 1:Forensic evidence was damning against Pacto, as in a Starbucks on 15th April 2015 in Nelson Mandela Place in Glasgow City Centre at around 2pm and again taken to Helen Street Police Office for further questioning. Station police found a note in Pacto's pocket which outlined what he had said to them on his first visit, presumably in an attempt to remember what he had said the first time. Following Pacto's detainment, police released a statement that Pacto had been detained due to clear connections with Buckley's disappearance and about an hour later they received a call from an acquaintance of Pacto's with information leading to High Craigton Farm saying that Pacto has stored fireworks and other items there. Officers arrived there at around 3.30pm and initially looked for storage units with new padlocks on them, as Pacto had bought padlocks recently. After a few hours of searching, officers found a blue barrel hidden under a sheet bicycle wheel and paper shredder. As they knew Pacto had bought caustic soda, they waited for the barrel to be deemed safe for examining. Once it was at 8pm on April 15th, the police were met with the gruesome sight of Buckley's body naked and submerged in caustic soda. The barrel was then taken to Southern General Hospital in Glasgow, where a post-mortem examination was carried out, revealing that Buckley had suffered multiple soft neck injuries and about 12 or 13 heavy blows to her head, which fractured her skull and led to subdural hemorrhage causing her brain to bleed out. Pacteau's fingerprints were also found inside the barrel. When questioned further, pacto changed his story for a third time, saying that during consensual sex, after Karen had hit her head, she got angry at him and slapped him in the face and, in retaliation, pacto hit her repeatedly with a spanner. This was not believed.
Speaker 1:In August 2015, pacto appeared in the High Court in Glasgow where he would admit to murdering Buckley. The judge, lady Rita Ray, told the High Court that Pacto, from Bearsden, glasgow, must serve a minimum of 23 years for the murder of Buckley before he could apply for parole Jailing Pactacto that she found it extremely difficult to find words to describe what he did to Ms Buckley. The judge described the victim as much loved and said that for some unknown, inexplicable reason, pacto had destroyed her life in minutes. Lady Ray said he had concocted a story in a bid to cover up the murder. Adding you claim to be rem the murder. Adding you claim to be remorseful, but you only expressed remorse for the first time when you pleaded guilty. She pointed out that the Crown had decided not to seek conviction on a second charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice and had instead argued that Pacteau's actions were an aggravating factor to the murder charge. The judge said I regret that the Crown, in withdrawing charge two, has to some extent tied my hands in relation to this sentence. However, lady Ray said it had been extraordinary for the defence to argue that she should not take into account anything which happened after the murder. I have come to the view that I cannot ignore your conduct. After the killing, she told Pacto In a statement.
Speaker 1:Miss Buckley's father, john, said he hoped Pacto would be haunted by his crime and spend the rest of his life in jail. He said Today's life sentence will not bring our beautiful Karen back. Our little angel has been taken from us forever in the cruelest of ways. We mourn for her every day. It will, however, ensure that women are safe from harm from the truly evil coward who took our beautiful Karen's precious life. I hope that he is never released and spends every day in prison haunted by what he did.
Speaker 1:Mr Buckley thanked the people of Scotland and Ireland and the authorities in both countries for all their help and support in bringing Pacto to justice. He said he and his wife Marion and their three sons would now try to move on and rebuild their lives. Mr Buckley added Karen is at peace now and we know that she is in heaven looking down on us and helping us. Detective Superintendent Jim Kerr, who led the investigation, admitted that the attack was unmotivated and any woman could have been subjected to what Buckley was. He said I think there was a premeditated plan that night to find some victim. He has been calculated and callous. They're complete strangers and he's made a concerted effort to destroy any evidence as to Karen's whereabouts. He had the opportunity at various times during this investigation to tell us exactly where she was and he didn't do that either. Thank you.