An Ohio father, 33-year-old Chad Doerman, was spared the possibility of being put to death after he admitted Friday to fatally shooting his three young sons last year in a series of killings that prosecutors described as executions. Clermont County Common Pleas Judge Richard Ferenc sentenced Chad Doerman to three life terms without the possibility of parole for the killings of Clayton, 7; Hunter, 4; and Chase, 3.
On Friday, Chad Doerman was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to three counts of aggravated murder for killing his sons, 7-year-old Clayton, 4-year-old Hunter and 3-year-old Chase at their home in June 2023.
Doerman will not face the death penalty, however Clermont County Prosecutor Mark Tekulve said ‘he will die in prison.”
Chad Doerman (Clermont County Sheriff's Office)
Originally, Doerman faced nine counts of aggravated murder and other charges of kidnapping and felonious assault in a total 21-count indictment.
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During a hearing Friday, prosecutors said they agreed to drop the aggravating factors that made Doerman eligible for the death penalty if he pleaded guilty to three counts of murder. Ferenc said the victims approved of the plea agreement.
Doerman also pleaded guilty to two counts of felonious assault that included the shooting of his wife - the boys’ mother - Laura Doerman, who pressed her thumb over the barrel of her husband’s rifle in an effort to protect one of their children.
He also pleaded guilty to two counts of felonious assault for injuries caused to his ex-wife and his former stepdaughter.
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.
A Father's Unthinkable Crime: The Chad Doerman Case Uncovered #TrueCrime #ChadDoerman #OhioCrime
The Chilling Account of the Killings
According to a chilling account of the killings that Tukelve read in court, Chad Doerman returned from work early on June 15, 2023, and took a nap with all three boys at their home in Monroe Township, southeast of Cincinnati. When he got up, Doerman removed his rifle from a gun safe, loaded the magazine and shot Hunter twice. Laura Doerman began rendering aid and Clayton fled through the back door, Tukelve said.
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WXIX reported that 4-year-old Hunter was inside the master bedroom with his mom when Doerman grabbed a gun and shot Hunter twice. 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.
Chad Doerman followed him and repeatedly fired, striking the boy, Tukelve said. Clayton was shot “numerous” times. Doerman chased him into a nearby field, shot him from behind, and then again point-blank in the head.
Laura Doerman’s daughter, then 14, had seen Hunter’s killing and followed Clayton and Chad Doerman from the house. While Clayton lay injured on the ground, she watched her stepfather approach him and fire a bullet into his head, Tukelve said.
The stepdaughter ran back to the home and picked up three-year-old Chase to try and protect him.
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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.
As she did, Doerman pointed the rifle at her head and threatened to shoot if she didn’t drop the boy, Tukelve said. Doerman saw the two and began chasing while threatening to shoot his stepdaughter if she did not drop Chase. She put Chase down, and according to the prosecutor, Doerman aimed the gun at his 3-year-old son, and pulled the trigger, but the gun misfired.
In tears, the teen did as instructed, Tukelve said, but Doerman had run out of ammunition and had to reload. After the boy ran to his mother, there was a struggle over the gun and Laura Doerman pressed her finger into the barrel.
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.
“She was shot in the thumb,” Tukelve said. “Ultimately she had to drop Chase.”
When she did, Tukelve said, Chad Doerman shot the boy once in the head, killing him. Doerman then pointed the gun at Chase again and killed him. All three boys died at the scene and their mother was injured after trying to intervene.
When deputies arrived at the family’s home, they found Doerman sitting on the steps with a rifle sitting next to him.
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.
Doerman later told authorities he’d been thinking about killing the boys for months.
Shortly after the shooting, a crisis team was stationed at Monroe Elementary School for those who needed aid.
Legal Proceedings 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.
“My position became very clear to me throughout this process and most recently Wednesday when we discussed this plea offer with Laura that doing anything further would be actually an act of cruelty toward her,” Prosecutor Tekulve said. “The trauma that these two have experienced that day and continue to experience, my job as I saw it this week is to relieve them of that additional agony and that is why we are here today.”
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.
Laura, the mother of the three boys, had her statement read in court as Doerman sat with his defense team. She said while the announcement might surprise some, the decision to end the case with a plea and multiple life sentences brings some closure for her 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.
Court records show Chad Doerman had one criminal offense from a domestic violence charge prior to the shootings, as well as some traffic violations.
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