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Jeremy Goodale & Willard Miller: Twisted Iowa teens used baseball bat to murder Spanish teacher

Murder investigation centered on the teens after one accused bragged about the gruesome killing on Snapchat, according to new court documents

BY APOORVA SINGH

PUBLISHED MAR 25, 2022

Nohema Graber (L) was murdered by Jeremy Everett Goodale (C) and Willard Noble Chaiden Miller (R), both aged 16 (Fairfield Police Department and Assistant Jefferson County Attorney)

FAIRFIELD, IOWA: Two 16-year-old boys killed their Spanish teacher using a baseball bat in southeast Iowa. Later, one of them bragged about the cold-blooded murder on social media, new court documents revealed. Jeremy Goodale and Willard Miller, Fairfield High School students, are accused of killing 66-year-old Nohema Graber whose thrashed body was discovered on November 2, disposed of in a park just hours after she was reported missing. The previously revealed court records cited that her body was discovered with trauma to her head “under a tarp, a wheelbarrow, and railroad ties."

The details of the brutal murder were outlined in a search warrant unsealed on Tuesday since both teens are still awaiting hearings on whether they should be tried as adults or juveniles in the case. Based on the recently unsealed search warrant investigators only centered on the alleged teen killers when a friend turned over Goodale’s Snapchat messages that implied the two “were involved in the planning, execution, and disposal of evidence” in the horrifying murder.

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In the chat with his friend, Goodale revealed that the two had conducted surveillance on Graber and described the gruesome killing and the aftermath. Graber’s car was also spotted in the surveillance footage entering and leaving the park on the day body was found, the warrant stated.

The duo’s motive for carrying out the horrifying act has not been revealed as the lawyers for the teens are trying their best to keep the bizarre case from public view. Goodale and Miller’s attorney also attempted to block the media altogether from covering the Thursday hearing on whether the case should be moved to the juvenile system, but the judge denied their request on Tuesday.

Miller’s hearing was stalled by his lawyer as she tried to suppress evidence that she claims were obtained by violating her client’s constitutional rights. The decision as to where the case will be tried will be based on the evidence. According to the Associated Press, Goodale’s hearing on whether he should be tried as an adult was still set for Thursday.