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Chad Doerman's 'Highly Unusual' Behavior Before Murdering Three Sons Revealed
9 hours ago
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The days leading up to and the morning of the murders are detailed by prosecutors, as Doerman allegedly admitted to "having some confusing feelings," commented on eating his "last good meal," and called his father with a chilling message before killing his three sons.
Ohio prosecutors have shed more light on Chad Doerman's alleged behavior leading up to the murders of his three sons, who were 3, 4 and 7 when brutally killed by their father.
In an hour-long press conference on Monday, Clermont County prosecuting attorney Mark Tekulve detailed the days before the fatal June 15, 2023 incident, as well as the morning of the deadly shooting. The presser comes days after Doerman accepted a plea agreement and was sentenced to life in prison.
He pled guilty to three counts of aggravated murder -- one for each of his sons, Clayton, 7, Hunter, 4, and Chase, 3 -- and two counts of felonious assault, for attacks on his wife and stepdaughter. With the plea deal, the death penalty was taken off the table.
Per Tekulve, Doerman worked full-time as a member of the Insulator's Union, while his wife Laura stayed home with their three sons -- homeschooling one of them -- and stepdaughter Alexis.
He noted that before the June 2023 murders, there were no police reports regarding any disturbances at the home, saying that, "for all intents and purposes, to the outside world the family seemed happy."
Below is the prosecution's timeline of events leading up to the shooting.
Prosecutors Detail His Behavior Before Murders
June 10: Doerman took his sons to to races at the local dirt track for a "boys day," while encouraging his wife and stepdaughter to go shopping and spend time together. In police interviews, Doerman later reported no issues sleeping that night ... with Tekulve saying there was "no indication of any trouble to come."
June 11: Doerman took the boys fishing, with no "reports of any abnormal behavior." Speaking with investigators after the murders, Doerman allegedly provided "conflicted statements" on whether he slept well that evening.
June 12: A Monday, he went to work, with nothing unusual or abnormal about his behavior reported by coworkers. Again, he later gave conflicting statements about sleep, but eventually said he didn't sleep "too good" that evening.
June 13: Went to work again, came home and worked on his vehicle's headlights. Like the previous day, he gave conflicting statements regarding sleep, but eventually said he "didn't sleep too good either" on that night.
June 14, Morning: Doerman woke his stepdaughter up before leaving for work around 4-5AM -- something Tekulve said was "a highly unusual thing to do -- telling her he loves her and apologizing for "whatever I've done to you and for anything I've done to hurt you." He then went to work as usual, nothing abnormal reported.
June 14, Evening: Doerman coached his son Clayton's baseball game the night before the murders. The entire family went to the baseball game and believed that, other than appearing distracted, the defendant was acting normally. The defendant gave multiple reports that he couldn't sleep at all that night.
The Day of the Murders
While heading to work on June 15, the day of the murders, Doerman allegedly searched YouTube for a song titled, "Happy In Hell," by Colt Ford.
Tekulve pointed out the lyrics in his presser, which include, "Am I her shinin' light or just her darkest day. I wonder if she'll leave, hell I wonder if she'll stay. Oh, God, I'm so confused, is it a lie or truth. I'm in the crossroads, tell me which one to choose. Is there a right or wrong? It's gettin' hard to tell."
His coworkers reported nothing abnormal about his behavior at work, though he left for the day early, around 9:30 in the morning. He was then seen perusing the supplement/vitamin aisle at a local Kroger, before walking over to the "Little Clinic" inside the store because, per Tekulve, "his mother suggested he go there" after he expressed to her he was "having some confusing feelings."
Inside the Kroger, Tekulve pointed out, Doerman was wearing the same outfit seen in bodycam footage later that day, after murdering his sons. He also noted that Doerman's mother never alerted anyone about her son's "confused feelings" -- including his wife, Laura, police or a crisis hotline. Doerman left the store without buying anything or talking to anyone at the clinic.
On the way home, he stopped to buy a 16oz Bud Light, then went out to his shed when he got to his house. Shortly after, his family got home from running errands, with the boys "happy" to see their dad. He played with them, while Laura made them lunch.
"While eating lunch, the Defendant tells his wife that 'this will be his last good meal,'" said Tekulve. "This comment, along with other similar comments, led his wife to believe that the Defendant was contemplating suicide."
Around 12:50pm, he also called his father and allegedly said, "Clayton's going to be the hardest."
As the day continued, he did yard work and was playing with his kids before, around 3:30pm, he started reading the Bible to son Hunter. Per Tekulve, he was "walking around the house with the Bible mumbling, 'Chad knows what's right. Chad knows what's right." He then opened up the gun safe, leaving it unlocked and concerning his wife in the process.
"His wife tells him he's scaring her, and he responds, 'I'm just playing around,'" said Tekulve, who believed he "actively deceived her" to calm her down.
Around 4pm, per Tekulve, Doerman "continuously" started telling the boys that he "loves them and [they] did nothing wrong" and that they're "the best boys ever" ... before he, the boys and Laura went into the primary bedroom to lay down. Doerman then allegedly jumped up "and grabs a rifle from the safe," leaving his entire family "convinced [he] was going to kill himself."
"Terror fills the room. Laura is screaming, the boys are screaming, Laura is frightened he's about to kill himself," Tekulve said, claiming they all pleaded with him not to kill himself while telling Doerman that they love him. As Laura reached for a phone to call 911, Doerman allegedly grabbed it, threw it across the room and said, "It's too late." He then shot Hunter multiple times as Laura, Alexis and the other two boys watched -- hitting Hunter in the torso, stomach and twice in the right side of the head.
As Laura attempted to revive Hunter, Doerman then allegedly chased after Clayton -- first knocking him to the ground, before shooting him twice in the head, as well.
Alexis, meanwhile, grabbed Chase and tried to run for help. Ring camera footage from a neighbor was shown, in which she could be heard screaming, "Please help me! Please don't shoot me!"
Doerman allegedly held his stepdaughter at gunpoint, forcing her to put down the boy -- who then ran and hid from his father behind a nearby trash bin while Alexis ran for help. Doerman then pulled the trigger to shoot Chase in the head, as well, but the magazine was empty. As he reloaded, Laura began to fight with him, at one point putting her hand over the barrel of the rifle "in an effort to save Chase." She was injured, Doerman regained control, and then killed Chase in front of his mother.
He then lined all three boys next to each other outside, as Laura attempted to revive them. Following a second 911 call -- the first was disconnected -- Sheriff's deputies arrived on the scene, with the ensuing arrest picked up on bodycam footage.
While in the police cruiser, the defendant can be heard saying, "Tell them I did it. Take me to jail."
Prosecutor Lara Baron Allen also took to the podium and said Doerman was never diagnosed with any mental health condition before the incident -- as defense initially plead not guilty by reason of insanity and mental illness. Allen said a court expert felt he didn't meet the criteria for NGRI, despite believing he was likely suffering from a mood disorder at the time of the murders.
She also played a couple of phone calls from jail. In one, Doerman said he didn't feel remorse for what happened; in another, he compared himself to Hitler for making worldwide news.
When asked whether prosecutors have any idea why he went on a killing spree, Tekulve wouldn't speculate.
"No idea. Don't know why. That probably will never be answered," he said.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org . All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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