Prosecutors claim that two Iowa teens allegedly murdered their high school Spanish teacher because of a poor grade. Des Moines Register reported.
According to the Des Moines Register, prosecutors filed Tuesday a court document alleging a possible motive.
Inside Edition has obtained the document. It was filed by prosecutors to respond to defense motions and before a Wednesday hearing in which a judge will hear arguments regarding whether to suppress evidence against Willard Miller and Jeremy Goodale. They are both 17-year-olds who were charged with the murder of Nohema Graber, 66, a high school Spanish teacher, in Fairfield.
Miller and Goodale are going to be tried as adults. Each will face a first-degree murder case for allegedly beating Graber with a bat on Nov. 2, 2021. Her body was found under a tarp the following day.
Goodale, Miller both pleaded guilty to the charges.
Iowa’s penalty for first-degree murder convictions is life imprisonment. Iowa Supreme Court rulings mandate that juveniles convicted for even the most serious offenses be granted parole.
“The poor grade is believed to be the motive behind the murder of Graber which directly connects Miller,”The court document filed by Chauncey Molling, Jefferson County attorney, and Scott Brown, assistant Iowa attorney General, stated.
Miller initially denied any involvement in Graber’s disappearance but “later stated he had knowledge of everything but did not participate”According to Inside Edition’s court document, it is.
Miller claimed that Miller was telling police that the true killers were a “roving group of masked kids”According to Inside Edition, he was forced to give his wheelbarrow to move her body and drive her van out of the park.
Miller is set to stand trial in Council Bluffs on February 20, 2023. Goodale is in Davenport on Dec. 5, 2022. CBS News reported.
Inside Edition Digital has reached out to Miller’s attorney, Christine Branstad, for comment but has not heard back.
Inside Edition Digital has reached out to Goodale’s attorney, public defender Allen Cook, for comment but has not heard back.