One of two Iowa teens charged with fatally beating their high school Spanish teacher was sentenced Thursday to 35 years in prison with the possibility of parole, officials said.
Willard Miller, 17, stood at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Fairfield where he apologized to the family of the victim, Spanish teacher Nohema Graber, who was 66 when Miller and another teenager, Jeremy Goodale, now 18, killed her on November 2nd. , 2021.
Miller and Goodale were both 16 when they chased Graber to Chautauqua Park, a park she frequented, and beat her to death for giving Miller a bad grade, prosecutors said. The teens pleaded guilty to Graber’s murder and hiding her body under a tarp and wheelbarrow in a wooded area of the park.
“I want to apologize for my actions, first and foremost to the family,” Miller said during the sentencing hearing, which lasted more than seven hours. “I am sincerely sorry for the suffering I have caused you and the devastation I have caused your family.”
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Willard Miller makes a statement to Nohema Graber’s family at his hearing at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Fairfield, Iowa, on Thursday, July 6, 2023. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette via AP)
In his comments, Miller also apologized to the Fairfield community, his own family, Goodale’s family and the police.
“I realize the magnitude of my actions, and I know it’s wrong and I knew it was wrong and yet I persevered,” he continued. “I still did what I did, and I accept responsibility for it.”
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Miller pleaded guilty to the murder in April and, as part of the plea deal, prosecutors recommended that Miller receive a prison sentence of between 30 years and life, with the possibility of parole.
A friend of the family, center, holds hands with Nohema Marie Graber, the daughter of murdered Fairfield High School Spanish teacher Nohema Graber, as they listen to testimony during Willard Miller’s sentencing at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Fairfield , Iowa, on Thursday. July 6, 2023. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette via AP)
Goodale will be sentenced in August, but his lawyers are asking for a stay.
Fairfield is about 100 miles southeast of Des Moines.
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At Thursday’s hearing, court judge Shawn Showers acknowledged Miller’s age, but also noted that he had “cut Nohema Graber’s precious life short,” dealing a blow to her family and community.
“I feel your intentions and actions were sinister and evil. Those acts resulted in the deliberate and brutal loss of life,” Showers said. “There’s no excuse.”
Willard Miller sits with his attorneys during his hearing at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Fairfield, Iowa, Thursday, July 6, 2023. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette via AP)
Several of Graber’s family members read or submitted victim impact statements to the court describing her as a kind, caring woman who was devoted to her family, students, and church.
Goodale testified that he and Miller planned the murder for about two weeks and that they both beat the victim and then hid her body.
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Goodale also testified that the plan was initiated by Miller, who admitted to helping but denied hitting Graber.
The two were charged as adults.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Iowa teen who beat Spanish teacher to death in park and hid body under tarp gets life sentence
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