Cornelius Green, 35, was the principal at Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School near St. Louis and was going to be a father. The problem was he didn’t want the responsibility or a relationship with the soon to be mother. What happened next is a twisted tale of murder-for-hire and a grieving family.
Green is alleged to have contacted his childhood friend, Philip J. Cutler, about the situation. During weeks of conversations, the two agreed that Green’s girlfriend Jocelyn Peters, a third-grade teacher at Mann Elementary School; and her unborn baby had to die. Court documents revealed that a plan was hatched in March 2016 where Green picked up Cutler who traveled from Muskogee, Oklahoma, to a St. Louis bus station and gave him cash, his car keys and keys to his girlfriend’s apartment. The next day Green left town and the plan went into action as the two kept in close contact.
On March 24, 2016, the body of Jocelyn Peters was discovered with a single gunshot wound to her head, she was seven months pregnant. Cutler was caught on surveillance video at 3 a.m. parking Green’s car near where the killing occurred and was tied to the crime. Green came back into town the same day and discovered Peters dead in the apartment and called the police. He was taken to the station for questioning and made a critical error. He asked to make a phone call and instead of calling his lawyer he called his estranged wife. Green told her to meet Cutler and give him a set of spare car keys so that he could move his car from Peters’ neighborhood. Green was unaware at the tile that police were listening to his incriminating phone call. Police began to put the pieces of the crime together and arrested Cutler in June of this year thinking at first that he acted alone. Investigators discovered that Green was sent $2,500 a few days before Peters was killed by Cutler. The money may have been stolen from students at the performing arts middle school where Green served as the principal.
Green has now been arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the death of Peters and her unborn child and is being held on $3 million cash bail. Cutler faces the same charges and his bail has been set at $1 million.
