A Chinese court sentenced a 19-year-old man to death Friday for murdering a Canadian model in Shanghai last year.

Diana O'Brien, a 22-year-old model from Salt Spring Island, B.C., was found stabbed to death last July on the staircase of the apartment building where she was staying.

In November, Chen Jun pleaded guilty to murdering O'Brien after trying to rob her.

In a written ruling Friday, Shanghai's Intermediary Court did not order Jun to be immediately executed. Instead, the court offered Chen a two-year probationary reprieve.

"He has two years to show good behaviour and if he proves this his sentence could be lowered to a life sentence to be served in jail or even lighter depending on his performance," CTV's Beijing Bureau Chief Steve Chao reported Friday.

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.

Chen's lawyer claimed his client was suffering from stress and depression at the time of the attack, and asked for psychiatric tests to be conducted.

He also accused police of not saving O'Brien's life after Chen reported the crime. O'Brien was in Shanghai on a contract with China's JH Model Agency.

However, when CTV tried to visit the agency in Shanghai, the office was not at the address listed.