ST. LOUIS – A former St. Louis middle school principal appeared in federal court on Wednesday and admitted paying a friend to kill his pregnant girlfriend.
Jocelyn Peters was found shot to death inside her Central West End apartment on March 24, 2016. Peters, 30, was seven months pregnant at the time of her murder. She taught third grade at Horace Mann Elementary School in the Tower Grove neighborhood of south St. Louis.
Months later, Phillip Cutler of Oklahoma was arrested in connection with the killing. St. Louis homicide detectives learned Cutler had been a longtime friend of Cornelius M. Green, who was Peters’ boyfriend at the time.
Federal and local prosecutors alleged that Green, who was already legally married, was cheating on his spouse with Peters and got her pregnant in 2015.
Green was the former principal at Carr Lane Visual & Performing Arts Middle School, near downtown St. Louis. Green had been working for the district since 2002, serving as a teacher, assistant principal, and eventually, principal, according to the St. Louis Public Schools.
Sometime in early 2016, prosecutors say Green hatched a plan to murder Jocelyn Peters and their unborn child. He reached out to his friend Cutler and offered to pay him to commit the deed.
On or about March 7, 2016, Green sent a UPS package to Cutler containing $2,500 as a retainer for the crime.
On March 21, Cutler traveled from Oklahoma to St. Louis to stay at Green’s residence. The following day, Green traveled from St. Louis to Chicago so he wouldn’t be in town when Peters was killed. Green left Cutler with keys to his car and to Peters’ apartment.
Prosecutors allege Cutler entered Peters’ apartment, found her in bed, and shot her in the head with a .380 caliber gun, using a potato as a silencer. Cutler called Green to tell him he’d killed Peters. Shortly thereafter, Green booked a return train ticket.
Green went to the apartment, found his girlfriend murdered, and called police to report her death.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri charged both Green and Cutler with conspiracy to commit murder for hire and murder-for-hire.
Meanwhile, the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office charged Green with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action, and burglary, and said they would seek the death penalty in his case. City prosecutors at the time said they would also seek the death penalty for Cutler, whom they charged with two counts of first-degree murder and armed criminal action.
Green is pleading guilty in federal court with the hope of avoiding a death penalty trial in St. Louis Circuit Court. According to the plea agreement, the Circuit Attorney’s Office will dismiss its charges against Green if he’s sentenced to life imprisonment on each count in the federal case. The plea agreement is not, however, binding for the Circuit Attorney’s Office or the federal judge presiding over the case.
Green will be sentenced on the morning of June 5.
Meanwhile, Cutler is scheduled to appear in federal court on March 11 for the beginning of his trial. He is also awaiting trial in St. Louis City.
