Naman Shrestha
CBS’ ’48 Hours: Jocelyn Peters and the Notebook’ chronicles the 2016 murder of third-grade teacher Jocelyn Peters in St. Louis, Missouri, and the investigation that ensued. The baffling case rocked the entire community as the detectives followed a trail of clues, which ultimately led to the killer, Phillip Cutler. Upon further investigation, it turned out that he was hired by his childhood friend and Jocelyn’s boyfriend, Cornelius Green, to carry out the killing.
Phillip Cutler Killed Jocelyn Peters and Her Unborn Child at Cornelius Green’s Instructions
Phillip Cutler had met Cornelius Green in his childhood days and maintained a close friendship into adulthood, despite living in separate states. Around February 2016, Phillip, who was based in Muskogee, Oklahoma, was contacted by his longtime friend regarding the murder of his pregnant girlfriend, Jocelyn Delores Peters. By then, Cornelius Green, the principal of Carr Lane Visual Performing Arts School, had tried poisoning her and her unborn child by mixing crushed pills in her oatmeal or yogurt. When his attempt didn’t succeed, he hired Phillip as his hitman to commit the murder.
Over the following days and weeks, the two men conversed over phone calls and planned the crime. On March 7, 2016, Phillip received his $2,500 fee in a UPS package sent by Cornelius. A few days prior to the killing, the Oklahoma resident traveled to St. Louis and was given the keys to his friend’s car and Jocelyn’s apartment. While Cornelius headed to Chicago by train, the hitman drove to the woman’s apartment in the 4200 block of West Pine Boulevard around 3 am on March 24, 2016, and entered using the keys Cornelius had provided. Using a potato as a silencer, he then shot Jocelyn in the head while she was asleep.
A few hours later, Phillip informed the principal that he had carried out the deed, after which he went to North River Front Park to get rid of the evidence. After Cornelius reported the murder to the police, the hitman was soon linked to the crime while he was trying to retrieve the car from the crime scene. When the investigators dug deeper into Phillip’s cell phone records, they placed him near Jocelyn’s apartment. Not long after the homicide, Phillip was taken into custody and interrogated about the crime. During the interrogation, the killer ate two pieces of paper when he was told that he was being detained. In June 2016, he was charged with two counts of armed criminal action and two counts of first-degree murder.
Phillip Cutler is Currently Incarcerated at a Texas Prison Facility
Nearly eight years later, around March 2024, Phillip Cutler stood trial for his involvement in the murders of Jocelyn Peters and her unborn child. During the trial, he admitted he drew inspiration from a scene in the 1992 movie ‘South Central,’ in which a character also uses a potato as a silencer. After several days of back-and-forth between the prosecution and defense, the jury deliberated before reaching a final verdict. On March 19, 2024, the defendant was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and the murder-for-hire of the third-grade teacher in 2016.
About three months later, on June 18, Phillip was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for his crime, with the judge calling his crime the “most heinous” he had seen in his career. After his sentencing, he and his defense counsel filed a motion to get his murder conviction overturned. However, in December 2025, the Court of Appeals denied his appeal and upheld his conviction. As of today, the 45-year-old killer is serving his sentence at the United States Penitentiary Beaumont in Beaumont, Texas.
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