2014-04-03

The weird conclusion to the Diana Gabrielle O'Brien story

Years back I talked about the totally creepy story of a pretty BC girl killed in Red China.

Digging through, there was a followup about a year later:

Since punishments in China are often measured by social impact, Chen was expected to receive a harsher sentence because he murdered a foreigner and it happened right before the Olympics.
"In both cases it had the potential to embarrass China's government so many people expected a harsher sentence -- an immediate execution," Chao said.
He said Chen's lawyer told him that the court considered Chen's age and the fact that it wasn't a "planned murder" in its decision.
At his trial, Chen told the court today that he was trying to rob O'Brien in her apartment by threatening her with a knife but she ran out the door.
He said he then chased her down to a stairwell and stabbed her repeatedly.
Chen claimed in court the incident was a robbery gone awry. After the murder, Chen left the building without O'Brien's possessions but he returned later to pick them up.
Although Chen called police after leaving, O'Brien's body was discovered by her roommate in the morning.
Chen was arrested five days after the murder and police say he had O'Brien's camera, some of her jewelry and Canadian cash on him.
As for whether he was actually executed, or what, there is no English language followup online.

Anybody with Chinese website reading skills is free to post a followup in the comments.