Nohema Graber’s body was found on November 3, 2021, in a park in Fairfield, Iowa, hidden under a tarp, a wheelbarrow, and railroad ties. She was 66 years old and was a Spanish teacher at the local high school. Police quickly identified those responsible: two of her own students, both 17 years old at the time they were sentenced.
According to court documents, one of the teenagers had met with Graber at school the day before to discuss a poor grade that threatened his academic average. That afternoon, the teacher went on her usual walk through the park. Witnesses said they saw Graber’s van leave the area with two people on board; the vehicle was later found abandoned on a rural road.
During questioning, one of those involved initially denied any participation, then made up a story about a group of masked people who supposedly forced them to move the body. That version fell apart when a witness gave prosecutors Snapchat messages in which one of the youths admitted to having acted with another person to cause Graber’s death, naming both suspects. Both were prosecuted as adults in Iowa’s judicial system.
