Iowa Teen Is Sentenced to Life in Prison for Killing His Teacher over a Poor Grade

• 66-year-old Nohema Graber, a Spanish teacher from Iowa, was brutally killed by two students due to a bad mark they received from her.
• One of the murderers, Willard Miller, was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday, while his co-defendant Jeremy Goodale will face his fate in August.
• Graber’s husband also died just a day before Miller was sentenced.

A Spanish teacher from a small town in Iowa was tragically killed by two of her students for giving them a bad grade. Nohema Graber, a 66-year-old mother of two, was beaten to death by teenagers Willard Miller and his co-defendant Jeremy Goodale on November 2, 2023.

Miller pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in April. At the time of the murder, Miller and Goodale were 16 and were charged as adults.

On Thursday, Miller faced his fate and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole at least after he has served 35 years. His co-defendant will be sentenced in August.

In addition to his life sentence, Miller had to pay $150,000 in restitution costs to the Graber family. When the now 18-year-old faced the judge, his defense argued for him not to be charged as an adult as he was still 16 when he killed Graber.

However, Judge Shawn Showers did not entertain those arguments. Showers said, “Evil does not have a birthday.” In addition, the 66-year-old’s family members did not think Miller showed any remorse for his actions.

Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agent Trent Vileta said the teacher’s body was hidden under a tarp and covered with a wheelbarrow with only a shoe and hand visible.

On the day of his sentencing, Miller apologized to the community and the family he victimized. He said, “I am sincerely sorry for the distress I have caused you and the devastation I have caused your family.”

However, his life sentence in prison made him realize that he would be growing up behind bars, and to that, Miller expressed, “I don’t want to be institutionalized so long that I forget who I am and where I come from.”

When the police interviewed Miller, he expressed frustrations with how Graber taught Spanish. When she marked his paper down, it lowered his average; therefore, the 16-year-old was worried he would lose out on scholarships and getting into US colleges.

Graber had worked at Fairfield High School since 2012 and was essential to building and representing the Latino community in the small town.

The Graber family suffered two significant losses. The 66-year-old’s husband died just a few days shy of Miller’s life sentence.

The relatives mentioned that he died early due to the heartbreak of losing his wife. Graber’s husband was buried a day before the Thursday sentence. Their daughter, Marie, shared a heartfelt Facebook caption of both her parents’ deaths.

When it came to her 66-year-old mother, Graber’s daughter kept her message very positive. She expressed how grateful she was to have grown up with a mother that exposed them to different languages and many life lessons.

Marie said she would miss her mother’s loud laugh and dancing but continued to be grateful to have been raised by a strong woman. To the two teenagers that took Graber’s life, she has chosen not to put out any anger but work on forgiving them, as her brother advised.

The daughter chose to celebrate the amazing things about her mother and the life she led instead of dwelling on how tragically her life was taken. She also extended her thanks for the beautiful messages she received about her mother and how much she impacted so many lives.

She wrote, “And from the outpouring of messages, it’s incredibly touching to know that her presence impacted so many. What a blessing she is; we know that her soul lives on in heaven.”

The proud daughter also had many good things to say about her father. Marie was by his side when he took his last breath. She said her hand was on his heart until it stopped.

Even though he could hardly speak, Marie knew he was aware of everything happening. When she cried at the sight of her sick father, he put out his hand to comfort her.

“The day before his death, I had greeted him with ‘hi dad,’ and he had responded in a faint whisper ‘hi sweetheart,’ these were his last words.” revealed the daughter. Despite how painful it had been to lose both parents, she knows that her father is happy to be reunited with her mother, and she’s rejoicing with them.

Marie was grateful to have experienced life with her loving parents. She will forever be thankful for them and continue to think about them daily.

She ended the caption, writing, “I feel incredibly blessed to be the daughter of such wonderful people. I can already feel both their love residing permanently in my heart.”

We send the Graber our condolences for their losses and wish them strength as they heal and navigate their grief. Here’s another story about a teacher that was brutally killed and left his family behind.