32-year-old Chad Doerman was indicted on charges of aggravated murder, kidnapping and assault for the June 15 deaths of his sons, according to Clermont County court records.
Clayton Doerman, 7, Hunter Doerman, 4, and Chase Doerman, 3, were all killed. Prosecutors say he admitted to planning the shooting, but at a Friday arraignment, Doerman entered a not-guilty plea.
Prosecutor Mark Tekulve told media that Doerman “slaughtered his three children in the most brutal fashion you can imagine,” WLWT-TV reported.
Inside the court, Tekulve revealed distressing details of Doerman’s murderous rampage.
“What we have here is a planned slaughter of three little boys, ages 7, 4, and 3,” Tekulve told the judge.
The three young boys killed by their father.
Tekulve said 4-year-old Hunter was shot first inside the house, before Doerman chased down 7-year-old Clayton “who fled the residence and ran some 300 feet from the residence and was gunned down from behind by the defendant.” Tekulve said.
“Then he went after the 3-year-old, and there was a struggle with the mother. He ripped the child from the mother’s arms.”
The three little boys were described in their obituary as full of unconditional love for each other and anyone they met. They loved fishing, baseball, staying up past their bedtime and laughing together, the obituary stated.
Their mother was shot in the hand trying to save her babies.
“My goal is to have this man executed for slaughtering these three little boys,’ Tekulve told the press.
“It is an incomprehensible act of horror that he perpetrated on this family.”
Chad Doerman sheds a tear as he stands just inside the Clermont County Municipal courtroom for his bond hearing. Photo / AP
Officials have not released a motive for the slayings, but Doerman’s father and his friends and neighbours have talked to the media after his behaviour.
Despite Doerman’s father saying his son was a “fun-loving guy”, those who know the accused have told a different story about his behaviour.
“He had a bad temper, really bad. I think he was a bomb ready to explode, Doerman’s friend Mark Holland told The Messenger, who reported that those who knew the couple said Doerman would regularly argue with his wife Laura.
Neighbour Richard Kincannon backed up the account, telling WCPO News: “He was angry every day. There wasn’t a day he didn’t yell at his wife and kids out there.”
Chad Doerman, who is accused of fatally shooting his three young sons. Photo / Clermont County Sheriff's Office
‘He hid a lot from me’
Doerman’s father spoke out earlier this week, saying he is “still trying to comprehend” how his son could have committed the crime.
Keith Doerman, 59, told the Daily Mail that he believed, despite his son’s admission the killings were planned, that his son “just snapped”.
Doerman Sr said that he had not been able to speak with his son and was seeking answers as to why his son slaughtered his grandchildren.
“There was something going on in his life that he couldn’t handle no more. I can’t talk to him, they aren’t letting me talk to him so I don’t have any answers. He probably hid a lot of stuff from me,” he said.
He also claimed his son was a “fun-loving guy” and insisted that he did not have a criminal record.
However, records show that Chad Doerman was charged in a 2010 domestic violence incident - for choking his father.
Police bodycam video from the aftermath of US father Chad Doerman’s admitted murder of his three young sons shows his chilling response to officers who descended on his rural Ohio property after reports emerged of his horror acts.
The footage shows armed officers cautiously approaching the property, only to find Doerman waiting calmly for them.
They order him to stand and he complies before officers force him to the ground and handcuff him.
He offers no resistance.
Chad Doerman is placed under arrest.
“They’re dead, aren’t they?” a woman’s voice yells.
Doerman reportedly confessed to authorities that the unspeakable act had been planned for months.
WCPO news reported that court documents stated the 32-year-old “confessed to planning and carrying out the deaths of victims involved for several months”.
He admitted to lining them up before executing them with a rifle, prosecutors said last week.
The deputies found three boys, ages 3, 4 and 7, outside the home with gunshot wounds and tried to save their lives, but the children died at the scene.
“They held these children knowing there was nothing they could do,” Clermont County’s chief prosecutor of Municipal Court, David Gast said at Doerman’s first appearance last week. “How do you unsee that sort of abomination?”
“This was the man that every day they woke up looking to for protection, love and guidance in all things, ...” Gast said. “He was their world, he was their guardian and he executed them in cold blood.”
