An 18-year-old Chinese man has confessed to following and killing Canadian model Diana Gabrielle O'Brien, Shanghai police said Friday.
O'Brien, a 22-year-old from Salt Spring Island, B.C., was found dead on Monday in the staircase of the Shanghai building where she was temporarily residing.
In a statement posted on their website, police said they have arrested Chen Jun in Anhui province.
Police said Chen admitted to following O'Brien to her apartment with the intention of robbing her. He said he killed her after a struggle.
The statement also said police have recovered a laptop that had been taken from O'Brien's apartment.
"For several days now crime scene investigators have been poring over surveillance footage taken from cameras in the neighbourhood where Diana O'Brien was murdered," CTV's Beijing Bureau Chief Steve Chao reported Friday.
He said the cameras reportedly captured a man -- believed to be Chen Jun -- running from O'Brien's building.
"Police tracked him down about 300 kilometres in a different city from Shanghai," said Chao.
"Authorities say that he confessed to the crime, saying that on July 6th in the middle of the night he followed O'Brien to her apartment with the intention to rob her (and) when she fought back he killed her."
Officials have not revealed how O'Brien was killed but sources indicate she was stabbed multiple times, said Chao.
Chinese officials are reportedly concerned about the impact the news of O'Brien's death may have on next month's Olympics.
"There was no question they pulled out all stops here to try and locate the murderer," said Chao.
The suspect has not yet been charged but if found guilty of murder he will likely face execution or a lifetime sentence, said Chao.
"At this point, police say that they will hand him over to the prosecutors... and if they find there is enough evidence then they will charge him," said Chao.
O'Brien was in Shanghai on a contract with China's JH Model Agency.
When CTV visited the company's office earlier this week, an employee said he had never heard of O'Brien.
There are reports that the agency has since shut its doors.
With a report from CTV's Beijing Bureau Chief Steve Chao and files from The Canadian Press
