School principal Cornelius Green admits to sick murder-for-hire plot to kill pregnant teacher using ‘potato as silencer’

A MIDDLE school principal admitted that he was behind a chilling murder-for-hire plot to kill a fellow educator who was pregnant with his child.

Cornelius M. Green said he used stolen funds from Carr Lane Visual Performing Arts Middle School to pay a gunman to kill 30-year-old Jocelyn Peters in 2016.

Green admitted to the slaying, pleading guilty to one count of murder-for-hire and one count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire as part of a plea agreement, in which prosecutors recommended that he serve life in prison.

His co-defendant and friend, Phillip Cutler, is accused of fatally shooting Peters, who was seven months pregnant at the time for $2,500.

Cutler has pled not guilty and his trial is scheduled to begin next month.

Prosecutors said that Green had been married to another woman in 2015 when he took part in an "ongoing romantic relationship" with Peters, who became pregnant with Green's unborn child.

Sometimes in early 2016, Green began planning Peter's murder with Cutler, his longtime friend.

Green sent Cutler a text message on February 29, 2016, asking him to come to Missouri at the end of March, according to a criminal indictment.

"Ok, that will work, u gonna b sending the pacge (sic)," Cutler responded.

On March 7, 2016, Green sent a UPS package to Cutler containing $2,500 in cash, the indictment read.

Records show that Green used the address of the middle school as the return address for the package that had the money, which had been taken from the school.

"It was further part of the conspiracy that on or about March 8, 2016, in Oklahoma, Cutler received the package sent by Green, accepting the cash in exchange for his planned killing of Peters and her unborn child," the indictment read.

Cutler arrived in St. Louis, Missouri on March 21 and stayed at Green's home, where he lived with his sister, said police.

The next day, Green traveled to Chicago, Illinois via Amtrak and left Cutler his car and keys to Peter's apartment.

Prosecutors said that Green only made the trip to create an alibi while Cutler killed Peter.

Two days later, on March 24, Cutler drove Green's car to Peters' apartment and used the keys Green gave him to enter her home, where he found her in bed.

Peters then "shot her with a .38 caliber firearm in the head, using a potato as a silencer to muffle the sound of the shot," said prosecutors.

After the murder, Green purchased an Amtrak ticket back to St. Louis "so there would be verification that he was in Chicago at the time of the murder."

Green is expected to appear back in court on June 5 for his sentencing hearing.