‘HEINOUS ACT’

Iowa Teen Who Murdered Spanish Teacher Over Grade Gets Life Sentence

Willard Miller, 17, who pleaded guilty in April to the murder of Nohema Graber, will have the possibility of parole after 35 years.

One of two Iowa teens who plead guilty to beating their Spanish teacher to death with a baseball bat in a bad-grade-induced rage was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday. Willard Miller, 17, who will have the possibility of parole after 35 years, pleaded guilty in April to the murder of Nohema Graber, whose body was found under a tarp at a park. In 2021, prosecutors said then 16-year-olds Miller and Jeremy Goodale, now 18, ambushed Graber during one of her daily walks and bludgeoned the teacher to death after mapping her regular schedule. Along with their expectedly lengthy prison sentences, the pair of teens—both charged as adults—will also have to give Graber's family $150,000 in restitution. Assistant Iowa Attorney General Scott Brown described their crime as “a cruel, heinous act by two defendants” during Miller’s sentencing hearing and said Miller “deserves every day he gets in prison.” Goodale is set to be sentenced in August.