Testimony begins in sentencing of Jeremy Goodale, one of Fairfield teens who murdered teacher

FAIRFIELD - Tuesday morning marked the first day of what is expected to be two days of testimony in the sentencing of Jeremy Goodale, one of two Fairfield teens who pleaded guilty to murdering Fairfield High School Spanish teacher Nohema Graber on Nov. 2, 2021.

The other teen, Chaiden Miller, was sentenced in July to life in prison with a 35-year minimum before he is eligible for parole.

The prosecution’s first witness in the courtroom of the Jefferson County Courthouse was Trent Vileta, an agent with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. Vileta recounted interviewing a high school friend of Goodale’s, who had a conversation with Goodale via the platform Snapchat. The friend saved messages Goodale sent in which he discussed how he and Miller conducted surveillance on Graber, how she was killed, where her body was located, where her car was parked and how they disposed of and concealed evidence.

The prosecution played a recording of an interview that Goodale had with Vileta on Feb. 23, 2023. At that point in time, both Goodale and Miller were scheduled to go to trial for Graber’s murder, since they had pleaded not guilty. They both changed their plea to guilty in April, just a few days before Miller’s trial was to begin.

In the recorded interview, Vileta asked Goodale questions about the planning and commission of the murder, and then asked what he and Miller planned to do after the murder.

“Sooner or later her body is going to be found, and people are going to start asking questions,” Vileta told Goodale. “Is there any discussion about running away, or maybe a suicide situation, anything of that nature? Beyond Nov. 2, what’s the plan?”

Goodale told Vileta that he and Miller assumed that nobody would ever find Graber’s body.

During Vileta’s testimony to the court, he talked about how law enforcement officers discovered Graber’s body near the railroad tracks in Chautauqua Park. They knew from talking to local officials that Graber was known to walk through the park every day after school. During their search, they noticed an object near the railroad tracks, which turned out to be a wheelbarrow. Miller and Goodale had placed the wheelbarrow on top of Graber’s body, and left it there after one of its wheels broke.

In their plea deals in April, Miller and Goodale gave differing accounts of how Graber died. Miller did not admit to striking Graber with a baseball bat, only that he was a “lookout” when Goodale struck her and assisted Goodale. In Goodale’s plea, he said both of them struck Graber with the bat.

In the interview, Goodale told Vileta how he and Miller waited for Graber to appear in Chautauqua Park that day, and in fact they passed her while she walked along the trail. While Graber was walking the trail, Miller and Goodale cut through the park so they could be waiting for Graber when she reached the access trail on the park’s north side. Goodale said that Miller was the one who had the bat at first.

“He gave me a nod, saying ‘Here she comes,’” Goodale said in the interview. “I gave him the signal that it was all clear. Then she walked by …. hit her in the back of the head. I said we should probably make sure she’s dead, so hit her a couple more times, and then I dragged her off towards the access trail. I wasn’t sure if she was alive, so I took the bat, and made sure she wasn’t alive. Chaiden wasn’t there at that moment. He was standing on the trail, I guess making sure that no one was coming along.”

Vileta asked Goodale how many times he struck Graber with the bat, and he said five.

Goodale told Vileta that he and Miller left Chautauqua Park by driving away in Graber’s van. They went south on Glasgow Road and then turned onto Middle Glasgow Road, a cul-de-sac, and parked the van off the road among some trees. Goodale then called a friend to pick them up, claiming that another person had “ditched” him and Miller there.

The Union will have more coverage of Goodale’s sentencing in the Thursday edition of the Southeast Iowa Union.

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com

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