St. Louis is headed for the true-crime spotlight again as '48 Hours' revisits the 2016 murder of local teacher Jocelyn Peters, who was shot to death while seven months pregnant. The killing and the prosecutions that followed of former Carr Lane principal Cornelius Green and alleged gunman Phillip Cutler stunned the city, and both men ultimately received consecutive life sentences in federal court. The primetime feature is set to put one of St. Louis' most notorious murder-for-hire cases back under a national microscope.
According to KMOV, correspondent Anne-Marie Green will report the '48 Hours' segment, which is scheduled to air Saturday at 9 p.m. on CBS. KMOV notes that Peters taught third grade at Mann Elementary and was killed on March 24, 2016, while pregnant. The segment ties the broadcast to the sweeping federal investigation and the convictions that followed.
How prosecutors say the plot unfolded
Federal prosecutors said Green mailed Cutler a package containing $2,500 in March 2016 and provided him with keys to Peters' apartment, then took a train to Chicago to create an alibi. Court filings and press materials describe Cutler entering Peters' unit on March 24, 2016, and fatally shooting her, allegedly using a potato as a makeshift silencer, before dumping evidence in North Riverfront Park. Those details are laid out in press materials from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Missouri.
Convictions and sentences
A federal jury convicted Phillip Cutler in March 2024, and U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White later sentenced him to two consecutive life terms. Cornelius Green pleaded guilty in February 2024 and received the same sentence in June, according to CBS News. Prosecutors told the court that the back-to-back life sentences reflected the severity of arranging the killing of a pregnant woman and her unborn child.
Family and community impact
At Green's sentencing hearing, Peters' mother, Lacey Peters, told the court, "All she ever did was love him," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. School leaders and prosecutors said the killing left deep emotional wounds for Peters' small third-grade class and for colleagues who suddenly had to explain her absence to children. The '48 Hours' report is expected to revisit those tense courtroom moments along with some of the investigative exhibits that helped prosecutors secure the convictions.
Legal fallout
Both men were federally charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and murder-for-hire, with federal prosecutors working in coordination with local authorities, according to local reporting. As KFVS reported, the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office agreed to dismiss certain state murder counts against Green as part of the federal plea deal if he received life sentences. Cutler still faces separate state charges that, according to reporting, have not yet been fully resolved.
The episode is listed in TV lineups as part of the current season of '48 Hours' and may feature interviews and court exhibits that have not been widely seen, per TVmaze. Viewers are advised to check local listings for the exact airtime and streaming options, as the report is set to air on CBS on Saturday evening.
