Teacher used school funds to pay hitman to kill his pregnant lover

When Jocelyn Peters bought potatoes, she didn't know one would be used to help murder her

- GAIL SHORTLAND

Jocelyn Peters was seven months pregnant and couldn't wait for her baby boy to arrive. As she sat on her bed, writing baby shower invitations, she pictured the family she was building with her boyfriend, Cornelius Green, and the future they'd have together.

Green was a principal at Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School in St Louis, Missouri. He'd been married when they met, but he had insisted he was getting a divorce and that's what Jocelyn had told her family.

Jocelyn, who had recently turned 30, was a third-grade teacher at Horace Mann Elementary School in St Louis. She was popular and a natural with the young students. Everyone knew she was going to be an amazing mum, but it hadn't been an easy road.

Sadly, Jocelyn had already suffered a miscarriage, and when she'd fallen pregnant again, Green had persuaded her to have an abortion. But she was determined to be a mum this time and had already named her baby boy Micah Leigh.

WEB OF LIES

It was March 2016 and Jocelyn was weeks away from giving birth. She had her own apartment in St Louis and Green lived nearby. It's understandable that Jocelyn had plans to live with Green after the baby arrived but she had no idea he was hiding something from her.

Jocelyn wasn't the only woman in Green's life. Not only was he not getting a divorce, he was seeing several other women. One, like Jocelyn, also believed they were building a serious life together.

Green had avoided being caught out as Jocelyn's first two pregnancies hadn't resulted in a baby - but with Micah well on his way, Green's secrets were about to be revealed. Green was a married man and a principal at a school. The affair was undoubtedly going to cause a scandal.