Married Principal Admits to Shocking Murder-For-Hire Plot Against Pregnant Teacher
In a chilling revelation that has sent shockwaves through the community, Cornelius Green, a former middle school principal in Missouri, pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a murder-for-hire plot he orchestrated against a woman he was having an affair with, who had become pregnant.
Cornelius Green, the married principal of Carr Lane Visual Performing Arts School in St. Louis, confessed to paying a friend $2,500 to kill Jocelyn Peters, a 30-year-old teacher at the nearby Mann Elementary School, along with “their unborn child,” according to reports from the Daily Mail. Peters, 27 weeks pregnant at the time, fell victim to the horrific plot when Green’s childhood friend, Phillip Cutler, allegedly entered her apartment with keys provided by Green and shot her in the head on March 24, 2016.
An indictment obtained by NBC News details the gruesome act, stating that Cutler used a “potato as a silencer to muffle the sound of the shot” as he killed Peters while she lay in bed.
Court documents, as reported by First Alert 4, reveal that Green was romantically involved with multiple other women.
Following the alleged murder, Green went to Peters’ apartment later that day and called 911 to report the shooting, according to local outlets. The former principal’s plea agreement acknowledges that the $2,500 he paid to Cutler was stolen from his school.
People reported that Green expects to be sentenced to life in prison for charges related to murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. The plea agreement suggests that if sentenced to life, state prosecutors will drop murder charges against him, potentially sparing him from facing the death penalty.
Phillip Cutler, implicated in the murder-for-hire plot, will also face charges, with his trial set to commence on March 11.
The shocking revelation has left the community grappling with the heinous nature of the crime. In the aftermath of Peters’ tragic death, Mann Elementary School principal Nicole Conaway dedicated a memorial garden in her honor. Conaway spoke of Peters’ dedication to children, emphasizing her impact on their lives and character.
“She was someone who cared deeply about children, not only about their learning but about who they were in making them into better people,” Conaway said in an interview with Fox 2 Now at the time.
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