principal admits to hiring hitman to kill teacher pregnant with his baby

 ST. LOUIS (KMOV/Gray News) - A former St. Louis middle school principal admitted to hiring a hitman to kill a teacher who was pregnant with his baby.

Cornelius Green was the principal of Carr Lane Visual Performing Arts School while Jocelyn Peters was a teacher at Mann Elementary. Green was married but was having an affair with Peters, according to KMOV.

In 2015, Peters became pregnant with Green’s child. Around the beginning of 2016, Green forged a plan to kill Peters, who was 27 weeks pregnant at the time. He contacted his childhood friend Phillip Cutler and offered to pay him to commit the crime.

Green allegedly stole $2,500 from the middle school to seal the deal. On March 21, 2016, Cutler traveled to St. Louis from Oklahoma and stayed at Green’s house.

To create an alibi, Green took an Amtrak train to Chicago the next day, leaving the man the keys to his car and keys to Peters’ apartment. Cutler broke into Peter’s house and shot her in the head while using a potato as a silencer to muffle the sound, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Peters and her unborn baby were killed on March 24, 2016. Green returned to St. Louis later that day and went to Peters’ apartment to report she was shot.

Green pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder for hire and murder for hire. KMOV reported that the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office agreed to dismiss murder charges if he was sentenced to life in prison on the federal charges.

His trial is set to begin on Monday, March 11.

By Matt Woods and Akim Powell

www.wtoc.com