Deranged dad Chad Doerman walked around his house holding a bible while mumbling ‘Chad knows what’s right’ before slaughtering his three young sons as his mom breaks her silence following the deadly rampage.
The lives of Clayton, 7, Hunter, 4, and Chase, 3, were cruelly snatched in June last year after their own biological father ‘hunted them down’ before shooting them dead with a rifle.
Doerman, 33, pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated murder and to two counts of felonious assault on his then-wife Laura Doerman, who tried to stop the murders, and stepdaughter, in Clermont County Court on Friday.
Judge Richard Ferenc jailed Doerman for three life sentences without parole, and a minimum 16 years for the assault charges.
The boys’ distraught mom told the court she approved of the plea deal, but said the decision would come as a surprise to some even though it ‘brings some finality to the court case for my daughter and me’.
Chad Doerman broke down in tears in court after pleading guilty to three counts of aggravated murder after he fatally shot dead his three young biological sons
Doerman, who is thought to have planned the killings for at least three months, has been arrested and charged with aggravated murder. He was arraigned on Friday and is now being held on $20 million bail. Pictured: The three boys shot dead
The ranch-style blue shingle home where the shootings took place occurred in Monroe Township, about 75 miles west of Columbus
Reading her heartbreaking statement aloud in court, she said: ‘My name is Laura Doerman and I am the mother of [teen victim], Clayton, Hunter and Chase. On June 15, 2023, my children and I went through a nightmare that most people cannot even begin to imagine. We grieve every day for my boys, and we miss them so much.
‘I am in full agreement with how the criminal case was resolved… 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.
‘I have two requests from everyone here and everyone watching this. First, please respect my family’s privacy… My second request is for everyone to remember and to talk about Clayton, Hunter, and Chase for who they were before the events of June 15, 2023.
‘Remember them as the three little boys who loved fishing, go-carting, and swimming. 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 than that.
‘I love you Clayton, Hunter and Chase’.
Doerman initially faced 21 charges, including nine counts of murder, and the plea deal took the death penalty off the table.
Prosecutors have previously claimed Doerman planned the executions for months.
Doerman had allegedly arrived home earlier than usual on the fateful day.
‘The defendant obtained a bible and was walking around the house with it. While walking with the bible, the defendant was mumbling, ‘Chad knows what’s right,’ court documents stated.
Doerman updated his Facebook page to include this picture days before his murder spree. After his arrest, Doerman allegedly confessed to lining up his three young sons and shooting them one after another
Officials have not released a motive for the slayings. A photo of the three innocent victims.
Doerman then allegedly walked towards the master bedroom in his home while unlocking his gun safe.
When Laura noticed Doerman’s actions, she told him that ‘he was scaring her, that she did not like what he was doing, and that she would call his parents,’ according to the documents.
In response, Doerman allegedly said he was ‘just kidding,’ and was ‘playing around’ and went back to the master bedroom to lie down.
‘Due to his behavior [the mother] did not want him to be alone, so she and their [son] went into the bedroom with him,’ the amended bill of particulars said.
‘After he initially laid down, the defendant got out of bed, got into the gun safe, removing a Marlin Model .22 rifle and a loaded magazine. The defendant then shot his son twice,’ according to the documents.
‘Immediately, [the mother] called 911 and began to render aid. An open 911 call captured [the mother] screaming for her other children to run.
‘It also captured her attempts to protect her children. At some point in during a struggle over the gun, [the mother] was shot in the hand. She also suffered other various injuries during the struggle with the defendant over the firearm,’ the amended bill of particulars said.
Court documents stated that Doerman’s stepdaughter, Alexis, ran for her live with the two boys before one of them separated from the group and headed towards a field.
She ran after the young boy and yelled for him to keep going while Doerman chased her, according to court documents.
‘[The boy] was struck by gunfire, knocking him to the ground. [The daughter] watched as the defendant then approached. The defendant then turned and looked back at [the boy] before he fired one round’ at close range.
Th stepdaughter then rushed back to the house to pick up the third boy.
The suspect’s 14-year-old stepdaughter Alexis (center) pictured with her three brothers, who were gunned down execution style by their father on June 15. The teen ran to get help screaming, ‘my stepfather is killing everybody in the house’
Police body camera footage shows the arrest of Chad Doerman, who was sitting on his front steps when police arrived after he allegedly shot his three sons, ages 7, 4, and 3
Chad Doerman, 32, enters the Clermont County Common Pleas courthouse to be arraigned
‘As she attempted to flee the residence, the defendant must have heard [the boy] crying and began to go after them. [The boy] ran with [the daughter] towards the firehouse, but as she approached the road, the defendant caught up to her, raised the rifle, pointing the firearm at her,’ court documents say.
Doerman allegedly demanded the girl to put the young boy down, which she did, while begging her stepfather not to shoot her.
‘Once she put the child down, she witnessed the defendant attempt to shoot [the boy], however, the gun misfired and [the boy] fled to his mother who was in the side yard attempting to render aid,’ according to the amended bill of particulars.
The brave girl then ran in the direction of local Monroe Township Fire Department.
‘[She] was stopped by a passerby and advised that her father was ‘killing everyone’, the documents state.
Doerman then returned to shoot the final boy in the head, the documents said, before laying all three bodies next to each other.
On Friday, a prosecutor read a heartbreaking statement Alexis had written following the brutal ordeal as she faced her stepfather in court.
‘Chad, I trusted you with my life,’ Alexis 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 wrote that Doerman raised her well and gave her an amazing life, but since the killing, she said her life has become something she wouldn’t wish on any family.
‘I don’t get to do any of the fun stuff anymore because they’re gone and you took their lives,’ Alexis wrote. ‘When you took those three boys lives away, you took mine and took my mom’s.’
‘I don’t think I will ever be able to hate you,’ Alexis added.
‘Yes, you did something so horrific and traumatic to those boys, but 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.’
