castle. Lewis (TCD) — A former middle school principal has reportedly pleaded guilty to federal charges for shooting and killing a pregnant teacher with whom he was having an affair.
Cornelius Green pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday, Feb. 28, to murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire in the 2016 shooting death of elementary school teacher Jocelyn Peters, according to KMOV-TV. Both the prosecution and the defense reportedly agreed to a life sentence for Green, but Green is scheduled to be formally sentenced at a later date.
Green also faces murder and other charges at the state level, but KMOV reports that local prosecutors will drop the charges if he is sentenced to life in prison.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri indicted Green and co-conspirator Phillip Cutler on March 9, 2022. Green, who is married, had an “ongoing romantic relationship” with Peters, and she reportedly became pregnant in 2015. The attorney's office said Green “planned to murder Peters and her unborn child” between Feb. 29, 2016, and Oct. 11, 2016. Part of the plan reportedly involved paying Cutler to kill Peters.
On March 7, 2016, Green sent Cutler $2,500 via UPS to an Oklahoma address. Cutler reportedly traveled to St. Louis on March 21, 2016, and stayed at Green's home. Green said he went to Chicago the next day “to distance himself from the murders.”
Three days after arriving, on March 24, 2016, Cutler allegedly drove to Peters' apartment in Green's car, broke into it and shot her in the head. He used potatoes as silencers.
KMOV reported that Green went to Peters' apartment the same day and called police. Peters was about seven months pregnant at the time of the murder.
Cutler, who faces the same charges as Green, is scheduled to begin trial on March 11.
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