Former Missouri principal admits to 2016 murder-for-hire plot of teacher who was 27 weeks pregnant with his child

A school principal admitted that he hired a hitman to kill a teacher who he was having an affair with after she told him she was pregnant with his child. The principal allegedly used school funds to pay for the hit, according to the New York Post.

Cornelius Green — the former principal of Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School located in St. Louis, MO — pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of murder-for-hire and another count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire for the 2016 killing of Jocelyn Peters.

The report noted that the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office agreed to drop the state murder charges if Green was sentenced to life in prison on the federal charges. Green’s plea deal ensured that he would not face the death penalty for his horrific crimes.

KMOV reported that in 2015, Peters became pregnant with Green’s child. Sometime at the beginning of 2016, Green decided that Peters needed to be killed. Peters was 27 weeks pregnant with Green’s child at the time. To carry out the act, Green reportedly contacted a childhood friend, Phillip Cutler, and offered to pay him to commit the murder.

Green apparently stole $2,500 from the middle school to pay Cutler for the crime. And on March 21, Cutler traveled to St. Louis from Oklahoma and stayed at Green’s home.

Green tried to orchestrate an alibi by taking an Amtrak train to Chicago the following day, leaving the keys to his vehicle and Peters’ apartment with Cutler. Cutler allegedly broke into Peters’ home and shot her in the head, using a potato as a silencer to muffle the shot.

After Green returned to St. Louis, he called 911 to report Peters had been shot — “falsely pretending that he had no knowledge of the circumstances leading her death,” according to court documents.

Reports noted that “Historical Precision Location Information obtained from Cutler’s cell phone provider shows that his phone was near the victim’s apartment at that time,” allegedly putting him at the scene of the crime.

Green is set to appear in the Eastern District of Missouri on June 5 for his sentencing hearing. Cutler, who has also been federally charged with murder-for-hire conspiracy and murder-for-hire, pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.

Cutler’s trial is expected to start on March 11.