Yellowknife (July 02/04) - A Yellowknife art gallery robber was tripped up by his own words, a Supreme Court Justice said last Friday.

"The crucial evidence was the confessions," Justice V.A. Schuler said as she found Kris McInnes guilty of robbing the Gallery of the Midnight Sun at gunpoint. McInnes was to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. today. Armed robbery carries a minimum sentence of four years imprisonment.

In three separate confessions, McInnes, 31, told in detail how he stole $3,197 from Gallery of the Midnight Sun owners John and Lisa Seagrave on Jan. 16, 2003.

The Seagraves were robbed just after 5 p.m. by a man wearing a snowmobile suit and a balaclava.

Defence counsel Hugh Latimer tried to discredit witnesses who testified to McInnes' confessions, saying they were only interested in claiming a $10,000 reward offered for the robber's arrest.

George Patterson, a former friend of McInnes', testified to one of his confessions. But Patterson also said McInnes originally had an alibi in the form of a fight in Centre Square Mall when the robbery occurred at just after 5 p.m.

"If Patterson was concocting a story about McInnes confessing, why would he add that detail?" Schuler asked.

The Centre Square Mall alibi was rejected because Schuler said witnesses who testified to the time of the fight were not credible. McInnes was also found guilty of obstruction of justice for asking another witness to threaten Patterson and disguising his identity with the intent of committing a crime.