18-year-old Chen Jun went on trial Monday before a Shanghai court for the murder of a Canadian model in July.

A native of the eastern Anhui Province, prosecutors say Chen ran out of money after quitting his job. He earned about 1,000 yuan (146.5 U.S. dollars) a month at a restaurant in Shanghai. He then planned to rob Diana O'Brien, according to the No.1 Intermediate People's Court of Shanghai.

Chen confessed he followed the victim to her apartment building in the Changning District on the night of July 6. The woman resisted when Chen asked for money and he allegedly stabbed her to death.

O'Brien was found dead on July 7 in the building.

Prosecutors said Chen took her laptop, a digital camera and some money before going back to his home in Langxi County, Xuancheng City, about a few hundred kilometers west of Shanghai. He was arrested in an Internet cafe five days later.

The hearing lasted about two hours. So far, no sentence has been issued.

Diana O'Brien, a 23-year-old from Saltspring Island, British Columbia, entered China on June 24. She worked for Shanghai-based JH Model Agency.

(Xinhua News Agency November 18, 2008)