This article delves into the harrowing case of Chad Doerman, who pleaded guilty to the murders of his three young sons in Clermont County, Ohio. The events of June 15, 2023, and the subsequent legal proceedings have been closely followed, revealing a tragic story of violence and its devastating impact on a family and community.
The Tragic Events of June 15, 2023
On June 15, 2023, in Monroe Township, Clermont County, Ohio, Clayton, Hunter, and Chase Doerman, ages seven, four, and three respectively, were shot and killed at their home. Police arrived and arrested 32-year-old Chad Doerman, the father of the three victims, and charged him with murder, felonious assault, and kidnapping.
According to the bill of particulars, on June 15, 2023, Chad Doerman returned home early from work and requested his three sons, Clayton, Hunter, and Chase, and his wife, Laura, join him in the primary bedroom for a nap. Sometime after they had lain down on the bed, Doerman opened his gun safe and retrieved a Marlin Model 70HC .22 rifle. Doerman shot Hunter twice, killing him. Laura began trying to help Hunter while telling the other two sons to run.
The 14-year-old stepdaughter, Alexis, who had been watching television, had entered the bedroom and witnessed the first shots. She ran after Clayton, telling him to keep running. Doerman chased him into a nearby field, shot him from behind, and then again point-blank in the head. Alexis reentered the house, picked up Chase, and escaped to the road. Doerman followed her and aimed the rifle at her, telling her to put Chase down. He tried to fire but was out of ammunition. Chase ran to his mother, who was now outside in the yard trying to render aid to Clayton. Doerman went inside and carried Hunter's body outside, laying him in the yard. He tried to wrestle Chase from Laura, reportedly biting her in the process. When she managed to grab the rifle, Doerman fired, shooting Laura in the thumb.
Upon their arrival, the police instructed Doerman to show his hands and walk towards them, but Doerman disobeyed and remained sitting. Three children were killed in the incident: Clayton, Hunter and Chase. Shortly after the shooting, a crisis team was stationed at Monroe Elementary School for those who needed aid.
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Investigators said Chad Doerman asked his wife and sons to join him in the bedroom for a nap before opening fire and killing the children. According to prosecutors, Doerman was at home with his wife and sons when he started pacing the house carrying a Bible and mumbling, "Chad knows what's right."
His wife noticed the behavior and told Doerman he was scaring her. Doerman told her he was "just kidding" and "playing around," and decided to lie down. His wife did not want him to be alone, so she and her sons went into the bedroom with him. At some point, Doerman got back out of bed and got his .22 caliber Marlin rifle out of the gun safe and shot one of his sons twice, the document states. His wife immediately called 911 while screaming for her other children to run.
Doerman chased one of the boys into a field behind the house and shot him as he fled then again at close range after the boy fell, according to the document. The boys' sister picked up her last surviving brother and ran with him toward a nearby firehouse, but Doerman caught up to her and at gunpoint demanded she put the boy down. The boys' sister kept running toward the fire station telling a passerby that her father was "killing everyone." Doerman went to the last boy and shot him. His mother suffered a gunshot wound to her hand trying to protect the boys, prosecutors said.
The document said after the boys were dead, Doerman picked them up and laid their bodies next to each other in the yard. In all, nine total shots were fired: one boy was shot once, the other two were each shot four times, the document says.
Body camera footage from officers showed when they arrived, 32-year-old Chad Doerman was sitting outside his home with a rifle next to him. When they arrived at the house, they spotted Doerman on his front porch. As they began approaching the house, they debated with each other whether to rush in or try to approach more cautiously. Keeping Doerman in their sight, the deputies walked up to the porch as they continued to issue commands. Then they grabbed him and pulled him away from the rifle resting at his side. "I ain't gonna hurt nobody," Doerman said calmly. "I'm completely sober." He also told the officers his dog wouldn't bite them.
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Prosecutors said that during his arrest Doerman said, "I did it. Take me to jail."
A woman screamed in the background of the footage: "What do I do? You took my life from me! My life! They're so little."
Here's a summary of the timeline leading up to the tragic event:
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| June 10 | Chad and his sons had a "boys' day" together while Laura and her daughter had a "girls' day." There was "no indication of any trouble." |
| June 11 | Chad takes the boys fishing. It is just another normal day. No reports of abnormal behavior. |
| June 12 | Nothing seemed out of the ordinary according to his co-workers. |
| June 13 | Chad had issues with his truck’s headlights, so he had to fix those himself. He apologized for anything that he had done to hurt her. |
| June 14 | The boys ran up excitedly and greeted their father in the yard, while Laura prepared lunch. While she is in the kitchen, Chad tells her, “This will be my last good meal.” |
| June 15 | The day of the shooting. |
Legal Proceedings and Court Appearances
Chad Doerman appeared in court for a motions hearing. Attorneys representing Doerman requested funding from the court to get mental health counseling for their client. Among the more than 30 motions pending before the court was a request for the jury pool to include felons who have completed their sentences. Chad Doerman appeared in court today for a pretrial hearing. He was given a $20 million bond. At his arraignment, he appeared in padded green vest meant to stop prisoners from harming themselves. He would eventually plead not guilty by reason of insanity.
On Friday, a judge ruled that authorities violated Chad Doerman's rights twice during their investigation, and now his confession is inadmissible. Attorneys for Chad Doerman, accused of murdering his three sons, say deputies ignored his request for a lawyer during his interrogation. Chad Doerman's attorneys have filed a motion claiming that his confession to killing his three sons shouldn't be allowed at trial.
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After his arrest, Doerman was interviewed for more than two and a half hours. He said he had contact with members of the CIA and, according to prosecutors, confessed to the killings. During that interview, Doerman said he had been planning the executions for months, according to investigators. Doerman's lawyers said their client was denied access to an attorney even after he asked for one.
Judge Ferenc agreed with the defense and said Doerman's rights were violated because his Miranda rights were not read to him completely and he asked for a lawyer multiple times without being provided one. Much of Doerman's confession was thrown out and deemed inadmissible in trial.
In May, Doerman's attorneys filed a motion asking the death penalty be dropped against their client, citing "serious mental illness at time of offense." An Ohio law enacted in 2021 bars the state from executing people who were suffering from a serious mental illness at the time of their offense.
Prosecutors describe how they were planning to go after Chad Doerman's insanity defense if he had not pleaded guilty to murdering his sons. Chad Doerman's defense said he was suffering from severe mental illness when he killed his three young sons in June 2023. The judge agreed to appoint a mental health expert to evaluate Chad Doerman, who is accused of murdering his three young sons.
The Plea Agreement and Sentencing
On August 2, 2024, Doerman pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated murder and two counts of felonious assault as part of a plea agreement that allowed him to avoid the death penalty. The prosecutor said after court that his goal is to have Chad Doerman executed after he allegedly murdered his three young sons. The prosecutor agreed to stop pushing for the death penalty and drop the charges in exchange for the admission.
Clermont County Common Pleas Judge Richard Ferenc sentenced Chad Doerman, 33, to three life terms without the possibility of parole for the killings of Clayton, 7; Hunter, 4; and Chase, 3. As part of the plea agreement, Doerman will serve three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, Ferenc said. Additionally, the two felonious assault charges carry a 16-year minimum sentence, which would be served consecutively to the life sentences.
“It is unmistakably clear that you will spend the rest of your life in prison,” Ferenc told Doerman in court Friday. “There is no early release date for you.”
Statements from Family Members
An attorney for the prosecution read statements by both Doerman's wife and his stepdaughter. Both Laura and Alexis tried to save the boys.
Alexis faced her stepfather as her statement was read. "Chad, I trusted you with my life," she wrote. "I always wanted to make sure I was making you proud … but most of all, I saw you as my dad, not just a stepdad." She said she misses seeing her brother on the sidelines of her softball games and missing sharing moments from her life that she knows would make him proud. "I don't think I will ever be able to hate you," she wrote. "I will forever hold on to the memories I have of you and the boys because those are all happy memories ... I will never in a million years ever forgive you for what you have done, and hope you pay for your actions like you deserve, but I will never hate you."
Laura Doerman cried as her statement was read in court. "Where there used to be so much laughter, happiness, noise of rowdy little boys, there is now sadness and emptiness," she wrote. "I would do anything to push them on the swing, cover them up one more time and hear their little ways of saying, 'I love you.'" She said there is nothing the courts could do to bring her sons back, and no punishment would equal her suffering. She said she questions herself every day about whether she could have done something more to save her sons.
Laura Doerman also released a written statement after the plea, in which she said she was in "full agreement with how the criminal case was resolved" and asked for two things: 1) privacy for her and her family and 2.) to remember the boys and who they were.
In a statement read in court, Laura Doerman said she “will never in a million years ever forgive you for what you have done, and hope you pay for your actions like you deserve, but I will never hate you,” the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
Community Impact
Three children were killed in the incident: Clayton, Hunter and Chase. Shortly after the shooting, a crisis team was stationed at Monroe Elementary School for those who needed aid. The Clermont County father who executed his three young sons last year will spend the rest of his life prison with no possibility of parole. The plea brings the end to a case that was not expected to go to trial until 2025 due to multiple delays. The case has proven to be a roller coaster with many twists and turns over the past year.
The Doerman boys all played baseball and their sister played softball. Playing ball is a big deal in the Clermont County community of Monroe Township. It's the type of place where people will go to watch games even if they don't have kids on the team. It's generational. After Clayton, Hunter and Chase were killed., their teams canceled the rest of their seasons.
This year, the boys even got their own field. CHC Field - for Clayton, Hunter and Chase - was dedicated on May 25.
Laura had a message for those who may be struggling with their mental health or know someone who is. She encouraged others to call a crisis hotline, dial 988, or ask for help if someone is considering hurting themselves or others. “Violence is never the answer,” she wrote.
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