2023-07-06 22:46:00
The judge sentenced Willard Miller following a lengthy hearing.
What did Willard Miller do?
Miller and another teenager, Jeremy Goodale, had pleaded guilty in April to the 2021 attack on Nohema Graber, a 66-year-old Spanish teacher who was killed while taking her usual followingnoon walk through a park in the city of Fairfield.
The youths committed the murder because the teacher had given Miller a bad grade.
Authorities claimed that the youths bragged regarding the murder through “extremely graphic” messages on Snapchat, according to Agent Trent Vileta, of the Iowa Criminal Investigation Division.
As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors had recommended that Miller receive a sentence of between 30 years and life in prison, with the possibility of parole. Goodale will be sentenced at a later date.
Young men accused of killing their Spanish teacher in Iowa plead guilty: they might face life in prison
Before his sentencing, Miller declared Thursday that he accepted responsibility for the murder and apologized to Graber’s family.
“First of all, I would like to apologize to the family for my actions,” he said. “I am sincerely sorry for the suffering I have caused you and the devastation I have caused your family.”
Family members remember the teacher as a “kind, caring and dedicated” woman.
Ten of Graber’s family members read or submitted statements before the verdict, describing the teacher as a kind, caring woman who was dedicated to her family, students and church.
Several also blamed Miller and Goodale for the recent death of Graber’s husband, Paul, who suffered from cancer but delayed treatment amid his depression over the murder.
“I hope you open your soul to the Lord and maybe ask for forgiveness there first because you’re spiraling right into hell,” Graber’s brother-in-law, Jim Graber, said as he looked at Miller.
“Not only was Nohema robbed of some of the best years of her life, her murder took Paul Graber away from the love of his life and certainly hastened his untimely death,” said Tom Graber, another of the relatives.
Who was Nohema Graber?
Graber, who was born in Mexico, was remembered as a highly respected teacher in the city and leader of a small but growing Latino community.
She had taught Spanish at Fairfield High School since 2012. Fairfield Schools Superintendent Lauri Noll said she “touched the lives of many students, parents and staff at the school.”
Graber’s tragic death shocked the community. “We had students who were scared to death to come to class, teachers who didn’t want to teach out of concerns for their own safety,” Fairfield police officer Julie Kinsella testified Thursday of the impact on the community. “I don’t think our community will ever be the same once more. I think it has devastated us.”
Poor grade would be the reason why two young people murdered their Spanish teacher in Iowa, according to authorities
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