- 43 minutes ago
A Plan to Kill
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00:16a pregnant woman found in her apartment a single gunshot wound through her eye that
00:22instantaneously killed her and a potato was used to silence the gun she was sound asleep and just
00:31ambushed in her own bed there was no DNA evidence no forced entry this was not a burglary type
00:40homicide it looked like one of those old mafia movies what all is going on here there is a video
00:48surveillance of someone turning onto the victim street the night of the murder he tears out a
00:57single sheet of paper and proceeds to chew it up and swallow it there's no question that this was a
01:04elaborate premeditated plan to end her life
01:33sign up to the police department let me help you
01:49we were dispatched to West Pine Avenue at the same time EMS responded declared the victim deceased
02:00at the scene we were met by the person who made a 911 call Cornelius Green and he said he
02:06was the
02:07boyfriend of the victim that was inside her name was Jocelyn Peters Cornelius was extremely out of
02:14breath a little bit frantic he told us Miss Peters was seven months pregnant and he oftentimes stayed
02:21with her at her apartment it was a secure building with a key that cannot be duplicated for the front
02:30main
02:30entrance door as you enter the apartment building you'd go through a secure locked glass foyer entrance
02:37the victim's apartment was that first apartment on the left as you walk up to the second floor
02:45as you enter the apartment to the right as the bedroom her bedroom door was opened the victim was
02:52on her bed laying on her right side pillow tucked underneath her arms blankets no longer on her you
02:59could definitely tell that she was pregnant she had her arms folded in it like she was sound asleep and
03:06just ambushed in her own bed she had an obvious gunshot wound through her eye and blood that had came
03:14down the side of her face and pooled on the pillow next to her arm terribly tragic scene I do
03:21not believe
03:21this poor woman ever knew what hit her before it happened the whole thing was horrible this was an
03:31investigation of homicide as we looked around the bedroom we observed something that was extremely
03:37strange what appeared to be an organic material all around the victim on her bed large chunks of it on
03:44the wall and next to the bed this was unidentified and we immediately requested our evidence technicians to
03:51come in seize this material so we could send it off for further analysis we identified underneath the dresser next
04:00of the victim's bed a spent shell casing for a 380 caliber handgun but there was no DNA evidence obtained
04:09during that time one of the first things that I noticed is that there wasn't clothes strewn about there wasn't
04:18TVs or anything knocked over there wasn't drawers tossed out
04:21like someone that went through an apartment looking for something there was no forced entry nothing
04:26taken this was not a burglary type homicide there was something else going on here we also noticed there
04:34was gifts that were laid out there was a shirt that indicated I love daddy and other items related to
04:44her baby
04:45it looked like this woman's whole life was surrounded around the child that she was about to have
04:52while our evidence technicians were conducting the interior scene investigation we responded outside
04:58of the apartment and spoke with Mr. Green Cornelius Green was very upset and he told me that his girlfriend
05:08Jocelyn Peters was 30 years old and she was getting ready to have a shower for her child he immediately
05:15said you got to find out who killed the mother of my child and my unborn child Cornelius said that
05:21Miss Peters
05:22was currently employed as a third grade school teacher at manna elementary school in the city of st.
05:27Louis and he said he was a principal at car lane school but he had prior worked at manna elementary
05:34and
05:35that's how they began the relationship and he also stated that he was out of town visiting some
05:40friends in Chicago and he got off the Amtrak train at 2 59 p.m. that day we continued our
05:47conversation I
05:48asked how many keys there were for the apartment he said he had one and the victim had one these
05:54are
05:54heavy-duty doors that if you had to break in you would have had to make a lot of noise
05:59you would have had
06:01done damage none of that was visible so Cornelius Green was taken down to police headquarters for more interviewing
06:13my phone just started ringing and ringing and ringing and I looked up it was Cornelius he was like it's
06:20been
06:20an accident it's been blood it's blood I said I got to go now it felt like I was driving
06:26only two miles an hour and
06:29I got to her apartment there was police and I walked to her door and the cop just looked at
06:38me and she
06:40was like she's dead and I was like what about the baby what about the baby and she just kind
06:49of like
06:49dropped her head down and she was like the baby dead too I just couldn't believe it she wasn't the
06:57young
06:57lady to be out ripping running the street making enemies stuff like that she just wasn't that person
07:04and I told the police we just took a family cruise for her 30th birthday with Cornelius I believe they
07:12paid for the cruise together he was a good guy it was a good relationship she was really happy and
07:19ecstatic because this would have been her first child I just felt like if I could have traded my life
07:26for
07:26hers I would have gladly did it we have a young pregnant school teacher has no enemies no criminal
07:40history and she was shot in her sleep so we went back inside of the apartment we're gonna be meticulous
07:50take our time and go through and get every obstructive fact that we can obtain from the scene as we
07:59looked
07:59around the apartment again the kitchen was in order on the refrigerator the victim had a menu for the
08:07whole week written on a whiteboard contained everything she wanted to feed herself we observed on
08:14the kitchen dining room table a 10-pound bag of russet baking potatoes the bag was opened but the menu
08:22on
08:22her refrigerator none of those recipes indicated they used potatoes the substance that was all over the
08:29victim and the victim's bed and the walls the evidence technician unit was able to find a piece big
08:35enough that indicated it may possibly be a potato there's old mafia movies where they use potatoes as
08:43silencers if it was a silencer trick it's not like you're gonna go in and break into a house and
08:50then look
08:51around for potato decided to kill somebody sleeping somebody knew potato was gonna be there that they were
08:58gonna obviously use this was a clearly and obviously a premeditated and planned murder
09:08there was the package with the money to kill jocelyn peters and you could clearly see a 10-pound bag
09:15of
09:15russet potatoes sitting on there she is literally purchasing the tools that are going to be used in
09:21her own murder it becomes very apparent how much thought process went putting into this before it
09:27happened she never saw this coming on March 24 2016 when I found out that jocelyn peters was found shot
09:50to
09:50death what struck me immediately was the fact that she was pregnant and a potato was used to silence the
09:58gun so I went to the area where the crime scene was and people were talking about how nice and
10:06sweet she
10:07was I just didn't understand please please tell me this isn't true is it she was such a nurturing and
10:15loving teacher her passion her liveliness she was very very skilled and she had just this fire about her
10:22we knew she would be an amazing mom she was really excited about having the baby because this would have
10:31been her first child Micah Lee was the name for her baby that she was carrying and from my interviews
10:39with her family friends co-workers it was fairly obvious how excited jocelyn was to be a new mother
10:51upon speaking with the medical examiner at the scene it was determined that miss Peters died between
10:572 59 and 3 48 a.m. from a single gunshot wound through her eye from a 380 caliber handgun
11:03that would
11:04have instantaneously killed her and caused the death of her unborn child I immediately thought how did
11:12this happen why did this happen mr. green had told sergeant mcglynn that he was the only one to have
11:17access and keys to the apartment and there was no sign of force entry so Courtney this green was obviously
11:25a
11:25person of interest at this point so we conveyed mr. green down to the homicide office so we could
11:33interview him when murders happen the overwhelming majority of them are at the hands of someone that
11:41we know the family member spouse brother sister something like that during that initial interview
11:49we want to see his body language how he speaks does he react as most people normally do in a
11:55situation
11:55like that hey John it's Cornelius hey if I can ask you one thing I have you sit right there
12:03what's your
12:04last name we're going to screen hey I just want to express my condolences to you okay we're gonna do
12:10everything we can to help get you through this situation okay Cornelius green when he's being
12:17questioned by the detectives he seems to be upset about losing this child losing this woman that he
12:23has loved but he doesn't engage in a heck of a lot of eye contact it seems that he is
12:29trying hard to
12:31manage the way other people see him nobody in that apartment complex that jocelyn was having a problem
12:36with or anybody there that was she never said hey there's you know crazy guy downstairs during that same
12:43time we want us get a timeline of when did you get into town how did you get here as
12:53he's on the train
13:00coming back to st. Louis Cornelius starts calling jocelyn repeatedly not getting answers he calls her
13:07mother and says I'm concerned she's not answering my calls when you talk to her mom what did her mother
13:13say Cornelius informed me that he was picked up by his friend in Cornelius his car he dropped his
13:30friend off came over to the apartment and found the victim while we were interviewing him I had the
13:48investigators call the train station we got their surveillance footage and we could see Cornelius
13:54coming off the Amtrak train into the terminal Cornelius Green was out of town in Chicago at the
14:01time of the murder so he obviously was not to trigger man but the odd thing about that was he
14:09was looking up at the cameras to make sure that you could see a good clear view of him getting
14:14off that
14:14train he made a point to be seen that was something that stuck in our head so we had to
14:20keep digging we
14:21wanted to get a little background on his ongoing relationship with Jocelyn Peters he had stated that
14:34they had been looking at houses and had just two weeks prior to her death went on a cruise together
14:40with several members of her family but then he said something that was extremely strange so I'm okay
14:59Mr. Green explained to us that he was currently separated from his wife obtaining a divorce and
15:06it was due to his ongoing relationship with Miss Peters at that point I wanted to search Cornelius his
15:14car and I was gonna search the victim's car as well because vehicles are places that sometimes
15:20evidence ends up it's an extension of the crime scene would you like to give us consent to look in
15:25your car so we just rule out that there's anything in there I just don't understand why by looking in
15:30your car and not seeing anything that jumps out at us we would be saying okay Cornelius isn't involved in
15:37this I'm not okay Mr. Green became extremely agitated felt like it was an accusatory question
15:43that we would ask him I feel like when you do that I'm actually shooting like a criminal you want
15:47us to
15:47rule you out right how am I being moved in sir I really haven't been here he became irate towards
15:54us
15:54and refused consent for any officers to look inside of his vehicle at that current time when you're like
16:01this guy is obviously involved in something and then during the course of our interview Mr. Green
16:09requested to contact his daughter and we monitored this as it was happening live he had the volume up
16:20so loud that you could hear the other person on the other line talking his vehicle had still
16:34remained at the scene and he was reaching out to his wife Stephanie he wanted her to meet with someone
16:41named Philip and give him the keys so Philip can go pick up his vehicle which makes zero sense when
16:48his
16:48girlfriend and his child have just been murdered it makes you wonder who is Philip and why is Cornelius
16:55so concerned about his wife meeting with this man and what all is going on here not here
17:12at one point during the interview with Cornelius Green he makes a phone call to his wife
17:21Cornelius
17:24Cornelius had requested his wife Stephanie
17:26to get his spare key and take it to a friend of his named Philip after speaking to his wife
17:33he reached
17:34out to Philip
17:36hey
17:37I'm going to text your staff's number could you help her and get my key in my car
17:42I need that to happen like right now
17:43and then Cornelius
17:54and then Cornelius
18:05was trying to hide
18:06Cornelius wasn't a suspect
18:09but his extreme concern
18:11over his vehicle
18:12gave us a pause
18:13and concern
18:14to investigate further
18:16but we were not able to get a search warrant because there was not enough tangible evidence
18:21at that point
18:22at that point
18:22so we went back in the interview room and we asked who he was talking to
18:27he admitted that he called his wife Stephanie and a friend of his name
18:33Philip Cutler
18:35we wanted to know why he's the one that Cornelius reached out to
18:53obviously we knew that on the 22nd Cornelius Green took the Amtrak train to Chicago
18:58we wanted to know who gave him a ride to the Amtrak station
19:02how did you get today
19:14we knew he did not want us to search that vehicle which really didn't make sense
19:19we wanted to know what would Philip Cutler do with the car
19:23well Cornelius was gone
19:26was he in here with Joshua and Peters apartment during the time when the murder occurred
19:31so now he's the person that we got to interview
19:33we had investigators respond to that gas station
19:37they were able to make contact with Stephanie Green and Philip Cutler
19:40and they're both brought down to the homicide division
19:42where we're able to interview him that evening
19:46we obviously had to look pretty hard at Cornelius his wife
19:50because he indicated there was a divorce that was going to take place
19:54Stephanie Green was shook up and in a fragile emotional state while we're speaking to her
19:58she had no idea that Cornelius was involved in this relationship with our victim Jocelyn Peters
20:05and she was further unaware that Cornelius and Jocelyn were expecting a newborn child
20:11it was kind of a bombshell that was dropped on her
20:14that was immediately a red flag for detectives
20:19Cornelius's wife said there was no talk of divorce
20:23there was no talk of we're having problems and she had an alibi when the murder occurred
20:30Stephanie was cooperative
20:31there was nothing that indicated to us that she was being dishonest or deceitful
20:36so we have to rule Stephanie out
20:38but Mr. Green's lies regarding him obtaining a divorce from his wife
20:43made him look even more to us like a suspect during this investigation
20:49so the next step was to speak with Phillip Cutler
20:52you're fully aware there was a homicide correct?
20:56yes
20:56and who do you know the victim to be?
21:00um, my friend's girlfriend
21:03you ever met her?
21:05no
21:05he stated that he had not personally met her
21:10and denied ever being over at victim Peter's residence
21:14then we kinda went into a
21:16let's get a timeline of
21:18when did you get into town?
21:20when did you plan this trip to come back to St. Louis?
21:23a couple of weeks
21:24when you came back to St. Louis when?
21:26came back to St. Louis on
21:30uh, Monday
21:33he stated he'd come here on the Greyhound bus
21:35Cornelius picked him up at the bus station
21:37on the 21st
21:39at approximately 10.30 in the evening
21:42you guys hang out here?
21:43Cornelius hang out?
21:45the next day or what?
21:46he uh
21:47he
21:48he
21:48had to leave town
21:50he went out of town to go
21:52on some trip
21:53to do something
21:54I forget he told me
21:57when we asked him
21:58you came down to visit your friend
22:00doesn't that seem
22:00you know that seems a little odd
22:02did you know he was going to be leaving?
22:04kinda
22:05him hawed a little bit around the question
22:08and at this point
22:09we had conducted interviews
22:10with Mr. Cutler
22:11Mr. Green
22:12some of the things
22:13just didn't sit right
22:14with the investigation
22:16Cornelius
22:17gave Philip Cutler
22:18possession of his vehicle
22:19while he was out of town
22:22and then
22:22he refused consent
22:24for any officers
22:25to look inside of his vehicle
22:26also
22:27Green wasn't telling the truth
22:29about being separated from his wife
22:32so
22:33they were certainly persons of interest
22:34but there were no arrests
22:36at that time
22:39but
22:39we had investigators
22:41continued
22:41reviewing the evidence
22:42reviewing reports
22:43and
22:44video footage
22:45from the interviews
22:46with Mr. Cutler
22:47and Mr. Green
22:49that's when
22:50we observed something
22:51that was
22:52extremely strange
22:53that occurred
22:54while Mr. Cutler
22:55was alone
22:55in the interview room
22:57he's pacing back and forth
22:59and then
22:59much to our astonishment
23:01he thumbs through
23:02a notepad
23:04tears out
23:05a single sheet of paper
23:07and proceeds to
23:09chew it up
23:09and swallow it
23:10my immediate reaction was
23:12what in the heck
23:14there's no doubt in my mind
23:15that that piece of paper
23:16was a direct connection
23:18to him
23:19and
23:20the murder that had just occurred
23:34during the interview
23:36during the interview
23:36you see Philip Cutler
23:37get a piece of paper
23:39with some writing on it
23:40and then
23:41goes to his mouth with it
23:42and it disappears
23:43it's very unusual
23:44what he does
23:45it was like
23:46he was trying to hide something
23:48possibly
23:49there's some
23:50indication of guilt there
23:52because of their behavior
23:53our investigation
23:54now is directed towards
23:56Philip Cutler
23:57and Cornelia Green
23:58as suspects
23:59but we need evidence
24:00so one of the things that we do
24:02is we'll look for
24:04potential surveillance equipment
24:05throughout the neighborhood
24:07the entrance to
24:09Jocelyn Street
24:10where the apartments
24:11were located
24:11had a building
24:12that had some
24:13security footage
24:15running 24-7
24:16on the perimeter
24:17I was able to reach out
24:19and go over
24:20surveillance footage
24:21we know that Cornelius Green
24:23arrived over at the scene
24:25sometime around 3-20
24:26the afternoon after the murder
24:28and he was driving his car
24:31so that gave us a starting point
24:32we backed up
24:34and went through
24:34probably 12 to 15 hours
24:36of video surveillance
24:38of that intersection
24:39as we're looking at it
24:412-59 a.m. on the night
24:43of the murder
24:44we see a vehicle
24:45turn onto
24:46Jocelyn Peters Street
24:48from Boyle
24:49and we later observe it
24:50leave the street
24:51around 3-48
24:52it was a white Kia
24:54and they were able to zoom in
24:56and we got three or four
24:57positive letters
24:59off the license plate
25:01it was indeed
25:02Cornelius Green
25:02white Kia Optima
25:03we knew that Cornelius Green
25:05was out of town
25:06and he had left the keys
25:09to his vehicle
25:10with Philip Cutler
25:11and we knew that
25:12those keys also contained
25:13a key to enter into
25:15that apartment complex
25:16and enter into
25:17Mrs. Peter's apartment
25:19at this point
25:20it gave us a theory
25:21that Philip Cutler
25:23was the one that killed
25:24Jocelyn Peters
25:30I couldn't really process
25:33her untimely death
25:36but I had a funeral to plan
25:40Principal Nicole had called
25:42and she was like
25:43well you know what
25:43I'm gonna call that day off
25:45for the kids
25:46so they'll be able
25:48to attend Jocelyn's funeral
25:51there were kids that were
25:52really struggling
25:53so we really wanted
25:54to find a way
25:55to celebrate her life
25:58when I got to the funeral
26:01it was people already
26:03just standing there
26:04lying around the corner
26:05just to see her
26:07Jocelyn's favorite color
26:09is yellow
26:11so at the funeral
26:12when the kids
26:13walked past me
26:14all the kids
26:15would hand me
26:16one yellow rose
26:18it was really hard
26:19I was constantly praying
26:24Cornelius
26:24did not attend
26:25her funeral
26:26it ran in
26:27the back of my mind
26:29why my daughter's dead
26:30he's not dead too
26:31that's what I wanted to know
26:36as we continued looking
26:37into Cornelius Green
26:38and Philip Cutler
26:40trying to get
26:41as much evidence
26:42and a foundation laid
26:44there was tips
26:46that would come in
26:46one of those
26:47was this woman
26:48who came into the homicide office
26:50and stated that she saw
26:51on the news
26:52that this incident occurred
26:53and then she said
26:55she was involved
26:56with Cornelius
26:57for quite a while
26:57couple years at least
26:59and recently learned
27:01he was juggling
27:02numerous romantic
27:03sexual relationships
27:04at the same time
27:05she said he was a womanizer
27:07and certainly
27:08it was another red flag
27:09for police
27:10at that point
27:11after interviewing her
27:13we'd received a call
27:14from Cornelius Green
27:15he said he had heard
27:17out on the street
27:18that we were speaking
27:19to this woman
27:20who he was involved
27:21in a relationship with
27:22and he was irritated
27:24to say the least
27:25he then went on
27:27and asked what he could do
27:28to help us
27:28so we offered him
27:30the opportunity
27:31to provide his cellular telephone
27:33and oddly enough
27:34he allowed us to download it
27:37after receiving the data information
27:39we were able to obtain
27:40his text messaging
27:42and some of his Google searches
27:44and on March 20th 2016
27:48four days before the murder
27:50and prior to Philip Cutler
27:52coming into town
27:52he had a telephonic conversation
27:54with Philip Cutler
27:56he then reached out to
27:58Miss Peters via text
27:59during that conversation
28:01Miss Peters states
28:03that she's going to go
28:04to the Aldi's
28:04and go grocery shopping
28:06and Cornelius states
28:08I will meet you there
28:10he seemed adamant
28:11that hey
28:12we'll go shopping together
28:13it just seemed you know
28:14rather odd
28:15she didn't seem like
28:16she was asking him to come
28:17with her to the grocery store
28:18we were able to obtain
28:20the video surveillance
28:22inside the Aldi's
28:23and we observed
28:24Jocelyn Peters exiting the store
28:26with Cornelius Green
28:28directly behind her
28:29pushing the cart
28:30and you could clearly see
28:32a ten pound bag of russet potatoes
28:35sitting on there
28:36same brand that was found
28:37at the crime scene
28:38on the kitchen table
28:39with one missing
28:40which I don't believe
28:41it was just happenstance
28:43or coincidence
28:43now there's no doubt
28:45in our minds
28:46that that conversation
28:47he had with Philip Cutler
28:48on March 20th
28:50prior to going grocery shopping
28:52with Miss Peters
28:52was him making sure
28:54that there's some potatoes bought
28:56it becomes very apparent
28:57how much thought process
28:59he was putting into this
29:01before it happened
29:01it was kind of shocking
29:04she never saw this coming
29:05she is literally purchasing
29:08the tools that are going
29:09to be used in her own murder
29:10that's important
29:11because it did help us
29:13start to paint the picture
29:14and see what was happening
29:16just days prior to Miss Peters
29:18being murdered
29:19but it was circumstantial evidence
29:22and there was a tremendous amount
29:25of other obstacles to overcome
29:27first there was no murder weapon
29:29that was ever recovered
29:32and second Cornelius Green
29:34has a alibi
29:35so we need to essentially prove
29:37he planned a way for Mr. Cutler
29:40to come into town
29:41to kill Jocelyn Peters
29:43so next we obtained a search warrant
29:46and received the tracking history
29:47from Philip Cutler's telephone
29:49it showed Philip Cutler
29:51in the area of Jocelyn Peters' apartment
29:53the night she was murdered
29:55and then it showed Cutler
29:57traveling directly down to
29:59North Riverfront Park
30:02in the far north end of the city
30:04why this stood out to us
30:06is because North Riverfront Park
30:08borders the Mississippi River
30:09Cutler responded there
30:11after speaking with Green
30:12and spent eight minutes there
30:14the morning after the murder
30:16we believe he discarded the murder weapon
30:19in the Mississippi River
30:20the river was searched
30:23but unless you knew exactly
30:24where it was
30:25the chances of it still being there
30:27are slim
30:28so the murder weapon was never found
30:31it was a very difficult case to make
30:34that's why the detectives kept digging
30:36and digging and digging
30:37while we were looking for something
30:39that proved that they both worked together
30:41and planned the way to kill Ms. Peters
30:44we were able to identify
30:46some of the most prevalent
30:47Google searches on Green's phone
30:50prior to the murder of Ms. Peters
30:52one of the first patterns we observed
30:54was that there were Google searches
30:57about how to mask the taste of an abortion pill
31:00this was early on in the pregnancy
31:02just a few weeks
31:04and he had started Googling
31:06can I crush up pills
31:08to end the pregnancy
31:10it strongly suggested
31:12that Cornelius Green was trying to kill the baby
31:15without Jocelyn Peters knowledge
31:16I believe the baby
31:18that Jocelyn Peters was carrying
31:20became an obstacle
31:22and if he could get rid of the pregnancy
31:24then he could continue to have Jocelyn Peters
31:26as a toy to play with
31:27along with the other five or six women
31:30and continue to live life
31:31in exactly the way that he wanted to
31:33as we continued looking into his Google searches
31:36it seemed that this apparently
31:38was not working
31:39one of Green's searches
31:40was still seeing a heartbeat
31:41after taking an abortion pill
31:44and all of these Google searches
31:46happened several months prior
31:48to Ms. Peters being murdered
31:49he obviously was searching
31:52for this method
31:53to get rid of the child
31:55and when that didn't work out
31:57it wasn't long after that
31:59Cornelius decides to segue
32:01into the murder business
32:13We identified Cornelius Green
32:15researching abortion pills
32:18researching ways to induce an abortion
32:21Cornelius made some fairly sinister efforts
32:24to get rid of this pregnancy
32:27and when that didn't work
32:28he arrived at the conclusion
32:30that Jocelyn Peters was a liability
32:33that he needed to get rid of
32:36That starts to build the motive
32:39and the means and the method
32:41of how this murder occurred
32:43We further investigated Cornelius' cell phone data
32:46and on February 28th Cornelius Green
32:49and Phillip Cutler
32:50have a conversation via text
32:52where Green had said
32:53Are you going to be coming into town?
32:55Cutler responds in the affirmative
32:57and asks when
32:58he says March 20th
33:00and Cutler says
33:03Okay, don't forget to send the package
33:06When I read it I immediately thought
33:08there was something of value
33:11sent from Green to Mr. Cutler
33:13and I was able to reach out
33:16to the post office
33:17There's a record of a transaction
33:19where on March the 7th
33:21just days prior to the murder
33:22he sent a package to Phillip Cutler
33:25in Oklahoma
33:29Which the police assume is the money
33:31to pay him to kill Jocelyn Peters
33:34This was obviously planning
33:37and premeditation on both Green
33:39and Cutler's part
33:40with relation to Miss Peters' murder
33:43But at this point
33:45Green had obtained an attorney
33:47so we could not bring him in
33:49and speak with him again
33:53It was extremely challenging
33:55to keep moving forward
33:58But then we'd received a call
34:00from the dance instructor
34:01of Car Lane School
34:03where Cornelius Green
34:04was the principal
34:06We had learned approximately $2,700
34:08had been stolen
34:10from Car Lane School's dance program
34:13a few weeks prior
34:14to the murder of Miss Peters
34:18She said on March 3rd
34:20she observed Cornelius Green
34:22in the area where the money
34:25had been taken
34:25and believed that he was
34:28no doubt involved
34:29When asked about why
34:31it wasn't reported
34:31she stated that she was
34:33extremely concerned
34:35with repercussions
34:36because he wielded a certain
34:38amount of authority
34:39over the school
34:40being the principal
34:41We believe that $2,700
34:43was the payment
34:44according to this
34:45Green sent to
34:46Phillip Cutler
34:47to kill Jocelyn Peters
34:51As you progress through
34:53the investigation
34:54the amount of circumstantial evidence
34:56that was obtained
34:58it gave us the timeline
34:59the motive
35:00and then the method
35:01of how this murder occurred
35:04There's no question
35:05that this was a
35:06elaborate
35:07premeditated plan
35:08to end Jocelyn Peters' life
35:10and get rid of the baby
35:12that Jocelyn Peters
35:13was carrying
35:18In August of 2015
35:21Miss Peters became pregnant
35:23Then, just a few weeks
35:25in the pregnancy
35:25Cornelius Green
35:26started searching
35:28ways to end
35:29a pregnancy
35:32Cornelius spent months
35:33trying to poison
35:34or kill the baby
35:35When that didn't work
35:37on February 28th
35:39Cornelius Green
35:40arranges for Phillip Cutler
35:41to be the trigger man
35:42On March 3rd
35:44he stole money
35:45from Car Lane
35:46Middle School
35:48On March 8th
35:50Cornelius Green
35:51sent Phillip Cutler
35:52the money
35:53to murder Jocelyn
35:54On March 14th
35:56through the 18th
35:58Cornelius takes
35:59Jocelyn
36:00and her family
36:01on a cruise
36:02for her birthday
36:03We believe
36:04he was trying
36:05to throw him off
36:06On March 20th
36:08Cornelius Green
36:09accompanied
36:09Jocelyn Peters
36:10to the grocery store
36:12where they purchased
36:13the russet potatoes
36:15and then he left
36:16them inside
36:17of the apartment
36:17for Mr. Cutler
36:19On March 21st
36:21Phillip Cutler
36:22travels
36:22from Oklahoma
36:23to St. Louis, Missouri
36:25Police believe
36:26the next day
36:27Cornelius hands
36:28Phillip Cutler
36:29his .38 caliber gun
36:31and the keys
36:32to Jocelyn's apartment
36:33And then
36:34Cornelius Green
36:35takes an Amtrak
36:36to Chicago
36:37as an alibi
36:38for himself
36:40In the middle of the night
36:41Phillip Cutler
36:43goes into
36:43Jocelyn Peters' apartment
36:47used a potato
36:48as a silencer
36:50shoots her one time
36:51in the head
36:52and kills her
36:53and her unborn child
36:56Next, Cornelius Green
36:58takes an Amtrak
36:59back to St. Louis
37:01As he's on the train
37:04Cornelius starts
37:04calling Jocelyn repeatedly
37:06was all just part
37:08of the ruse
37:09to make it look like
37:10he was concerned
37:10about her
37:12And then lastly
37:14Cornelius Green
37:15goes to her apartment
37:16and calls 911
37:18to report the death
37:20of Jocelyn Peters
37:23The level of planning
37:25that went on
37:26for this case
37:27was shocking
37:28That's his girlfriend
37:30He's gonna be
37:32the father of the child
37:33that she's carrying
37:34This was a cold-blooded
37:35horrific crime
37:36I don't know
37:37if Cornelius Green
37:38was a psychopath
37:39but he should be
37:40in the psychology textbooks
37:42because the cognitive
37:43sophistication
37:44that it would take
37:45to keep all of that
37:46separate
37:47You have to be adept
37:48at compartmentalizing
37:49your life
37:50At that point
37:51we knew that we needed
37:52to arrest both
37:53Cutler and Green
37:54for the murder
37:55of Jocelyn Peters
37:56and her unborn child
38:06At this point
38:07we have the abortion
38:09search history
38:10with Green
38:11We have Cutler's
38:13cell phone data
38:14that puts him
38:15at the location
38:16of the victim's residence
38:19We have the video
38:20surveillance
38:20of the vehicle
38:21that Philip Cutler
38:23was in possession of
38:24turning on
38:25to the victim's street
38:25the night of the murder
38:26So we were able
38:27to secure indictments
38:29against Mr. Cutler
38:30and Mr. Green
38:31for conspiracy
38:32to commit murder
38:33and committing murder
38:35for hire
38:35Cornelius is arrested first
38:37obviously
38:38we wanted to get
38:39an opportunity
38:40to try and talk to him
38:41but he doesn't make
38:42any statements
38:42at that time
38:44And then we traveled
38:46into Muscogee, Oklahoma
38:48and placed
38:49Philip Cutler
38:49under arrest
38:50to be transported
38:51back to St. Louis, Missouri
38:54I did our post-arrest
38:55interview
38:55he denied having
38:57anything to do
38:58with the murder
38:58of Jocelyn Peters
39:06When they called
39:07and told me
39:08they had arrested
39:09both of them
39:11I was pretty much
39:12in shock
39:14I thought Cornelius
39:15was a good guy
39:18I was out to dinner
39:19with our school counselor
39:21and it came across
39:22the news
39:22that he was arrested
39:25and we just cried together
39:28that was a life-changing day
39:30because it had taken
39:31so many months
39:32and it finally had happened
39:33and it was just
39:34a rush of emotion
39:36I was glad
39:37that it finally happened
39:39but you know
39:41I just wanted
39:42my daughter
39:43my granddaughter back
39:49this is certainly
39:51a chilling crime
39:52a father
39:53and a principal
39:54at the school
39:55thought out
39:56a murder for hire plot
39:58but unfortunately
39:59the COVID pandemic
40:01really threw a wrench
40:03into the criminal justice system
40:04Eight years go by
40:06before we actually
40:07go to trial
40:08and prior to
40:09the trial date
40:10Cornelius Green
40:11accepted a plea
40:13to plead guilty
40:15Cornelius agrees
40:17to life
40:17with no parole
40:19so
40:19the death penalty
40:20was off
40:21the table
40:22at this point
40:23but Philip Cutler
40:24takes it
40:25to a jury trial
40:26It was shocking
40:28that he wanted
40:30a trial
40:30given the mountain
40:31of evidence
40:32there was against him
40:35and how could you
40:37put this family
40:38through reliving
40:39all of this
40:43from the beginning
40:44from the beginning
40:44of the trial
40:45there were members
40:46of Jocelyn's family
40:48and friends
40:49and co-workers
40:50that were in the courtroom
40:52and there was really
40:53some outrage
40:54how dare you
40:57I had to be there
40:58I wanted to see him
41:01I wanted to look at him
41:03and I wanted him to know
41:04that I know
41:06what you did
41:07I was mad
41:08he shot my baby in the face
41:11right through the eye
41:13I had just wanted
41:15to scream
41:17We look at this case
41:19and you see
41:20the troubling
41:21sophistication of it
41:22hey
41:23I'll go to the store
41:24and buy a sack
41:25of potatoes
41:26and the potatoes
41:27will be in the apartment
41:28then when you get there
41:30all you have to do
41:31is grab one
41:32and use it
41:33This
41:34was the most
41:36thought out
41:37premeditated
41:38crime
41:38that I had covered
41:40and Philip Cutler
41:41any point in time
41:43along the way
41:43easily could have backed out
41:45and no one would have ever known
41:47and he just didn't
41:50Philip Cutler
41:51was found guilty
41:52and was sentenced to
41:54two consecutive life terms
41:56in prison
41:57without parole
41:59for both the murder
42:01of Jocelyn Peters
42:01and her unborn child
42:03Micah Lee
42:05There was just this huge sense
42:07of relief
42:07he is going to pay
42:08for what he did
42:11there's a special place
42:12in hell for him
42:18The hole in my heart
42:20is still there
42:23it's not
42:24a day
42:26that I don't think
42:27about Jocelyn
42:28I can be
42:29driving down the street
42:31and see something
42:32that reminds me
42:33of her
42:34she had
42:35a smile
42:37and a laugh
42:38that was contagious
42:39she was all about
42:41helping kids
42:42and the community
42:43so
42:44everybody in the family
42:45we don't mind
42:46giving a helping hand
42:47to people
42:48that
42:49that need it
42:50that's
42:51how we keep
42:51her memory alive
42:54to have
42:54to have
42:54to have
42:54to have
42:59their way
42:59to have
42:59the
42:59the
42:59that
43:00family
43:01that's
43:01what's
43:01going to be
43:03You
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