Missouri Principal Whose Murder-For-Hire Plot Targeted His Pregnant Girlfriend Learns His Fate

A former Missouri middle school principal was sentenced this week to two consecutive life terms in prison for hiring his friend to murder his pregnant girlfriend, who was a teacher, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri announced Tuesday.

Cornelius M. Green, 42, pleaded guilty in February to one count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and one count of murder-for-hire in the 2016 deaths of 30-year-old Jocelyn Peters and her unborn child, Micah Leigh.

Green was the principal at Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School in St. Louis and was married when he was in a relationship with Peters, a teacher at Mann Elementary. Peters, who believed Green was planning to leave his wife, had already miscarried once and terminated one pregnancy at Green's urging, but "was determined to keep Micah Leigh," according to a sentencing memo filed by prosecutors.

Peters did not know that Green was seeing multiple women, including one who was also "duped" into believing they were building a life together.

Green was researching ways to induce an abortion by crushing pills and hiding them in Peters' oatmeal or yogurt. When the plan failed, he instead stole money from the dance team's fundraiser at his school to pay longtime friend Phillip J. Cutler, 46, to murder her.

"He literally stole from children to pay for killing his own child," said Nicole Conaway, the principal of Mann Elementary. She said she had to tell Peters' class about her murder. "I will never forget the pain in their eyes," she said. "This trauma will follow them for the rest of their lives."

After planning the murder in a series of phone calls, Green sent Cutler a UPS package containing $2,500 cash on March 7, 2016. Two weeks later, Cutler traveled to St. Louis, while Green traveled to Chicago to establish his alibi.

On March 24, Cutler drove Green's Kia Optima to Peters' apartment, where she was working on baby shower invitations, and used Green's key to get in. He shot her in the eye using a potato as a silencer. Green had Peters buy the potatoes used in her own murder days before.

When Green returned to St. Louis, he tried to have Peters' mother go to her apartment to "check on her," but she was unavailable, so he had to "discover" the scene himself, calling 911 to report her death.

"The depravity of asking a mother to go find Jocelyn's body, knowing she was dead, can't be matched," Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany Becker said during Tuesday's sentencing hearing.

Cutler was detained on the same night Peters reported the murder, after he returned to the crime scene at Green's direction to retrieve the Kia Optima. When he learned he was being arrested, he ate two pieces of paper from his pocket.

"All she ever did was love him," Peters' mother, Lacey Peters said during Tuesday's hearing, "and she loved that baby so much."

"Jocelyn had a light around her at all times," and "touched the heart of anyone she came in contact with," said her cousin, Dedra Peters. She said her cousin's death left the family "empty and heartbroken.

"The devastating actions of one depraved individual continue to impact the victims' family, colleagues, friends and young students," said St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore. "We are grateful for the resources provided by the U.S. Attorney's office to help bring closure to this heartbreaking case."

Cutler was convicted by a jury of the same charges in March. He was also sentenced last week to two consecutive life sentences.

--with reporting by TMX

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Missouri, Pregnant