(NewsSpace.com) – In December 2002, the country was caught in the throes of a missing pregnant woman, Laci Peterson, who disappeared on Christmas Eve. Her husband was eventually convicted of murdering her and her unborn baby. It later came out that he was having an affair and living a double life. Another man accused of living a double life and hiring someone to kill his pregnant mistress has now been sentenced for murder-for-hire.
The Backstory
Jocelyn Peters was a 30-year-old schoolteacher who fell in love with Cornelius Green, a principal at Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School. Unbeknownst to Peters, Green was still married, though he told her he was in the middle of divorcing his wife. He was also reportedly involved with other women, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.
During the course of their relationship, Peters became pregnant three times. She miscarried once and had an abortion with another at Green’s urging. The third baby, however, she decided to keep. When Peters was seven months pregnant, she was murdered in her apartment while she was working on baby shower invitations.
The Crime
Green tried to poison Peters a few times by putting crushed-up pills in her oatmeal and yogurt. When those methods failed to work, he decided to bring in reinforcements. He called a friend, Phillip Cutler, from Muskogee, Oklahoma, and asked him to kill Peters. The two spoke on the phone, and Green sent Cutler $2,500, which he stole from the school he worked for, through the mail as payment.
Green traveled to Chicago via train to establish an alibi, after which Cutler arrived in Missouri. The former principal gave his friend access to his car and the key to Peters’ apartment. Cutler used the key to enter the apartment and shot Peters through the eye, using a potato as a silencer.
Green then traveled back to the state and tried to get Peters’ mother to check on her. When she turned out to be unavailable, he went to the apartment himself and called 911 to report the murder. Authorities eventually unraveled the case and charged him and his friend in Peters’ death.
Back in February, Green pleaded guilty to two charges: murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. He was sentenced on June 25 to two life terms in prison. Cutler pleaded not guilty but was convicted by a jury. He was also sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
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