St. Louis, Missouri — A former middle school principal in Missouri has pleaded guilty to orchestrating the murder of a pregnant teacher and her unborn child back in 2016. Cornelius M. Green, the ex-principal of Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School, admitted to hiring a hitman to carry out the crime using funds he stole from the school. Court records reveal that Green has pleaded guilty to one count of murder-for-hire and one count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. Prosecutors have recommended that he be sentenced to life in prison.
Green’s accomplice in the case, longtime friend Phillip Cutler, has pleaded not guilty to the same charges. Cutler is scheduled to go on trial next month. The indictment alleges that Green, who was married to another woman at the time, had an affair with the victim, Jocelyn Peters, who became pregnant with Green’s child. Green and Cutler began planning her murder in early 2016.
According to the indictment, Green sent Cutler a text message on February 29, 2016, asking him to travel from Oklahoma to Missouri at the end of March. Cutler responded, confirming his availability to carry out the act. On March 7, 2016, Green sent Cutler $2,500 in cash through a UPS package. Green used the middle school’s address as the return address for the package, as he had stolen the money from the school.
Cutler arrived in St. Louis on March 21 and stayed at Green’s residence. The following day, Green left for Chicago via Amtrak, leaving Cutler with his car and the keys to Peters’ apartment. Prosecutors allege that Green traveled to Chicago to establish an alibi for the murder he had planned. On March 24, Cutler used the keys provided by Green to enter Peters’ apartment and fatally shot her in the head with a .38 caliber firearm while she was in bed, using a potato as a silencer.
Green then purchased an Amtrak ticket back to St. Louis to provide verification that he was in Chicago at the time of the murder. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 5.
Jocelyn Peters’ tragic murder, orchestrated by a former principal, has shocked the community and brought attention to the consequences of an illicit affair gone horribly wrong. As the case unfolds in court, the details of this heinous crime serve as a stark reminder of the dangers that can arise when personal relationships turn deadly.