Two Iowa teens accused of killing their 66-year-old Spanish teacher have pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.
Willard Miller and Jeremy Goodale, both 17, admitted to participating in the brutal beating of Fairfield High School teacher Nohema Graber on 2 November 2021. The teens made their guilty pleas at separate hearings on Tuesday, KCRG reported.
Goodale and Miller, then aged 16, beat Graber to death with a baseball bat out of frustration over a bad grade. Miller’s last-minute plea change comes just days before his trial was set to begin, The Livingston Enterprise reported.
Meanwhile, Goodale’s trial was scheduled for next month. Prosecutors suggested a sentence between 30 years and life in prison for Miller, and between 25 years and life in prison for Goodale.
According to court filings, Miller met with his Spanish teacher on the afternoon of the murder. The meeting was held to discuss the low grade he had received in her class.
The teenager allegedly told police that he was angry that Graber had given him a poor grade, which was lowering his overall grade point average (GPA).
Later that day, Graber drove after school to the park — where she would always go on her daily walk.
She left her vehicle at around 4pm in the parking lot and at some point during her walk, the pair of teens ambushed her with a baseball bat and dealt the fatal blows.
Her badly beaten body was found hidden under a tarp, railroad ties and a wheelbarrow in Chautauqua Park hours after she was reported missing.
Two days after her body was found, police announced the arrests of two 16-year-old suspects.
Miller and Goodale, students at Fairfield High School, were charged with murder in the first degree and conspiracy to commit forcible felony.
Witnesses then saw Graber’s van leaving the park approximately 42 minutes after she had arrived – being driven away by two males in the front seat. The van was later found at the end of a rural road.
Filings state that a call was placed from Goodale’s phone to a witness, who picked the two suspects up from the same road.
Although Miller denied having any involvement in his teacher’s disappearance and death, he allegedly “later stated he had knowledge of everything but did not participate.” Prosecutors said the evidence suggests both teens took part in the brutal attack.
Investigators have cited evidence from Goodale’s Snapchat history, which a witness who knew the teens showed to authorities after the murder.
In the Snapchat messages, Goodale revealed that the two defendants “were involved in the planning, execution and disposal of evidence” in Graber’s murder. Snapchat messages also show how the pair had “surveilled” Graber and provided additional details about how they killed her, disposed of her body and covered up evidence.
Both Miller and Goodale were set to be tried as adults over the murder. While they were both aged 16 at the time of the killing, in Iowa law anyone 16 or over charged with a forcible felony is automatically waived to adult court and is subject to the same criminal procedures and penalties as adults.
They now face life in prison. However, Iowa law does dictate that juvenile offenders — even those accused of the most heinous and serious crimes — must be given an opportunity for parole.
