Judge hears arguments to exclude evidence in murder trial of slain Fairfield teacher

Nov. 2—FAIRFIELD — A judge heard arguments from defense attorneys in an attempt to exclude certain evidence in an upcoming trial for one of two Fairfield teens charged with the first-degree murder of their high school Spanish teacher.

Willard Chaiden Miller, 17, of Fairfield, is being charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder after Fairfield High School Spanish teacher Nohema Graber, 66, was found dead in Chautauqua Park near Fairfield on Nov. 3, 2021. Jeremy Goodale, 17, of Fairfield, is facing the same charges in the case but is being tried separately.

Prosecutors say the teens stalked Graber, then beat her to death with a baseball bat before hiding her body under a tarp, wheelbarrow and railroad ties.

On Wednesday, Miller's defense attorney Nathan Olson argued the evidence was obtained illegally and in violation of the U.S. Constitution by investigators. Judge Shawn Showers said he would make a ruling at a later date.

Olson asked the court to invalidate four search warrants and suppress evidence obtained from Miller's home, which included information authorities took from his cellphone, U.S. Cellular data and Snapchat, as well as statements he made during an in-custody interrogation with police.

Defense attorneys also alleged that officers lied when sharing information with the court to obtain the search warrants. Olson says there were "misstatements" in all four search warrants, which identify Miller as someone involved in Graber's murder. Olson argued there was a lack of probable cause; an insufficient link between the evidence and the location of the search; and a failure to provide sufficient facts to establish the credibility of a "confidential informant" to the magistrate to issue the search warrants.

"How can a magistrate make a probable cause determination when they don't know anything about the person providing information to law enforcement?" Olson said. "Iowa Code requires that law enforcement tell a judge about a confidential informant, or citizen informant."

However, Chauncey Moulding, Jefferson County Attorney, argued an interview with two juvenile informants and law enforcement, along with screenshots of Snapchat conversations between one of the informants and Goodale, implicated both Goodale and Miller in Graber's murder. Moulding says the screenshots of the conversation between the informant and Goodale include details of Goodale and Miller's surveillance of Graber, how she was killed, where her body and her vehicle were located, and how the evidence was disposed of after the crime.

The two informants remain unnamed in the warrants and court documents because they are juveniles, not because they are "confidential informants," according to Moulding. The informants are only referred to by their initials.

"Juvenile J.B. is a man who heard and saw evidence that a homicide was committed," Moulding said. "He knew that there was a missing person. He had in his possession, along with his girlfriend, evidence as to the perpetrator of that crime, and he did the right thing — what somebody is supposed to do when they have evidence of a crime. He went to the police, and he presented that information to the police, and the police investigated it.

"Tarring him with some implication that he is a quote-unquote 'confidential informant,' he's confidential because he's a child, he's a juvenile. This is not somebody whose identity is being kept secret for the purpose of him ratting on his friends ... This is not somebody with a motive or motivation in this case."

Audio and video of the interview between investigators and the two informants, along with the Snapchat screenshots, are currently sealed from public view.

Ryan Kedley, a special agent with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, was called as a witness by the state regarding his interrogation of Miller on Nov. 4, 2021, at the Jefferson County Law Center. Kedley says he began interviewing Miller at approximately 6:41 a.m., and concluded the interview around 9 a.m.

Kedley says he was present when Miller was read his Miranda Rights by another officer prior to his interrogation. Miller read along with the officer from a document that contained the Miranda Rights, in which Miller initialed and then signed. Kedley says Miller did not have questions regarding his rights and did not ask for an attorney or a parent.

Kedley says Miller was "remarkably calm" from the time law enforcement arrived at Miller's home and most of the interview. Scott Brown, assistant attorney general, asked Kedley if Miller appeared to be physically or emotionally uncomfortable during the interview.

"There was a portion midway through the interview where he became very, very emotional, but beyond that, no, there was no level of observed discomfort," Kedley says.

Court documents filed Tuesday revealed investigators found that Miller met with Graber at Fairfield High School on Nov. 2, 2021, to discuss a poor grade he had in her class. In a police interview, Miller described frustrations he had with the way Graber taught Spanish.

"Miller voiced his frustration over Graber hurting his grade point average and thought she was doing that to other students also. He described Graber as an 'asshole,'" court documents say.

Miller then stated he knew Graber drove a Honda van. When asked if he had any involvement in Graber's disappearance, Miller denied any knowledge. Later, Miller stated he knew of everything involving her disappearance but did not participate.

Miller then claimed to investigators he was forced by "a roving group of masked kids" to provide his wheelbarrow to help move Graber's body, according to court documents.

Olson argued Miller did not "validly waive his right to counsel" because his interrogation by law enforcement was done without parental consent and he was not informed that his arrest and interrogation were related to a murder investigation.

Olson asked Kedley if he was aware that Iowa code says, in certain situations, law enforcement have to reach out to a parent to talk to a minor, in which Kedley replied yes. However, when Olson asked if Kedley has to inform a parent of the "crime or delinquent act" their child is being accused of, Kedley said it's dependent on the severity of the crime and if they are 16 years or older.

"We get into the language of forcible felonies and whatnot," Kedley said. "In this case, I do believe a good-faith effort was made to reach out to the defendant's mother for the purpose of notifying her that we wished to speak with her child relative to the investigation."

Miller's mother, Annalisa Clifford Gold, was called as a witness by the defense regarding her encounter with Kedley and law enforcement on Nov. 4, 2021, and the juvenile waiver she signed in relation to Miller's interrogation.

Clifford Gold says she was told that all of Graber's students were being "rounded up" at the law center to figure out why and how Graber disappeared. When asked by Olson if she understood why Miller was being held in custody, she says she thought he was in a room with other students and did not know Graber had been found dead.

When asked by the state, Clifford Gold says she did not see other parents at the law center and "wondered about that."

Clifford Gold says she was told "more than once" by investigators that she could not see Miller at that time. She says she also was not told Miller was a suspect in Graber's murder.

According to Kedley, Clifford Gold signed the Iowa Department of Public Safety's DCI waiver for juveniles 16 and older. Clifford Gold says she was presented the document about 30 minutes after her arrival. She says she could not read the document because she was wearing old glasses she "can drive with, but cannot read with," after she could not find the correct glasses as a result of being "flustered" by police officers in her home that morning.

"When I was given this document, I couldn't read it, and [special agent] Richard Vale explained to me that it just allowed to talk to Chaiden [Miller] and every parent was being asked to sign it so they could talk to all of the students, and they needed the parent's permission to be able to talk to the students. He drew a line on the bottom and made an 'x' in front of me and asked me to sign it," Clifford Gold says.

Clifford Gold says Vale did not discuss the information included in the document, even though she says she told him she could not read it. She says officers "paraphrased that it was to allow them to speak with the students."

According to Clifford Gold, she then called a friend, who is a former police detective, about Miller's situation around 7:13 a.m. While on speakerphone, the friend said "We need to shut down the interrogation now."

"I looked at Trent Vileta and said 'yes, now.' And Trent confirmed 'You want me to shut down the interrogation?' I said 'yes.' He got up, he left the room, he returned a few minutes later ... and he confirmed he shut down the interrogation."

When asked by Olson, Clifford Gold says the interview with Miller "went on for hours ... long after" she asked Vileta to stop.

"Honestly ... I didn't understand the parameters of anything that was going on. Trent just kept saying 'Everything will come clear, we're going to explain it soon enough.' It wasn't until I wasn't allowed to see him that I realized he would personally be in trouble," Clifford Gold says.

The defense will have until Nov. 21 to file a final brief on Wednesday's Franks and suppression hearings. The state will have until Nov. 28.

Currently, Miller's trial is scheduled for March 20, 2023, in Council Bluffs. Goodale's trial is scheduled for Dec. 5, in Davenport, but he has filed a motion for a continuance.

Emily Hawk is the associate editor of the Ottumwa Courier and the Oskaloosa Herald. She can be reached at ehawk@ottumwacourier.com.