Two Iowa teenagers plead guilty to ambushing and beating their Spanish teacher to death

Two teenage boys pleaded guilty Tuesday to ambushing and beating to death a Spanish teacher with a baseball bat after a confrontation over a bad grade.

Willard Miller and Jeremy Goodale were charged with first-degree murder for the murder of Fairfield High School teacher Nohema Graber, 66, on November 3, 2021.

The teens were both 16 years old at the time of the incident that shook the small town of Fairfield, Iowa and its population of about 9,400.

Miller previously denied ever hitting Graber, despite admitting that he helped plan and carry out the murder, which happened after a meeting between them about a class.

He pleaded guilty in court on Tuesday to wearing an orange jumpsuit and a suicide prevention vest ahead of his trial later this week, before Goodale appeared in a white and gray striped jumpsuit and made the same plea.

“We are pleased that the defendants have taken responsibility for the crime they committed and look forward to ensuring that justice is served at sentencing,” Jefferson County Attorney Chauncey Molding said after the hearings.

Jeremy Goodale, 18, also pleaded guilty. Prosecutors have recommended several decades to life in prison for both teens

Nohema Graber, 66, was a respected educator in Fairfield, Iowa prior to her brutal murder

Both teens will be tried as adults due to the seriousness of the crime.

Prosecutors are recommending that Miller, now 17, receive a prison sentence of 30 years to life with eligibility for parole after 30 years, while Goodale, now 18, receives 25 years to life with eligibility for parole after 25 years.

According to court documents filed by the prosecution, the teens allegedly grabbed Graber during her daily afternoon walk in Chautauqua Park.

They dragged her into the woods and beat her to death with a baseball bat.

Graber’s body was eventually found in a city park, hidden under a tarpaulin, wheelbarrow and sleepers.

Prosecutors say evidence shows that both teens beat Graber with the bat, but the pair had different accounts of the assault.

In late March, Goodale agreed to testify against Miller, saying it was his friend who had masterminded the plan to kill Graber, and that they had both beaten her.

Witnesses saw Graber’s van leave the park on the day of the murder with two men in the front seat. The vehicle was abandoned at the end of a rural road.

Details of the alleged murder shocked the community and sent many into a state of mourning over the loss of the revered educator and leader among the city’s small but growing Latino community.

Graber’s family was in court on Tuesday for the teens’ plea. Their lover was just days before her 67th birthday when she was murdered.

Born in Mexico, she worked as a flight attendant for a national airline before becoming a teacher in America.

Graber’s son and daughter both took to social media after the murder to say they forgive the teenage attackers.

The pair were charged as adults due to the seriousness of the crime

Graber’s family was in court on Tuesday for the teens’ plea. Their lover was just days before her 67th birthday when she was murdered

Her son Christian wrote, “I’m sorry I can’t reply to all messages, but I’ll just say what I’ve been told. My mother passed away.

“As I understand it was an attempted murder by two students. I forgive them and am sorry they had that anger in their hearts.

“There’s no point in being mad at them. We must hope that they can find peace in their lives.

“My mother was an angel of a woman and was one of the kindest souls.

Her daughter daughter Nohema Marie wrote: ‘We have lost an absolute angel in our family.

“It is all thanks to her for instilling my love of travel and languages ​​that my brothers and I have continued to experience the world throughout our lives.

“We were very lucky to grow up in a home full of warmth and love.”