A married St. Louis principal is set to be sentenced for hiring a hitman to murder his pregnant mistress. Cornelius M. Green pleaded guilty to orchestrating the 2016 killing of Jocelyn Peters, a teacher, and her unborn child on Feb. 28.
Green accepted a plea agreement on the federal charges of murder-for-hire conspiracy and murder-for-hire, per NBC News. Green’s plea deal will help him evade the death penalty if sentenced to life in prison by dropping the state charges associated with the crime. The prosecutor did originally state their intentions to pursue capital punishment for the former educator.
According to court documents, Green was reportedly involved in multiple extramarital affairs, including with Peters, who became pregnant during their relationship in 2015. After the teacher informed Green she was expecting, the then-principal at Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School devised a plot to steal school funds to pay his friend,
Philip J. Cutler, to kill Peters, according to authorities. Texts revealed their plan, with Green sending the hitman a sum of $2,500 to carry out the murder, mailing the package with the middle school’s address as the sender.Cutler then traveled from Oklahoma to meet with Green and receive keys to Peters’ apartment, with Green taking a train to Chicago to establish an alibi. Peters, who was 30 years old at the time, was shot in her bedroom by Cutler. She was nearing the third trimester of her pregnancy.
Upon confirmation she had died, Green then allegedly bought another train ticket to return to St. Louis, calling the police after his “discovery” of a slain Peters at her home. Investigators soon unraveled his plot, leading to his arrest on state and federal charges. His attorney released a brief statement on Green’s “choices” to kill his lover.
“Mr. Green understood his choices and made the one that did not compound the tragedy of this situation.”
His sentencing hearing will be held on June 5. Cutler’s trial will begin on March 11 on the same federal charges.
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