St. Louis, Missouri – Former middle school principal Cornelius Green entered a guilty plea on Wednesday for charges related to the murder-for-hire plot that resulted in the death of his pregnant girlfriend, Jocelyn Peters.
Green, who was the principal at Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School, paid Phillip Cutler $2,500 to carry out the murder of Peters and her unborn child in her Central West End apartment in March 2016. At the time of her death, Peters was over 27 weeks pregnant with Green’s child.
Prosecutors revealed that Green had orchestrated the murder by sending money in a UPS package to Cutler, who resided in Oklahoma. Green had stolen the money from the school where he was employed, using the school’s address as the return address on the package.
Leading up to the murder, Green communicated with Cutler via text message and arranged for him to come to St. Louis. Additionally, Green left behind keys to his car and Peters’ apartment at the Gateway Transportation Center before boarding an Amtrak train to Chicago to establish an alibi.
Cutler carried out the murder by shooting Peters in the head with a .380-caliber gun, using a potato to muffle the sound of the gunshot. He then contacted Green to inform him of Peters’ death, while Green feigned ignorance of the crime upon his return to St. Louis.
The plea agreement states that if Green receives a life sentence on the federal charges, the state charges against him will be dropped. Green’s sentencing is scheduled for June 5, with Judge Ronnie L. White presiding over the case.
Cutler, who is also facing murder-for-hire and conspiracy charges, is set to go to trial on March 11 unless a plea agreement is reached with prosecutors in the interim. The case sheds light on a tragic and calculated crime that shocked the St. Louis community.