Shannon Stein said he thought he was just going to buy some marijuana the night police were called to the Stratford Motel last fall.

A territorial court judge ruled Tuesday, however, that Stein was part of “a very foolish plan” to rob a motel resident.

Judge Donald Luther convicted Stein, of Surrey, B.C., on four counts: robbery, unlawfully being in a dwelling, and two counts of assault with a weapon.

All charges stemmed from an incident that occurred on Oct. 20, 2015, at around 5:30 p.m.

Stein, 42, and his then-common-law wife, Janine Firth, entered the first floor room of long-term motel tenant Donald Lajoie, 59.

A scuffle ensued. When Lajoie’s neighbour, Jim Fleming, came to assist Lajoie, both Lajoie and Fleming were bear-sprayed by Firth.

Stein and Firth fled, but were arrested 10 days later.

Firth pled guilty last December to robbery, assault with a weapon, forcible confinement and unlawfully being in a dwelling. She was sentenced to three years in a federal penitentiary.

Monday’s testimony was meant to determine the extent of Stein’s involvement in the incident.

Crown prosecutor Keith Parkkari called three witnesses to the stand, including Lajoie and Fleming.

He also called on Debbie Porter, a motel resident who testified that she had passed Stein and Firth as they approached the motel that night, overdressed in parkas.

Stein wore sunglasses and Firth had a bandana over her face.

Stein himself was the only witness called by defence lawyer Lynn MacDiarmid.

There was also a surveillance video played, which captured part of the scuffle outside of Lajoie’s room that night.

On the stand, Lajoie insisted the couple had entered the room.

Lajoie said Stein told him they were going to rob him. Lajoie then reached for a can of bear spray he saw in Firth’s hand, leading to a struggle that involved all three.

In Stein’s version of events, he gave Lajoie $40 for 3.5 grams of marijuana, and Lajoie lunged for Firth, kicking off the fight.

Stein insisted he never mentioned a robbery. He didn’t dispute that Firth may have said something about a robbery, but said if she did, he didn’t hear her.

He also said that if she had bear spray, he didn’t know it, though he confirmed that she sometimes carried bear spray because she was afraid of an ex-partner.

Stein said marijuana was necessary to calm Firth and “shut down the continuous party that was going on.”

He said both had been clean for two years before they came to the Yukon last October, but a night of drinking triggered a relapse.

Firth started doing cocaine, and Stein got back on heroin, a drug he became addicted to as a teen.

Stein said Firth became violent toward herself and others in the days leading up to the incident.

“It was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Two different people as soon as drugs came into the picture,” he said.

According to Stein, Firth had purchased marijuana from Lajoie the previous week.

Lajoie denied selling drugs, though he did admit to having marijuana in his room (“I’m not perfect,” he said) to help with the pain of a degenerative disc disease.

He said it was true Firth had previously asked to buy marijuana from him, but he said he didn’t sell her any.

In closing, MacDiarmid said the incident was a case of her client being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“There is insufficient evidence to find that (Stein) knew (Firth) was intending to rob Mr. Lajoie,” she said.

Parkkari suggested the heavy dress signaled the couple’s plan to commit a robbery.

“If you’re going some place where you trust the person enough to buy drugs from them ... covering your face just doesn’t seem consistent,” he said.

In his ruling, Judge Luther agreed with Parkkari on that point.

He said he found it odd that Stein and Firth were so overdressed, considering other passersby in the security footage wore shorts, light jackets, or, in the case of Fleming, no shirt at all.

“It was obviously nicely above freezing on the day in question,” he said.

He also said he found Lajoie’s testimony to be credible and “consistent with human reality.”

“How could a simple drug deal go so bad so fast? Why would drug purchasers dress as they did?” he asked.

Judge Luther said that if Lajoie had been a dealer, the RCMP would have found some evidence of that in his room, including scales or packaging.

Additionally, he noted that Stein and Firth appeared to have been in “a downward spiral” after a period of sobriety.

“I believe, based on the evidence, that both the accused and Ms. Firth, in their drug state, put together a very foolish plan to rob Mr. Lajoie,” he said.

Stein has a criminal record stretching back to 1990, including more than 50 convictions, largely for property offences.

He will be sentenced in this case on July 11.