(ConservativeHub.com) – Jeremy Goodale, who has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his Spanish teacher over an exam grade, apologized before the judge for his actions.
Goodale was sentenced to life in prison last week with possible parole after 25 years. He killed his Spanish teacher Nohema Graber, 66, at Fairfield High School. He and his friend pleaded guilty to the charges of first-degree murder earlier this year.
The two students started off by stalking the teacher who would take walks through a part of Fairfield daily. They proceeded to use a baseball bat to kill her while she was on one of those walks.
Prior to the sentencing, 18-year-old Goodale apologized for his actions, stating that he was sorry and that what he had taken was irreplaceable. He added that every day he wished he could go back and stop himself before taking the teacher’s life and causing so much pain to everyone. Prosecutors have stated that Goodale and Willard Miller, his friend, who had both been 16 at the time of the killing had decided to murder the teacher after she had given a bad grade to Miller.
Prosecutors suggested at first that the two had killed Graber because Miller was worried over the effects that the poor grade would have on his participation in a study abroad program.
Judge Shawn Showers considered all 25 factors necessary before sentencing the 18-year-old to life in prison with a minimum service of 25 years. He added that while it was clear that Goodale was remorseful over what had occurred, and he had not really considered all the repercussions of having killed Graber. He noted that the teen was smart and could have stopped himself before moving forward with the killing.
The decision made by the judge was also aligned with the sentence requested by prosecutors, while Goodale’s lawyers had been pushing for life in prison without a mandatory minimum sentence before eligibility for parole.
The two students who had committed the crime as teens were charged as adults, as in Iowa, age is not considered when one is convicted of first-degree murder and given a mandatory life sentence.
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