Teenage boy jailed for beating female teacher, 66, to death with baseball bat because of bad grade
7 July 2023, 07:41
A teenage boy has been sent to prison for beating his teacher to death over a bad grade.
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Willard Miller, 17, and Jeremy Goodale, now 18, attacked their Spanish teacher Nohema Graber in a town in the US state of Iowa on November 2, 2021.
Miller pleaded guilty to first degree murder in April and has been sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum of 35 years.
He has also been ordered to pay $150,000 (£117,000) to the victim's family.
Goodale's sentencing will take place in August. Both were 16 at the time of the murder, but were charged as adults.
The court heard how Miller and Goodale attacked Ms Graber, 66, with a baseball bat out of frustration that her marking could lower their average grades, jeopardising their chances of getting into university.
The judge rejected arguments from Miller's defence lawyer that he was too young at the time of the attack to understand his actions. He told the defendant that "evil does not have a birthday."
Miller turned around in court to face Ms Graber's relatives. He told them: "I am sincerely sorry for the distress I have caused you and the devastation I have caused your family."
Several relatives said that the killing led to the early death of Ms Graber's husband, who died last month.
Prosecutors said Miller, from the small town of Fairfield, beat Ms Graber to death with the bat after agreeing to meet her at Fairfield High School to discuss his grades.
Goodale was also a student at the school.
Police officers found the body of Ms Graber, a mother of three, lying hidden under a tarpaulin, wheelbarrow and railway sleepers in a park in the town.
