The stepson of Opposition leader Kim Swan has been spared the death penalty and sentenced to life in prison without parole for murdering a US state trooper.

A jury in North Carolina failed to come to a unanimous decision yesterday on how to deal with Edwardo Wong — the son of Mr. Swan's wife Cindy and her first husband — for shooting 24-year-old Trooper Shawn Blanton in June 2008.

The death penalty can only be imposed if all jurors agree, so the judge in the case at Catawba County Superior Court had to give Wong the lesser sentence.

Mrs. Swan told The Royal Gazette in a statement last night her family was relieved by the result but knew there were "no winners from this sordid ordeal".

"As a practicing Roman Catholic, our faith does not support the death penalty," she said. "This still remains a difficult period, because the life of Officer Blanton has been wrongly taken from his wife Michaela, son, parents, relatives, friends and colleagues. We will forever be deeply saddened by the pain and suffering caused by Eddie Jr.'s actions. It's a sad day for all concerned."

The charity founder, who has three other children, said her heartfelt hope as Wong's mother was for him to "seek repentance with God our creator, sincerely apologise to the Blanton family [and] work on rehabilitating himself."

She added: "My greatest prayer is that Eddie Jr. can eventually help others seek goodness, forgiveness and redemption.

"I am praying that we can all find the strength to start the healing process from this tragedy and move forward with our faith and peace."

Wong's eight-week trial heard harrowing evidence about how he shot Trooper Blanton at close range during a traffic stop, according to newspaper reports in the States. A video taken by a dashboard camera in Trooper Blanton's vehicle was played, in which the young officer could be heard begging to have his life spared because of his wife and baby son.

Prosecutors argued the evidence demonstrated the "especially heinous, atrocious and cruel nature of the crime" and was an aggravating factor in the case. Trooper Blanton's widow had pushed for the death penalty.

Wong's defence team cited as mitigation the fact that Mrs. Swan left him to live with his father, a Chinese mafia drug kingpin, when he was just 12, and that Edwardo Wong Sr. involved his son in the narcotics trade.

Wong, 40, of Florida, did not take the witness stand.

Fox Carolina news reporter Adrian Acosta, who followed the trial, told this newspaper last night that he "didn't move, didn't flinch" as he was sentenced to life without parole and said nothing when offered the chance to speak by the judge.