West DSM News

Two 16-year-old Fairfield High School students formally charged on Nov. 12 with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Spanish teacher Nohema Graber are scheduled to enter formal pleas at arraignments Monday, Nov. 29.

Willard Noble Chaiden Miller and Jeremy Everett Goodale were charged in the death of Graber, 66, whose remains were found Nov. 3, in Chautauqua Park in Fairfield, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook. Graber was reported missing earlier on Nov. 3.

“Special agents from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations (DCI) conducted a preliminary investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Ms. Graber, which appears to be a homicide,” the Sheriff’s Office said. “Two individuals, Willard Noble Chaiden Miller, age 16, and Jeremy Everett Goodale, age 16, have been charged with Homicide in the First Degree, an A Felony, and Conspiracy to Commit Homicide in the First Degree, a C Felony.”

Miller and Goodale, who are charged as adults, are being held in custody on $1 million bail. Hearings on bail reduction are scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 23, the Des Moines Register said.

Graber, who died Nov. 2 at Chautauqua Park in Fairfield, was born Nov. 10, 1954, in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, her obituary said. A former flight attendant and one of the first women in Mexico trained to fly passenger jets, Graber was married and the mother of three children. She and her family had lived in Fairfield since 1992. She was a Spanish teacher at Ottumwa High School before teaching Spanish at Fairfield High School since 2012.

“Nohema lived for her children, her family and her faith. Her next priorities were her job as a teacher and the students she taught, her parish and the Latin community in Fairfield,” the obituary said. “She also enjoyed reading and was an avid walker at Chautauqua Park. Nohema was very disciplined at getting her walking in each day and just loved being outside enjoying nature.”