This article delves into the harrowing details surrounding the Chad Doerman case, focusing on the events that transpired at his house in Monroe Township, Ohio. It pieces together the timeline, the family dynamics, and the aftermath of the tragic incident that claimed the lives of his three young sons.
GRAPHIC WARNING: This story contains disturbing details.
The Doerman residence in Monroe Township, Ohio, where the tragic events unfolded.
The Crime Scene: Laurel Lindale Road
The horrific events unfolded at a home owned by Chad Doerman near the corner of Laurel Lindale Road and Clermontville Laurel Road. On June 15, 2023, police arrived at Doerman’s house in Monroe Township in response to a 911 call made by his wife. Deputies found the three young boys unresponsive on the ground when they arrived. The bodies of the three boys were found in the yard. Police tape surrounded the entire property where the boys were shot.
Body camera video from the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office shows deputies finding Doerman sitting outside the Laurel Lindale Road home with a rifle next to him. Body cam footage showed Doerman sitting calmly on his stoop with a rifle next to him. “I ain’t gonna hurt you. I ain’t gonna hurt nobody,” he said as he was apprehended.
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The Victims: Clayton, Hunter, and Chase Doerman
Clayton, Hunter, and Chase Doerman (ages seven, four and three respectively) were shot and killed at their home on June 15, 2023, in Monroe Township, Clermont County, Ohio. The boys, ages 3, 4, and 7, were shot with a Marlin Model HC .22 Rifle, according to the court documents. Clermont County chief prosecutor David Gast, said this was the worst crime he'd seen in his career. He said Doerman lined up the boys, ages 3, 4 and 7, at their home and executed them with a rifle.
Friends and relatives say Laura was extremely close to her three sons, Hunter, Clayton, and Chase. They also say the three boys were inseparable, always playing together and encouraging each other. The oldest son's baseball coach affectionately described them as "a little pack" and talked about how sweet, funny, and caring these three children were. They also shared a love of baseball.
The Events Leading Up to the Tragedy
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. He hadn't slept for three or four days leading up to the killings because “the thoughts of having to kill his sons was so heavy on him," according to the paperwork.
To understand what happened, prosecutors outlined Chad’s behavior in the five days leading up to the killings:
- June 10: It was a normal day. 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,” Tekulve said.
- June 11: Chad takes the boys fishing. It is just another normal day. No reports of abnormal behavior however, during his interview with detectives, Chad gave conflicting statements about his sleep.
- June 12: Nothing seemed out of the ordinary according to his co-workers. Conflicting statements about his sleep were given to detectives.
- 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. His co-workers did not notice anything unusual about him. After work, he went to coach his son’s baseball game. Other parents said he seemed a little distracted but nothing strange. 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.” Tekulve says Laura believed he was contemplating suicide. Moments later, Chad called his dad. “Clayton is going to be the hardest one,” Doerman said over the phone, according to Tekulve. It was an unusual statement especially without context. Chad spent the rest of the day playing with the kids and doing yard work. He then started reading the Bible to Hunter.
The Murders
Doerman first killed his 4-year-old son, Tekulve said. The middle child was shot twice in the head, according to the prosecutor. Doerman shot Hunter twice, killing him. Laura began trying to help Hunter while telling the other two sons to run.
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The oldest of the three brothers, the 7-year-old, was “gunned down from behind” while running in a field near the home on Laurel Lindale Road, Tekulve said. Doerman then went up to his oldest son, who had fallen, and fired another shot into the boy’s head, the prosecutor explained. Chad spotted him and shot his son. The 7-year-old fell to the ground. According to the prosecutor, Chad then walked up to his son “calmly” and shot him twice in the head.
His 3-year-old son was in his mother’s arms, but Doerman “ripped” him from her arms and “put a bullet in his head,” according to Tekulve. The dad then fired, but the rifle didn’t go off, with the gun seeming to be out of ammunition, according to the document. Back at the house, the mother had picked up the third boy in her arms, and Doerman allegedly bit the woman as he tried to pull the boy away from her. In the scuffle, the woman grabbed the rifle and Doerman fired it shooting her through the thumb, the document states. She dropped the boy, and Doerman allegedly shot him once in the head.
A total of nine shots were allegedly fired that day by Doerman: one boy was shot once, and the other two children were shot four times each. The daughter was the only child who came out of the situation alive.
According to the bill of particulars obtained by ABC-affiliated TV station WCPO, Doerman came home from work early that day and asked his wife and boys to join him in the master bedroom for a nap. Meanwhile, his daughter watched television in the family room of the home, the document states. After lying down with his wife and sons for a bit, Doerman retrieved the rifle from the bedside safe, inserted a loaded magazine, and shot one of his sons twice, according to the document.
Chad Doerman's mugshot.
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The Mother and Sister's Attempts to Save the Boys
The mother immediately tried to help the boy and yelled for her other sons to run. Dispatchers heard a woman's voice - later identified as Laura - saying that her babies had been shot. This horrific crime has touched so many - Laura and Alexis, everyone who knew and cared about this family, the first responders who tried so hard to help, the local community, and thousands of mothers and fathers who saw the pictures of the beautiful boys who loved each other and were loved by so many.
By this point, the sister had made her way to the master bedroom in time to witness the first shots fired, according to the document. She followed one of her brothers as he fled, screaming for him to keep running, but Doerman allegedly hunted him down and continued firing until the child was hit and fell. Doerman eventually caught up to the boy and fired again at close range, the document states.
The quick-thinking young girl then took off toward the nearby Monroe Township Fire Department, and alerted a passerby that “her father was killing everyone," according to the court document.Three minutes later, a separate caller driving by the shooting scene called 911 and reported seeing a young girl running down the road, warning that “her father was killing everyone.” Sheriff’s officials have not identified the girl but say she is safe.
The girl then returned to the house, where she picked up another brother in her arms and attempted to flee with him. Doerman allegedly intercepted them as they neared the road and, brandishing the rifle, demanded she put her brother down.
The Arrest and Confession
Chad Dorman was arrested without incident and brought to the Claremont County courthouse, where he reportedly gave a full confession.
Clermont County's chief prosecutor of Municipal Court, David Gast, said during Doerman's arraignment Friday that one of the boys tried to flee into a nearby field but Doerman "hunted" his son down and brought him back to their home before killing him. He also told investigators that he had been planning the murders for at least three months.
After being booked into Clermont County Jail, he later allegedly confessed to killing his sons with a Marlin Model HC .22 rifle that he kept in a gun safe next to his bed.
Interviews When Chad arrived at the Clermont County Jail, two detectives, Mike Ross and Mike Green, asked him about the events that took place at his home on Laurel-Lindale Road. Tekulve says Chad acted like he had no idea that his children were dead. “It was like a game [to him,]” the prosecutor said. The detectives asked who his kids were. He listed them in this order: Hunter, Clayton and Chase - the same order in which he killed them.
The Aftermath and Legal Proceedings
Chad Doerman, 32, was indicted Thursday on the following charges stemming from June 15 incident: nine counts of aggravated murder, eight counts of kidnapping and four counts of felonious assault. On June 22, 2023, he was indicted on twenty-one charges, including aggravated murder charges for the deaths of his three sons, kidnapping, and felonious assault.
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.
He was sentenced to three consecutive life terms after he pleaded guilty to aggravated murder charges. He was also sentenced to another 16 years on two felonious assault charges for injuring his former wife and his stepdaughter.
Chad Doerman | 911 Call | 'If you have to shoot him ,shoot him'
The Family's Reaction
Laura Doerman, the children’s mother and the ex-wife of the defendant, wept as a prosecutor read a statement in court from her saying her life had been “ripped away from me and destroyed.”“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. “... I have anger, frustration and so much sadness. Grief will never go away because it is all the love that is left with no place to go.”
In another statement issued through prosecutors after the sentencing, she said that she was in “full agreement” with the resolution of the case. “No punishment will ever bring my boys back,” she wrote. “Having a guarantee that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars is what is best for my family.”
An attorney for the prosecution read statements by both Doerman's wife and his stepdaughter. [Y]ou gave me an amazing life and I will forever be grateful for the memories and time you spent with me.... I don't think I will ever be able to hate you.... I will forever hold onto the memories I had with you and the boys because those are all happy memories and those were the best times.... [Y]ou were the best dad I could have ever asked for.... 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.
The Question of Motive
Doerman allegedly admitted to authorities he had been thinking about murdering his sons since October, the court documents stated. So far, Chad Doerman has not given a motive, so we are left to speculate.
Alexis reportedly told police that, several months before the murders, her mother had told Chad that if he "kept drinking and causing more issues with neighbors because of being drunk," she was going to divorce him." It doesn't take a rocket scientist (or a psychologist) to speculate that, judging by how he carried out his crime, he must have had a tremendous amount of rage toward his wife. And his children became weapons against her.
According to investigators, Doerman has given a full confession. According to Tekulve, Chad explained what happened on June 15 to his mother on a recorded phone call from the Clermont County Jail. His statements in the call and to detectives were also conflicting, but prosecutors did not explain what those statements were.
The Community's Response
Shortly after the shooting, a crisis team was stationed at Monroe Elementary School for those who needed aid. The prosecutor said the sheriff’s office, first responders and the community at large have been left traumatized. He said the deputies who arrived at the scene attempted to perform CPR on the boys. “They held these children knowing there was nothing they could do,” Gast said.
Key Figures in the Case
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Chad Doerman | Defendant, father of the victims |
| Laura Doerman | Mother of the victims, ex-wife of Chad Doerman |
| Clayton Doerman | Victim, 7 years old |
| Hunter Doerman | Victim, 4 years old |
| Chase Doerman | Victim, 3 years old |
| Alexis | Stepdaughter, witness |
| Mark Tekulve | Clermont County Prosecutor |
| David Gast | Clermont County Chief Prosecutor of Municipal Court |
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