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18-year-old confesses to Canadian's murder

By Wang Zhenghua (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-12 07:19

Diana O'Brien, 23, a resident of Saltspring Island, British Columbia, was killed at her apartment on Sunday night. [Chinanews.com]

SHANGHAI-- A man was arrested in Anhui province on Friday and confessed to the murder of Canadian model Diana O'Brien in Shanghai.

Chen Jun, 18, who is suspected of killing O'Brien, 23, on Sunday in her apartment building, was captured in the city of Xuancheng, in Anhui Province, Shanghai police said on Friday.

Police also found some of the possessions that were taken by Chen during his botched robbery.

Chen admitted that he followed O'Brien home on Sunday night and killed her after she tried to stop him burgling the apartment, police said.

Diana O'Brien arrived in the city to work as a model less than two weeks ago and friends said she was unhappy and planned to return home early.

Charlotte Wood, who also worked for Jh Model Management, found her roommate's bloodied corpse early on Sunday morning in the stairwell of the apartment building on Zhaohua Road in the city's Changning district.

After checking the scene, a special police group set up for the case concluded that the suspect was a young man of medium build, who was spotted riding a bicycle near the murder scene on Sunday night.

On Thursday, the police narrowed their search down to Chen, who fled to Huzhou, Zhejiang province before traveling to Anhui.

A Shanghai-based website said on Friday that the suspect used to work in a restaurant close to the victim's apartment building and that the murder weapon - which it did not identify - was also found by police during the arrest.

The case is still under investigation.