One of two Iowa teenagers who murdered their high school Spanish teacher over a bad grade has been sentenced to life in prison.
Willard Miller, 17, was sentenced on Thursday for the murder, and could be eligible for parole after 35 years. His accomplice, Jeremy Goodale, 18, has yet to be sentenced. The two pleaded guilty in April to killing 66-year-old Nohema Graber in November 2021.
At his sentencing, Miller reportedly showed little emotion as District Judge Shawn Showers issued his sentence, the New York Post reported. Showers reportedly said the sentence was appropriate despite Miller’s age because he had “cut Nohema Graber’s precious life short.”
“I find that your intent and actions were sinister and evil. Those acts resulted in the intentional loss of human life in a brutal fashion. There is no excuse. There is not a systemic, societal problem that explains or justifies your actions,” Showers said during sentencing.
Prior to the sentencing, Miller apologized to Graber’s family, along with his own family and that of Goodale.
“I would like to apologize for my actions, first and foremost to the family,” he said, according to the Post. “I am sincerely sorry for the distress I have caused you and the devastation I have caused your family.”
“I’m realizing just the magnitude of my actions, and I know it’s wrong, and I knew it was wrong, and yet I still carried through. I still did what I did, and I accept responsibility for that,” he added.
At the time of the murder, both teens were 16.
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Goodale reportedly testified that Miller had initiated the plan to kill Graber and they both attacked her with a baseball bat.
“On Nov. 2 of 2021, I met Willard Miller at Chautauqua Park, and I understood that he had intent to kill Mrs. Graber,” Goodale said when pleading guilty.
He added that Miller “brought a bat among other supplies to go through with the murder.”
“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,” Goodale added, according to the Post. “Afterwards, we removed any evidence that we could.”
Prosecutors alleged that Miller and Goodale followed Graber to a park where she was known to take daily walks after school and killed her, the Post previously reported.
Earlier that same day, Miller had met with Graber to discuss the low grade she had given him, court documents reviewed by the Post show.
“The poor grade is believed to be the motive behind the murder of Graber which directly connects Miller,” said the court documents, which were filed by Jefferson County Attorney Chauncey Moulding and Assistant Iowa Attorney General Scott Brown.
The next day, Graber’s body was found hidden under a tarp, wheelbarrow, and railroad ties in the park where she had been walking.
Witnesses reportedly told police they saw two males driving Graber’s van away from the park less than an hour after she had arrived for her daily walk. The vehicle was later found abandoned on a rural road. A witness said they picked Miller and Goodale up from that same road, according to court documents.
Miller allegedly told police he was angry about the low grade Graber had given him, which was dragging down his grade point average. The teenager denied killing Graber but “later stated he had knowledge of everything but did not participate,” claiming a “roving group of masked kids” killed his teacher and forced him to hide the body, court documents said.
Meanwhile, Goodale was allegedly bragging about the murder over Snapchat. Police were given photos of a Snapchat conversation where Goodale allegedly indicated he and Miller were involved in Graber’s murder.