(Photo : Getty Images/Scott Olson)
Prosecutors said in court records released on Tuesday that two Iowa teens killed their high school Spanish teacher out of resentment over a poor grade.
According to prosecutors' Tuesday filings in court, two high school students in Iowa killed their Spanish teacher last year in revenge over a bad grade she gave one of the students in her class.
For the first time since Willard Miller and Jeremy Goodale were apprehended and accused of killing their 66-year-old teacher Nohema Graber in the small hamlet of Fairfield on November 2, 2021, the new information shed light on a potential reason.
Teens Abducted, Killed Spanish Teacher in Iowa
On the afternoon of her death, Miller and Graber had a talk at Fairfield High School to discuss about his subpar grade in her class, according to the investigation. Later that day, according to officials, the teacher drove her van to a park where she was known to go for daily walks after school.
Graber's brutally battered body was discovered in the park the following day, concealed beneath a tarp, a wheelbarrow, and railroad ties. Investigators believe that Miller and Goodale, both 16 at the time, boasted about what they did to the Spanish teacher online, NY Post reported.
Miller admitted to the police that he had been unhappy with the way Graber had taught Spanish and that the poor grade she had given him had affected his GPA in general. Miller's attorney is requesting that four search warrants be declared unconstitutional and that information gleaned from Miller's house, his statements to police, his cellphone, and the social media platform Snapchat be suppressed.
With a baseball bat, Graber had been beaten to death, as per NBC New York. Less than an hour later, witnesses spotted the Spanish teacher's van leaving the park with two men seated in the front seats. At the end of a rural highway, the vehicle was abandoned. A witness later picked up Goodale and Miller as they walked to town on that road after receiving a call from Goodale, according to police.
Iowa Teens to be Tried as Adults
Miller first denied having any part in Graber's disappearance, but, according to court records, the student "eventually indicated he had knowledge of everything but did not participate." He informed authorities that he was compelled to use his wheelbarrow to help transfer her body and to drive her van out of the park by the real killers, a "roving group of masked youngsters."
In part, because "law enforcement failed to provide information to the issuing magistrate to show the informant is reliable or that the information from the informant should be considered reliable," search warrants were issued without proper justification, according to Miller's attorney Christine Branstad.
Miller's trial is set for March 20, 2023 in Council Bluffs, while Goodale's is set for December 5, 2022 in Davenport. Miller told investigators that he participated in the murder, according to court documents from the time that described the gravity of the damning criminal allegations against the two Iowa teens.
Per Daily Mail, Miller admitted during the questioning that he had been in the park when Graber was killed and had even assisted in concealing the body, according to the police. Although detectives have not yet identified the person they believe battered the teacher to death, Goodale was reportedly seen wearing bloody clothing.
Documents also showed that a friend of both Miller and Goodale gave specifics of their social media conversations, which showed that Goodale knew precise facts about Graber's abduction and killing.
Following the execution of a search warrant, Jefferson County police searched Goodale's home and discovered "several clothing items appearing to have a substance consistent in appearance with that of blood," according to the complaint. A first-degree murder conviction carries a life sentence in prison in Iowa. Juveniles convicted of even the most heinous crimes in Iowa must be offered a chance at parole.
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