Hunter
10/12/24
A Fairfield teen who pleaded guilty to murdering his high school Spanish teacher because of a dispute over his grade won’t be eligible for parole until he serves 35 years in prison.
The Iowa Supreme Court reaffirmed the sentence Friday for Willard Miller.
He and his co-conspirator Jeremy Goodale were both 16 when charged with the November 3, 2021 murder of 66-year-old Nohema Graber. Several classmates approached police to show Snapchat messages, allegedly by Goodale, implicating himself and Miller in the killing.
Goodale testified that Miller planned the murder and asked Goodale to assist. Miller hit her in the head with a baseball bat, and Goodale said he hit her again when Miller’s blow failed to kill her.
Miller was sentenced last year to life in prison with a mandatory minimum number of years served, but he appealed, claiming it’s unconstitutional to sentence him to a minimum term before parole eligibility because he was a juvenile at the time of the murder.
The state Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the district court’s decision, finding that the court’s precedent explicitly allows mandatory minimums for juvenile offenders so long as the unique factors of their case are considered.
Goodale was previously sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole after 25 years.