WARNING: This article contains details about a sexual assault and a manslaughter.
A man who admitted to sexually assaulting a Nanaimo teen and killing a Surrey man with a bow and arrow has been sentenced to a decade behind bars.
Invinceable Green, a 36-year-old who was born in Nanaimo, pleaded guilty to manslaughter related to a June 2020 incident in which he had an altercation with Carlos Robles Palafox while the two men were living at a homeless encampment in Surrey. Green fired an arrow at Palafox’s back, piercing the victim’s left lung and killing him, according to sentencing documents.
Green also pleaded guilty to sexual assault causing bodily harm from an August 2007 incident, in which he admitted to driving an intoxicated girl to rural Nanaimo, where he sexually assaulted her and left her.
Crown counsel sought a jail term of six years for sexual assault and an additional six years for manslaughter, but Green’s defence argued it was too harsh given his guilty pleas, remorse, lack of criminal record and difficult childhood, and sought a sentence totalling six years.
The manslaughter case stemmed from when Green and Palafox resided at the Surrey encampment. Palafox’s body was found June 4, 2020, and Green was considered a prime suspect, stated the court documents. During a sting operation, Green told police that Palafox had stolen items from him and after demanding the return of the items, Green fired two arrows at Palafox. Green checked on the victim afterward and found him to be not breathing, then retrieved pieces of the arrow and threw them in the swamp. The documents said Green was on drugs at the time.
The sexual assault charge was laid 13 years after the fact after Green’s DNA was placed on file as part of the Palafox murder investigation. In the 2007 incident, Green picked up a 16-year-old girl who had consumed alcohol. Police found the girl wandering on Nanaimo Lakes Road, partially naked, intoxicated and confused. The girl was taken to hospital and the DNA was discovered during examination, noted the documents.
As part of the same undercover operation, Green admitted the girl got into his vehicle, wanting a ride home. He didn’t know her, but knew she was under 18 years old. He punched her in the face during the assault, the documents noted.
“[She] could not recall having sex with the male. She stated that she would not have willingly had sex with the unknown male and did not consent,” the judge’s sentence noted.
According to pre-sentencing reports, Green was subject to mental and emotional abuse at home. He began abusing alcohol and marijuana when he was in Grade 8, which led to fentanyl, crystal methamphetamine and crack cocaine abuse later.
In Judge Satinder Sidhu’s decision, rendered in B.C. provincial court in Surrey in October, she ruled that six years for the sexual assault was appropriate. For manslaughter, she had to “ensure that the total sentence is not unduly harsh, nor exceeds the overall moral culpability,” and was “satisfied that there ought to be a reduction in the total sentence to properly reflect the principle of proportionality and restraint.” She reduced that part of the sentence to four years, for a total of 10 years of jail time, the documents stated.
Green has been incarcerated since Dec. 16, 2020, and will be credited for 986 days of time served.
RELATED: Second-degree murder charge laid in Palafox homicide
karl.yu@nanaimobulletin.com
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