Iowa teen gets life with possibility of parole after 35 years for Spanish teacher’s beating death

By SCOTT McFETRIDGE
Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa teen has been sentenced to life with a possibility of parole after 35 years for the beating death of his high school Spanish teacher. A judge sentenced Willard Miller after a hearing Thursday lasting more than seven hours. Miller and Jeremy Goodale pleaded guilty months ago to the 2021 baseball bat attack on Nohema Grabe. The 66-year-old teacher was attacked while taking an afternoon walk in a Fairfield, Iowa, park. Prosecutors said the teens were 16 at the time and angry Graber had given Miller a bad grade. Miller apologized in court Thursday to Graber’s family, saying he accepted responsibility for the killing. Goodale is to be sentenced later.