Testimony heard in sentencing of Fairfield teen who murdered teacher

FAIRFIELD — Fairfield teenager Willard Noble Chaiden Miller was in court Thursday, July 6 for sentencing to determine his punishment after he pleaded guilty to killing his Fairfield High School Spanish teacher Nohema Graber on Nov. 2, 2021.

Miller and his co-defendant Jeremy Everett Goodale both pleaded guilty to the murder, though they gave differing accounts of what happened. Thursday’s hearing was an opportunity for the prosecution and the defense to present evidence to District Court Judge Shawn Showers before he makes his decision on Miller’s sentencing. Goodale will be sentenced at a later date. Prosecutors are recommending life imprisonment for Miller with the possibility of parole, but that he only be eligible for parole after serving at least 30 years in prison.

The sentencing began with testimony from prosecution witness Special Agent Trent Vileta of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. Vileta spoke about the evidence implicating Miller and Goodale, such as Snapchat messages Goodale sent to a friend after the murder, interviews with witnesses who placed Miller and Goodale at the scene of the murder when prosecutors believe it occurred, which is sometime after 4 p.m. Nov. 2, 2021 at Chautauqua Park in Fairfield. Vileta also talked the evidence investigators uncovered showing that Miller had been planning the murder for a week or two in advance.

Vileta testified that Nohema Graber was first reported missing at 8 a.m. on Nov. 3 by her husband Paul Graber, who said she had not come home the night before. Authorities at first put out a missing person alert for Nohema Graber, and learned that she was last seen on the afternoon of Nov. 2 leaving the Fairfield High School. Fairfield Police had learned that Graber was known to walk through Chautauqua Park after school, and they later discovered doorbell camera footage showing Graber’s van entering Chautauqua Park that afternoon around 4 p.m.

Graber’s body was found in Chautauqua Park, near the railroad tracks, wrapped in a tarp and covered by a wheelbarrow and railroad tie. An examination of her body showed that she had suffered an “egregious injury” to her head, Vileta said. Vileta testified that it was clear from those factors that Graber could not have done that to herself, and that Graber had been the victim of a homicide. Vileta said authorities found a “significant amount” of blood on the trail as well, in the northwest part of the park where the trail is closest to the railroad tracks.

Vileta detailed how information that was obtained from several Fairfield teenagers led police to arrest Miller and Goodale for murder. One teenager met with police on Nov. 3, who showed them saved Snapchat messages between himself and Goodale where Goodale wrote that Graber had “failed the wrong student.” Vileta confirmed with the Fairfield High School that Miller was a student in Graber’s Spanish class, and that his grade was an F at the time. Vileta also testified that Miller and his mother had met with Graber earlier on Nov. 2 to talk about Miller’s grade in the class.

Vileta mentioned that one teenager, who was a friend of both Miller and Goodale, had told others that Miller told him that if Nohema Graber “comes up missing in the next couple of weeks, not to contact the police,” Vileta testified. This friend reported that Miller had told people that Graber’s route after school was predictable and that he could “easily hit her with a bat at the park,” Vileta said.

Another teenager reported that, during an English class at FHS on Nov. 3, Miller had told him that he had “caught someone with a baseball bat.”

Vileta said authorities interviewed Goodale’s girlfriend, who met Goodale at Chautauqua Park at 4 p.m. on Nov. 2. She told investigators that she observed Miller walk down the trail into the park, and that Goodale followed him. She said that Goodale told her to leave the park.

Investigators obtained a search warrant on Miller’s phone, and that’s where they discovered that Miller had been asking his friends to help him with the murder. Vileta testified that investigators recovered an email from Miller where he listed the items he would need to commit the murder.

Vileta said that, using information obtained from witnesses and with the help of Fairfield Police Lieutenant Julie Kinsella, the authorities were able to locate Graber’s van, which had been driven out of the park and left at the end of a dead-end road, Middle Glasgow Road, southeast of Chautauqua Park. Police interviewed a teenager who told them that Goodale had called him that afternoon to come pick up himself and Miller, who were walking on Middle Glasgow Road. Vileta said there was no evidence implicating this other teenager in the murder.

During the course of Vileta’s testimony, the prosecution showed photographs of the crime scene, including Graber’s body. Defense attorney Christine Branstad objected to this, arguing that the photographs contained no information that was not included in the autopsy report, and that showing them at sentencing was unfair to her client. Iowa Assistant Attorney General Scott Brown argued that the photographs were important for understanding the nature of the crime. Showers overruled Branstad’s objection and allowed the photos to be shown.

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

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