Chad Doerman, 33, took a final selfie with his three young sons before he horrifically killed them all at their home, leaving their mother, Laura, in a never-ending nightmare
Chad Doerman, 33, gunned down his three sons, Clayton, 7, Hunter, 4, and Chase, 3, in a horrifying murder at their family home.
Chilling details of the 2023 killing were revealed by Prosecuting Attorney Mark Tekulve after the sentencing. It told the horror of the day he decided to end his children’s lives.
On that frightful day, Doerman had lunch with his wife, Laura and declared, “This will be my last good meal.” Despite this strange remark, Laura did not believe there was any reason to “do something to protect the family”, and her husband then spent the afternoon doing garden work and playing with the children.
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Between around 3.30 to 3.45pm, Doerman started reading the Bible to his four year old son Hunter. “He was walking around the house with the Bible, mumbling ‘Chad knows what’s right. Chad knows what’s right,'” Tekulve said.
Shortly before 4pm, Doerman asked his family to join him for a nap in the master bedroom. His wife and three sons entered the room with him. At the time, his 12 year old stepdaughter was watching television in another room.
When Doerman opened the gun safe, his wife became alarmed, telling him: “You’re scaring me.” What unfolded next was a sequence of events that brought seasoned officers to tears.
Doerman expressed his love for his family, describing his sons as the “best boys ever”, before he leapt from the bed and seized a. 22 rifle from the safe. The prosecutor revealed that his family’s initial concern was for his safety, fearing he might take his own life.
“Laura is screaming, the boys are screaming, Laura is frightened that he’s about to kill himself,” Tekulve narrated. “They’re all trying to discourage him, telling him that they love him and begging him not to kill himself.”
Laura attempted to dial 911 on her mobile, but Doerman flung it across the room and turned the gun on Hunter, shooting their four year old son multiple times.
He then pursued his wife and stepdaughter out of the house, wrestled his other two sons, Clayton and Chase, away from them, before fatally shooting them both. The 12 year old girl escaped unscathed, but her mum suffered a gunshot wound to her hand while attempting to shield one of her sons from Doerman’s onslaught.
The father-of-three was arrested that day and charged with aggravated murder, kidnapping and felonious assault. Doerman from Ohio, US, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
His lawyers argued that he should be excluded from the death penalty if convicted “due to serious mental illness at the time of (the) offence”.
Prosecutors sought the death penalty before striking a plea deal with Doerman, handing him three life sentences, stating it was best for the survivors, “Doing anything further would be an act of cruelty.”
Devastated, Laura said that while no punishment will ever bring her sons back, having a “guarantee that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars is what is best” for her family.
“I am in full agreement with how the criminal case was resolved, and the decision to end this criminal case with a plea and multiple life sentences brings some finality to the court case for my daughter and me,” Laura said in a statement.
“Remember them as the three little boys who loved fishing, go-karting, and swimming,” the statement continued.
“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 that that. I love you Clayton, Hunter, and Chase.”