Iowa teenagers beat teacher to death for bad grade

Iowa teen gets life in prison for killing Spanish teacher for bad grades. The sentenced and another teenager tortured the victim with a baseball bat. The edition told in more detail CBS News.

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Willard Miller received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 35 years in prison.

The judge handed down the verdict on Miller after a hearing that lasted more than seven hours.

Miller and another teenager, Jeremy Goodale, pleaded guilty in April to the 2021 attack on Nohema Graber. A 66-year-old teacher was fatally beaten during an afternoon walk in a park in Fairfield.

“I will not gloss over the fact that you and Mr. Goodale ended the precious life of Nohema Graber,” Judge Sean Shoers said when sentencing Miller.

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As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors recommended that Miller be sentenced to 30 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Goodale will be sentenced later.

Prior to his sentencing, Miller stated in court that he took responsibility for the murder and apologized to the Graber family.

“I would like to apologize for my actions, first and foremost to her family,” he said. “I am truly sorry for the suffering I have caused you and the devastation I have caused to your family.”

Miller and Goodale killed Graber on November 2, 2021 in the park where the teacher used to walk after school. Prosecutors said the teenagers, who were 16 at the time, were angry at Graber because of the poor grade she gave Miller.

Consistent with Goodale's agreement to plead guilty, prosecutors recommended a sentence of 25 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Goodale's sentencing is scheduled for August, but his lawyers are seeking a postponement of the hearing.

The hearing focused on investigators, who described how officers found Graber's body. They also spoke about the social media posts that led them to the interrogation and later arrest of Miller and Goodale.

Prosecutors played back recordings of police interrogations of both teenagers and showed photographs of the crime scene, including graphic images of Graber's body.

Iowa Criminal Investigation Division agent Trent Vileta recalls how police found Graber's body under a tarp in Chautauqua Park. On top of the tarpaulin lay a wheelbarrow and a railway sleeper, making it difficult to see the body, only a boot and an arm were visible.

Pulling back part of the tarpaulin, Vileta said that Graber's only serious injury was a dangerous head wound.

Under interrogation, Miller initially said that he knew nothing about Graber's disappearance, but later admitted that he saw people carrying her body in the park.

Miller ultimately said he was in the park at the time of the murder, provided "materials used in the commission of the murder" and helped cover up the crime, court documents say. At the time, he did not confess to Graber's murder.

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Investigators studied social media exchanges between Miller and Goodale in which they discussed specific details of the crime.

“Details included, but were not limited to Graber's motive for killing, the planning and use of the means of murder, and deliberate attempts to cover up the crime,” the case file says.

Goodale previously testified that he and Miller planned the murder for about two weeks and both stabbed the victim and then hid her body. According to him, Miller initiated this plan. Miller admitted that he only helped, but denied hitting Graber.

Both are charged as adults, but due to their ages, they cannot be sentenced to life in prison without parole for first-degree murder. Miller is now 17 and Goodale is 18.

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