An Ohio father will rot in prison the rest of his life for shooting and killing his three young sons last year.
Chad Doerman got his firearms out of his gun safe on June 15, 2023, and turned to his three sons — Clayton, 7, Hunter, 4, and Chase, 3.
After telling him that he loved them, he said they were the “best boys ever.” Then one by one, he shot them to death.
Doerman, 33, was arrested at the scene and charged with three counts of aggravated murder and a slew of lesser charges. He pleaded guilty to the murders on Friday and was sentenced to three consecutive life terms, plus another 16 years on assault charges for injuring his wife and stepdaughter.
The shocking murders happened at the family home in Monroe Township, 20 miles east of Cincinnati.
On Monday, Clermont County Prosecuting Attorney Mark J. Tekulve gave a briefing about the last hours of the boys’ life — and shared chilling details about Doerman’s behavior leading up to the murders.
According to Tekulve, Doerman called his father around lunchtime and cryptically told him that “Clayton is going to be the hardest one.” He gave no context, but Tekulve said it was “a reference to the killings which was only clear to his father in retrospect.”
Doerman headed home from work and had lunch with his wife, Laura, telling her that “this will be my last good meal.”
But then, things seemed quite normal.
“Between around 1pm and 3.30pm, the defendant spent the afternoon doing yard work, playing with the kids, nothing out of the ordinary,” Tekulve said during the briefing. “There was nothing to alert Laura that she needed to do something to protect the family.”
“At 3:30 or 3:45 p.m., he began to read the Bible to Hunter,” Tekulve said. “He was wakling around the house with the Bible, mumbling ‘Chad knows what’s right. Chad knows what’s right.’”
When Doerman opened the gun safe at 4 p.m., an alarmed Laura said “you are scaring me.” Chad allegedly responded, “I’m just playing around,” according to Tekulve.
But then, Doerman began his reign of terror after telling the boys he loved them.
“Around 4pm, on that day of the killing, the defendant and Laura and all three boys go into the master bedroom,” says Tekulve. “Laura is concerned in the back of her mind that he’s going to do something to hurt himself. They lie down.”
“Suddenly, after lying down, the defendant jumps up, grabs the .22 rifle from the safe, and terror fills the room. Laura is screaming, the boys are screaming, They’re all trying to discourage him, telling him that they love him and begging him not to kill himself.”
“Laura gets the phone out to call 911,” Tekulve continues. “He grabs the phone, throws it across the room, and tells her that it’s too late. He points the rifle at Hunter and shoots him multiple times. Then he shoots the other two boys.”
Laura’s older daughter, Alexis, ran out of the house and alerted a neighbor, who called police. She was unhurt in the shooting.
Laura Doerman was injured in the shooting, when a bullet hit her hand. She released a heartfelt statement saying that her former husband’s sentence will bring her some closure.
“I am in full agreement with how the criminal case was resolved, and the decision to end this criminal case with a plea and multiple life sentences brings some finality to the court case for my daughter and me,” Laura said. “No punishment will ever bring my boys back. Having a guarantee that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars is what is best for my family.”
“Remember them as the three little boys who loved fishing, go-carting, and swimming,” the statement continued. “Remember them as the boys who love to have fun and were inseparable from one another. Their lives are not only about what happened to them — they are so much more that that. I love you Clayton, Hunter, and Chase.”
