Iowa teens beat Spanish teacher to death with baseball bat over bad grade, court docs say
Two Iowa teens accused of bludgeoning their Spanish teacher to death with a baseball bat did it for revenge over a bad grade, according to new court documents.
The documents, filed Tuesday ahead of a hearing scheduled for Wednesday, for the first time revealed a possible motive in the brutal murder of Nohema Graber, a 66-year-old educator at Fairfield High, where both suspects were once students. Jeremy Goodale and his friend, Willard Miller, were just 16 when they allegedly beat Graber to death on Nov. 2, 2021.
Earlier the same day, Miller met with Graber to discuss a poor mark he recently received on a Spanish test. The teen later told police he had been frustrated with the way Graber taught her class and even more angry about how the low grade would affect his overall GPA.
Graber’s beaten body was found on Nov. 3, 2021, tucked beneath a tarp, and hidden under a wheelbarrow and railroad ties at Chautauqua Park, where she was enjoyed one of her daily walks. Witnesses said they spotted her van leaving the park about an hour after she arrived but with two males in the front seat, according to court documents.
The boys abandoned the vehicle at the end of a rural road, and from there, walked until they were picked up by another driver, witnesses said.
“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.
While Miller initially denied any involvement, he “later stated he had knowledge of everything but did not participate,” according to court documents. He claimed that the real murderers — a “roving group of masked kids” — forced him to provide his wheelbarrow to help move Graber’s body and ordered him to stash her van.
Authorities initially homed in on the pair of teens after Goodale bragged about about killing the teacher on Snapchat. According to police, the teen implicated both himself and Miller in his posts, which detailed how they stalked and attacked Graber before dumping her body. They were later arrested and charged with first degree-murder.
Both teens, now 17, will be tried as adults. In Iowa, the penalty for a first-degree murder conviction is life in prison, though state Supreme Court rulings require juveniles convicted of even the most serious crimes to be granted a chance for parole.
Miller is scheduled for trial on March 20 in Council Bluffs, and Goodale’s trial is Dec. 5 in Davenport.
With News Wire Services
