The boys’ mother was also shot in the hand
An Ohio father read the Bible, told his children he loved them and made a cryptic call to his own father – saying his oldest son would be “the hardest” – before brutally murdering his three young children in his home. family, the Independent reported.
Chad Doerman, 33, shot and killed his sons Clayton, 7, Hunter, 4, and Chase, 3, in Monroe Township, about 75 miles west of Columbus, on June 15, 2023. On Friday, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences.
Disturbing new details have emerged about Doerman’s actions leading up to the murders and the final hours of the three boys’ lives.
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At a press conference Monday, Clermont County District Attorney Mark Tekulve revealed that on the day of the shooting, Doerman had lunch with his wife Laura and told her, “This will be my last good meal.”
Despite this ominous statement, Laura felt no need to “do anything to protect the family” and Doerman spent the afternoon tending to the yard and playing with the children.
Around 3:30 to 3:45 p.m., Doerman began reading the Bible to Hunter, Tekulve said. “He was walking around the house with the Bible, muttering ‘Chad knows what’s right. Chad knows what’s right,’” he said.
Just before 4 p.m., Doerman invited his family to take a nap with him in the master bedroom. His wife and three children entered the room with him while his 12-year-old stepdaughter watched television in another room.
When Doerman opened the gun safe, his wife was alarmed and told him, “You’re scaring me.”
What followed were events so harrowing they brought senior officers to tears, Tekulve told reporters at a separate news conference on Friday.
Doerman told the family he loved them and called his sons “the best boys ever.” Then he jumped out of bed, grabbed a .22 rifle from the safe, and his family initially worried about his safety rather than theirs, fearing he would kill himself.
“Laura is screaming, the boys are screaming, Laura is scared he’s about to kill himself,” Tekulve said. “Everyone is trying to discourage him, telling him they love him and begging him not to kill himself.”
According to a press release from the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office, the boys’ mother was also shot in the hand. She was sent to Cincinnati University Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries after being discovered outside the home. Prosecutors added that she was trying to take the gun away from Mr. Doerman and was shot in the process. She was sent to a hospital to treat her injuries. However, the age and extent of the daughter’s injuries are still unknown.
After the incident, the father was found sitting on a porch outside his residence and admitted to lining up the boys in the yard and shooting them during a later interview with authorities. He said he had been planning the murders for several months.
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