A Spanish teacher was murdered with a baseball bat by teenagers after she allegedly gave one of them a "bad grade"
Spanish teacher Nohema Graber was a firm favourite at Fairfield High School in Iowa. She was popular with the students and her colleagues loved how she inspired others to try to achieve their best.
Nohema was born in Mexico and had never been afraid of following her dreams. After graduating, she became a flight attendant – then surprised everyone by studying to be a commercial airline pilot. Nohema would be one of the first women in Mexico who was trained to fly passengers.
After meeting her US-born husband Paul when he was travelling on business, they married and settled in Mexico City. After having their two sons, Christian and Jared, in 1992 they moved to the small town of Fairfield, Iowa, where Paul had spent his childhood. There, they had a daughter, who was also called Nohema. Mum Nohema passed her love of travel and language on to her children and as they blossomed with their own lives, she looked for another challenge.
Nohema Graber, 66, pictured with her two sons. Graber’s eldest son, Christian (right), took to social media to say he forgives his mother’s alleged killers ( Image: Facebook)
In her fifties, Nohema pursued yet another career. She studied for an English degree and a teaching certificate at university. The idea was to be an English teacher but there was a shortage of Spanish teachers at the time, so she secured a job in a nearby school before settling at Fairfield High School. By 2021, Nohema had worked there for a decade. She was known for going the extra mile for the students and loved to have fun. Even after they graduated, students would write grateful cards and send letters years later.
Nohema’s marriage to Paul had ended five years earlier, but they remained close. It was Paul who reported Nohema, then 66, missing on the morning of 3 November 2021 when he couldn’t get hold of her. It triggered a missing person search but, within hours, Nohema’s badly beaten body was found in Fairfield’s Chautauqua Park, where she liked to go walking. She had been hidden under tarpaulin, railroad ties and a wheelbarrow.
Nohema had serious head injuries and experts determined she had been killed the day before. When news of her death spread, people were devastated. She had been days away from her 67th birthday. Several hundred people held a candlelight vigil outside the school to remember her.
No one could understand who would want to hurt Nohema and speculation was rife. Was it racially motivated? She was active in the church and the small but growing Latino community. There were also rumours she had been teased over her accent at school. After just two days, the police announced they had made two arrests.
A senseless act
Nohema’s loved ones were horrified to discover that they were two 16-year-old students who attended Fairfield High School. The teenage boys were held on a $1 million bail. They were named as Willard Miller and Jeremy Goodale and they were accused of first degree murder. Although they were 16 at the time of the crime, it was a felony charge, which means in accordance with Iowa law, they would be tried as adults. What would make two teens kill a popular teacher?
At first, both boys denied any involvement – then they each accused the other of killing Nohema and insisted they had just helped cover it up. Then, in April 2023, in separate hearings, Miller and Goodale both pleaded guilty to murder. While both teens admitted they were there, they both claimed to be the lookout while the other dealt the fatal blows.
According to the state’s version of events, Nohema had driven her van to the park after school on 2 November 2021 for her daily walk. She had parked at around 4pm. At some point during the walk, Miller and Goodale had attacked her, pulling her into woods and hitting her over the head with a baseball bat. They then hid her body and drove her van away around 42 minutes after she’d arrived. Witnesses saw two males driving the vehicle away. They dumped it on a rural road.
The crime scene in Chautauqua Park where Graber was murdered (Image:
Alamy Stock Photo)
According to Goodale, they had been planning the killing for around two weeks. “On 2 November of 2021, I met Willard Miller at Chautauqua Park and I understood that he had intent to kill Mrs Graber,” Goodale’s plea statement said. “After he had struck Nohema Graber, he then moved her off of the trail where I then struck her and she died as a result. Afterwards, we removed any evidence that we could.”
Miller denied striking Nohema but the prosecution said the motive was directly linked to him. Miller had received a bad grade in Nohema’s Spanish class that would harm his grade average and had met her for a discussion about it on the afternoon of 2 November. The F grade meant Miller might miss out on a study abroad opportunity. It appeared that he had recruited Goodale to kill her.
Police had gathered evidence to connect the teens to the killing from mobile phones and their Snapchat chat history, which showed planning and a surveillance of Nohema’s movements. Miller had even taken a wheelbarrow from his home to cover her body.
In July 2023, Miller, then 17, was sentenced. He made a statement. “I would like to apologise for my actions. First and foremost, to the family, I am sincerely sorry for the distress that I caused you and the devastation that I caused your family,” he said.
Years behind bars
The judge said it was only the law that was stopping him giving life without the chance of release. “Your horrific actions led to the death of Nohema Graber and her family will never be able to fill that void,” he said, then sentenced Miller to life with a chance of parole after 35 years.
Four months later, Goodale, then 18, was sentenced. The court heard that Nohema’s ex-husband Paul had died of cancer earlier that year, after delaying treatment due to his grief. Their children lost both parents. Goodale made a statement. “I’m sorry, truly sorry. What I’ve taken can never be replaced,” he said. “Every day I wish I could go back and stop myself, prevent this loss and this pain that I’ve caused everyone.”
The judge said it was clear he was remorseful but noted he was a smart student who could have stopped the killing from happening. Goodale was given life with a chance of parole after 25 years. Both teens were ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution to Nohema’s family.
Nohema’s family in Mexico were deeply moved by how much she was loved in Fairfield. She was a kind soul, who spread warmth and love, and had spent her life trying to make everyone’s lives better.
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