Nohema Graber Spanish Iowa teacher killed over bad grades by Fairfield High School students, Willard Miller and Jeremy Goodale say prosecutors in new motive.
Two Iowa high schoolers allegedly killed their Spanish teacher last year as retribution for a bad grade the educator gave one of the teens in her class, prosecutors revealed Tuesday in court documents.
Willard Miller and Jeremy Goodale were arrested and charged with first degree murder of their 66-year-old teacher Nohema Graber in the town of Fairfield on Nov. 2, 2021.
Miller had met with Graber at Fairfield High School to discuss his poor grade in her class on the afternoon of her murder. Students told investigators of overhearing an argument with one of the boys pleading with the teacher to up his grade only for the educator to refuse.
Later that day, the teacher drove her van to a park where she was known to take daily walks after school, authorities said.
A day later, Graber’s badly beaten body was found hidden under a tarp, wheelbarrow and railroad ties in the park.
Upset over bad grade that was lowering overall GPA
Investigators believe Miller and Goodale, who were both 16 years old at the time, beat her to death with a baseball bat — and later bragged about it on social media.
Miller told police he had been frustrated with the way Graber taught Spanish and was angry that the low grade she gave him was lowering his overall GPA.
‘The poor grade is believed to be the motive behind the murder of Graber which directly connects Miller,’ court documents filed by Jefferson County Attorney Chauncey Moulding and Assistant Iowa Attorney General Scott Brown said.
Miller denied any involvement in his teacher’s death but ‘later stated he had knowledge of everything but did not participate’ — claiming a ‘roving group of masked kids’ killed Graber and forced him to get rid of the body, according to court documents.
Previous reports cited students of Graber admitting she taught a ‘tough’ class.
Told former Fairfield student, Sawyer Mast, ‘… not all of us likes Spanish, it was a hard class… yet in reality she was one of the best teachers and she held you to her standards.’
Witnesses spotted two males driving Graber’s van out of the park less than an hour after the teacher arrived. The van was abandoned at the end of a rural road and a witness picked up the two teenage boys as they walked along the same road, investigators said.
Will judge suppress Snapchat evidence?
Goodale allegedly bragged about the murder to a friend on Snapchat. A witness provided photos of a Snapchat conversation with the teen that implicated himself and Miller by name in Graber’s killing.
Miller’s attorney Christine Branstad, however, said four search warrants were issued illegally and is asking the court to invalidate all four and suppress evidence from Snapchat, as well as her client’s home, comments he made to the police and information taken from his cellphone.
A judge will hear arguments on whether to suppress any of the evidence Wednesday.
Both boys, who are now 17, will be tried as adults. Miller’s trial is scheduled to begin on March 20 in Council Bluffs and Goodale’s trial is set to begin Dec. 5 in Davenport.
