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This article was published 21/3/2015 (2010 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two curious canines dug up a mountain of evidence, helping police sniff out the suspect in a truly bizarre armed robbery in a community east of Winnipeg.

"After all these years as a prosecutor and then a judge, I'm still amazed that I can be amazed by the stories that I hear," provincial court Judge Ray Wyant told a Steinbach courtroom this week.

Indeed, in a case that is anything but routine, Nathaniel More-Harrison, 21, pleaded guilty to robbery and wearing a disguise for the February 2014 incident at the Ste. Anne Hotel.

Crown and defence lawyers told court how man's best friend became More-Harrison's worst enemy when two dogs dug up a bag of more than $9,000 in cash he'd stolen from the hotel bar only hours earlier and then buried in the backyard.

'When we say this case is bizarre, that may be the understatement of the century' ‐ defence lawyer Kathy Bueti

The owner of the dogs -- a friend of More-Harrison's who owned a camper-trailer where he was staying -- awoke to the strange sight.

"The next morning, and I'm not making this up your honour, she looks out the window and sees that these dogs have found something -- a bag of money -- and they are pulling it all over the yard, And there is money flying all over the place," Crown attorney Jeff Nichols told court.

The story got more surreal when the dog owner then called over More-Harrison's fiancée, who was also staying in the camper, for a closer look.

The woman's face went white when she saw the dog's new chew toy. That's because she had been the victim of the previous night's robbery.

"She was definitely surprised to see (the bag of money) again," said Nichols. "She freaked out because she hadn't put the money there and didn't know who could have."

The fiancée immediately confronted More-Harrison, who confessed that he had, in fact, robbed her. Not only that, but he'd held a large hunting knife near her face and even zip-tied her hands after leaping over the counter and screaming at her to "give me the (expletive) money" in a voice he deliberately made lower and more menacing so she wouldn't recognize it.

"When we say this case is bizarre, that may be the understatement of the century," defence lawyer Kathy Bueti told court this week. "If we saw this in a movie, we wouldn't believe it could be true. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction."

Police initially charged the woman with conspiracy, figuring this had to be a so-called inside job. That was based largely on the fact the woman admitted More-Harrison had previously "joked" about coming to rob her while she worked at the bar so he could cure his financial woes.

But police and justice officials ultimately determined she truly had no clue. The charge against her was dropped.

"She would have thought this was an ordinary robbery being committed by a disguised man with a scary, lowered voice," Nichols told court. "This was not preplanned. She was not aware this was him."

More-Harrison was asked why he would rob his own fiancée -- a woman who'd just suffered a miscarriage only months earlier. He explained how "bills were piling up" due to the fact he'd been injured in a car accident and was unable to work as a roofer. He was drowning his sorrows in whisky and drugs while battling depression, he said, adding it took him a long time to work up the courage to do the crime.

"He said he was tired of eating Kraft Dinner and hotdogs every night," Nichols told court.

The victim told police she couldn't understand why he'd do this to her, saying "everything's been good -- until now."

More-Harrison was given an 18-month jail sentence and two years of probation by Wyant. He had no previous criminal record. Wyant rejected his bid for a conditional sentence.

"On one hand, you can look at it and have a chuckle and say, 'Really? Dogs solved the crime by digging up the money?' " Wyant said this week. But he added the unique facts don't override that this was a serious crime that traumatized the victim.

Wyant questioned what would have happened if the dogs hadn't dug up the evidence. More-Harrison told court he believes he was destined to be caught.

"That was meant to happen," the convicted man said. "I will never do anything like this again. It's not my nature, not who I am or what I want to be," More-Harrison told court.

More-Harrison was also given a $400 fine to cover the money missing from the bag. The Crown says it's possible the cash either blew away or was consumed by the dogs.

www.mikeoncrime.com