Teens admit beating high school teacher to death with bat in 'low grades row'
Two Iowa teenagers have pleaded guilty to first degree murder after a female high school teacher was brutally beaten to death.
The attack is believed to possibly be in relation to a dispute over grades in 66-year-old Spanish teacher Nohema Graber's class.
Ms Graber taught at Fairfield High School in Fairfield, Iowa.
Willard Miller and Jeremy Goodale both changed their pleas to guilty on Tuesday, April 18, admitting helping to kill the teacher.
Prosecutors say evidence shows the pair struck Ms Graber with a bat.
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Miller admitted helping to plan and carry out the killing but has denied hitting the teacher.
Jeremy Goodale, 18, has pleaded also guilty to first degree murder (Facebook)
Willard Miller, 17, has pleaded guilty to first degree murder in relation to the death of Spanish teacher Noehma Graber (Facebook)Her body was found in a Fairfield park in November 2021, hidden under a tarpaulin, wheelbarrow and railroad ties.
Prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence ranging from 30 years to life in prison with the possiblity of parole as part of an agreement with Miller.
They said they would recommend a sentence between 25 years and life with the possiblity of parole for Goodale.
Goodale previous agreed to testify against Miller at his trial, which was due to begin later this week.
Both were charged as adults due to the severity of the crime, but were not subject to a mandatory sentence of life without parole due to them being just 16 at the time Ms Graber was killed. Miller is now 17 and Goodale 18.
Willard Miller talks with his attorney Nathan Olson while standing beside his other attorney, Christine Branstad, during a hearing, in Fairfield, Iowa (Kyle Ocker/AP/REX/Shutterstock)Investigators say Miller met with Ms Graber at the high school on the afternoon of November 2, 2021, to discuss his poor grades in her class.
Ms Graber later drove her van to a park where she was known to take walks after school daily, according to authorities.
Witnesses saw her van leaving the park less than an hour later with two males in the front seat. The van was left at the end of a rural road.
After being called by Goodale a witness later picked up Goodale and Miller as they walked to town along that road, according to investigators.
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In a police interview, Miller described frustrations he had with the way Ms Graber taught Spanish, and how the grade her received in her class was lowering his grade point average.
Willard Miller is led into a courtroom this year (Kyle Ocker/AP/REX/Shutterstock)Investigators cited evidence from Goodal's Snapchat history, which was shown to authorities after the murder by a witness who knew the teens.
In Snapchat messages Goodale revealed he and Miller "were involved in the planning, execution and disposal of evidence" in the murder.
Messages also showed how the pair had "surveilled" Graber, also providing additional details about how they killed her, disposed of her body and covered up evidence.
"We're glad the defendants have taken responsibility for the crime they committed and look forward to making sure justice is done at sentencing," Jefferson County Attorney Chauncey Moulding said after the hearings, reported the Des Moines Register.
The town of Fairfield, Iowa, is home to around 9,400 people and lies around 100 miles (160 kilometres) south east of Des Moines.
An 'absolute angel'
Graber's family was reportedly in the courtroom for Tuesday's plea, April 18.
She was just days away from her 67th birthday when she was killed. Graber moved to Fairfield, the hometown of her then-husband Paul, in the 1990s, earning an English degree from Iowa Wesleyan University in 2006.
Nohema Graber's body was discovered in November 2021 in a Fairfield park (Facebook)She taught Spanish at Ottumwa High School in 2012, before moving onto Fairfield High School.
Graber's said to have had three adult children, and was also survived by several siblings and multiple nephews and nieces.
Her family called her an "absolute angel", and thanked her for "instilling a love of travel and languages" in the family.
Her daughter posted a tribute to Facebook saying: "We had the wonderful fortune of growing up in a home filled with such an abundance of warmth and love."
She went on to say: "I will miss her loud laugh and dancing with her to any music that was playing, she had so muhc joy in her eyes and such a deep sense of faith."
Graber's ex-husband's brother, Tom Graber, said after the sentencing: "We're glad the defendants have pleaded guilty.
"We're disappointed that one is not, still, owning up to his full role, but he has at least pleaded guilty, and we look forward to sentencing."
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