Iowa Teen Charged With Spanish Teacher’s Murder to Testify Against Co-defendant

One of two Iowa teens charged with murder in the death of a Fairfield Spanish teacher has agreed to testify against his co-defendant.

Jeremy Goodale and Willard Miller are both charged with first degree murder for the beating death of Nohema Graber in November 2021, as CrimeOnline previously reported. Prosecutors have suggested they killed the 66-year-old teacher in a dispute over grades. The defendants are being tried as adults.

Miller’s trial is set to begin in April and Goodale’s in May, and the revelation that Goodale would be testifying against Miller came Wednesday during a hearing on another attempt by Miller’s attorney to suppress evidence against his client, according to the Des Moines Register.

Judge Shawn Showers had previously ruled against attorney Nathan Olson that Miller was wrongly denied access to an attorney and that there were errors in the search warrant. While Olson has appealed that ruling, the new motion to suppress evidence says that investigators violated Goodale’s constitutional rights in order to produce evidence against Miller.

Jefferson County Attorney Chauncey Moulding responded that Olson was asserting a violation of Goodale’s rights on Goodale’s behalf — improperty, and then told the court that “Mr. Goodale has turned state’s evidence and is listed as a witness against Miller.”

The Register said that no indication of a plea deal for Goodale appears in public court records, and his attorneys declined to comment.

Showers listened to the arguments by Olson and Moulding and said he’d issue a written ruling “as soon as I can.”

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[Feature Photo: Jeremy Goodale, left, and Willard Miller/Police Handout; Center, Nohema Graber/Facebook]