Sentencing of Jeremy Goodale upheld in appellate court

Fairfield teen was one of two who murdered FHS Spanish teacher in 2021

Andy Hallman

Southeast Iowa Union

Jan. 27, 2025

FAIRFIELD – An Iowa Appellate Court upheld the sentencing of a Fairfield teen who pleaded guilty to murdering a teacher in 2021.

Jeremy Goodale and Chaiden Miller were both 16 at the time they murdered Fairfield High School Spanish teacher Nohema Graber on Nov. 2, 2021. Both Goodale and Miller later pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and were sentenced to life in prison.

On Thursday, Jan. 23, an appeals court issued a ruling on a motion by Goodale’s attorney to reduce the sentence, which allowed for parole only after 25 years. The judges, listed as Schumacher, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ, affirmed District Court Judge Shawn Shower’s sentencing. The opinion, drafted by Chicchelly, stated that Showers did not abuse his discretion, and did consider the relevant factors before handing down his sentence.

Before diving into the legal reasons for rejecting Goodale’s appeal, Judge Chicchelly provided a summary of the facts that came out during sentencing, such as Goodale being asked by his friend Chaiden Miller if he would help murder Graber after Miller received a failing grade in her class, and Goodale agreed.

“The two surveilled the teacher over the next two weeks to learn her routine, discovering that she regularly took walks in a nearby park,” Judge Chicchelly wrote. “ Goodale and his co-defendant planned to attack her during her walk. On the afternoon of November 2, Goodale and his co-defendant followed the teacher as she walked along the trail. When they came upon her, Goodale and his co-defendant took turns beating her with a baseball bat. Goodale later confessed that he ‘caved her skull in with the bat and dragged her [corpse] off the trail.’”

Regarding the decision to reject the appeal, Judge Chicchelly wrote, “Goodale also claims that the sentencing court did not exercise any discretion at all and simply imposed a mandatory minimum sentence. But we do not find that this is supported by the record. The court conducted a painstaking, careful review of the case before imposing a minimum sentence and noted its requirement to consider the factors specified for juvenile offenders when exercising its discretion. We therefore find this argument without merit.”

Judge Chicchelly wrote that the court must consider mitigating factors of youth in determining sentences, the judge also noted specific facts about Goodale and about this murder that argued in favor of a mandatory minimum sentence. Judge Chicchelly wrote that the district court found this “as heinous of a murder as can be imagined,” and that brutality was “a significant aggravating factor.”

https://www.southeastiowaunion.com/news/sentencing-of-jeremy-goodale-upheld-in-appellate-court/