Willard Miller was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 35 years in prison for murdering his Spanish teacher Nohema Graber. (Screenshot of Miller: KCRG; image of Graber: City of Fairfield, Iowa)
A teenager who beat his Spanish teacher to death for giving him a bad grade was sentenced to life in prison for the murder. Under the terms of a plea deal, prosecutors in Jefferson County, Iowa, asked that Willard Noble Chaiden Miller, 17, get life in prison with a minimum sentence of 30 years. Judge Shawn Showers, however, did not have to stick to the letter of that. He set the minimum sentence at 35 years.
The jurist said that the bedrock of the criminal justice system was deterrence and rehabilitation, and he acknowledged the defendant’s youth. But Miller’s decision to murder Nohema Graber, 66, was “horrific” in light of the behavior and motivation, the judge said.
“And ultimately, while acknowledging your youth and developing brain, I find that your intent and actions were sinister and evil,” Showers said.
The judge voiced hope that Miller, who was 16 when carrying out the crime with co-defendant Jeremey Everett Goodale, would reflect on what he did and grow as a person. Even so, he called out the 17-year-old’s “arrogance” for claiming to have a higher IQ than most of the jail staff. Showers suggested this attitude could be because of his age or it could be a matter of Miller’s set personality.
Miller, and Goodale, now 18, had stalked Graber, to figure out her patterns, learned she took daily walks at Chautauqua Park after leaving Fairfield High School, and then, on Nov. 2, 2021, ambushed her and left her body under a tarp and wheelbarrow. The defendants both pleaded guilty to first-degree murder but told contradictory stories. Goodale previously told the court both of them fatally beat Graber. He served as a lookout while Miller struck her first in the back of the head, then they moved her off trail, where Goodale struck her. But Miller asserted in court that he never struck her. He maintained that he served as a lookout while Goodale hit Graber.
At the end of the day, the only meaningful difference in criminal court is that before the guilty pleas, Goodale had agreed to testify against his co-defendant. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to ask that he serve only a 25-year minimum sentence in contrast to requesting a 30-year minimum for Miller.
It was Miller’s vendetta over his failing grade that sparked this entire tragedy. He and his mother visited the victim about his bad grade earlier on the day of the murder. Goodale had previously taken Graber’s course and had done “pretty well,” testified Trent Vileta, a special agent for the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. Even so, Goodale participated in the killing.
According to testimony, Goodale sent another friend graphic Snapchat messages that detailed the Graber murder and also implicated Miller, Vileta said. This included Goodale admitting that he and another person beat Graber with a baseball bat. She gave the wrong student a failing grade in Spanish, the Snapchat messages said.
Evidence recovered from the defendants’ homes included one bat from Miller’s residence, and two bats and bloodied clothing from Goodale’s home. Investigators also obtained Miller’s cellphone, which featured suspicious searches asking what would happen to a student’s grades when a teacher dies in the middle of a school term.
The teenagers planned the murder for up to about two weeks, according to testimony. Miller said that if Graber turned up missing the next couple of weeks to not contact the police, according to testimony. The plotting included Goodale writing a prep email and discussing the items he would need for the murder.
Goodale’s then-girlfriend told investigators she had been at the park that day, and met with Goodale at around 4 p.m. She saw Miller walk down the path toward where the assault happened, according to law enforcement testimony. Goodale told her to leave.
Her last view of Goodale was him running toward where the attack would have taken place.
The victim’s family spoke glowingly of Graber as a devoted educator, and a beloved mother and wife. They said the murder contributed to the ensuing death of her husband, Paul Graber, who lived with severe diabetes and had previously gotten a kidney transplant.
“Paul was deeply and understandably depressed by the murder of Nohema,” said Paul’s brother Tom Graber, who added that Paul Graber had died last week of metastatic cancer that would have been caught way sooner if Graber had been there. She would not have let her husband ignore the symptoms he began to experience in late 2022, Tom Graber said. But Paul Graber, depressed over his wife’s death, delayed seeking treatment until the end of March.
Tom and Paul Graber’s other brothers had to almost forcibly take Paul Graber to the hospital twice: first, in January 2022 because of a serious bout of COVID-19; and the second time was because Paul Graber experienced a near-fatal spike of potassium after essentially ceasing to eat or drink for days this spring.
Paul Graber experienced vivid dreams in which he saw Nohema Graber, and she gave him signs, which he interpreted as meaning his time was drawing near.
Tom Graber called out Miller for cowardly sneaking up on Graber and hitting her in the head with a baseball bat, and for refusing to admit in court to striking her. He demanded a heavy sentence in light of the motive.
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Speaking before victim impact statements on Thursday, Miller said he “wholeheartedly” accepted responsibility and voiced an apology from the “bottom of my heart” to Graber’s family and her church. He also apologized to his family and the Goodale family for the situation that his co-defendant was in.
The teen who admitted to killing his Spanish teacher over a bad grade spoke in court and apologized before he was sentenced for the crime. “I know what I did was wrong,” #WillardMiller said. pic.twitter.com/QlfkIXta6D
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) July 6, 2023
That apology fell flat.
“Willard Chaiden Miller has shown no remorse,” Tom Graber said. “He certainly didn’t on the night of the murder. Instead, he went home, did homework, had dinner with family. Just another routine day.”
“While the defendant is remorseful for his current situation,” said Showers, “there has been little remorse shown by Mr. Miller for Nohema Graber, her family.”
Goodale is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 23
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