Days after Chad Doerman admitted to murdering his three young sons with a rifle and was sentenced to life in prison without parole, Ohio prosecutors held a press conference revealing additional shocking evidence in the case, which one of them once called the “worst crime” he had ever seen. We now have a clearer picture of what the 33-year-old killer said and did in the days and hours leading up to the family execution murders.
Clermont County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Tekulve began by revealing that several days before the murders, Doerman took his sons Clayton, 7, Hunter, 4, and Chase, 3, out for a “boys day” at a dirt racing track and went fishing with them.
The day before the murders, he woke his 14-year-old stepdaughter Alexis in the morning and apologized for anything he’d ever done to hurt her, which was described as highly unusual. That night, he coached third base at his son Clayton’s baseball game. On the day of the June 15, 2023, murders, Doerman searched YouTube for the song “Happy in Hell” and, at lunch that afternoon, after coming home early from work, he told his wife Laura Doerman, “This will be my last good meal.”
During this time, nothing seemed amiss at work. Doerman, an Insulator’s Union member, gave conflicting statements about whether he had trouble sleeping in the lead-up to the horrific crimes.
He told his mother he was having confusing feelings, but she didn’t call Laura, 911, or a crisis hotline. Instead, she suggested he go to the Little Clinic inside a Kroger in Clermont County. When he went to Kroger on June 15, 2023, after leaving work around 9:30 a.m., video showed no one was at the desk. It was, according to Tekulve, “not the right place to go” for psychological feelings.
The video showed Doerman walking into Kroger, wearing the same clothes he had on when arrested. He walked through a vitamin aisle, folded his arms, and looked at products without taking anything off the shelves. He went to the Little Clinic desk, leaned on it for a minute or two, then walked away. On the way home, he picked up a 16-ounce can of Bud Light.
After returning to the Laurel Lindale Road residence, his family came back from running errands. His sons were happy to see him, and they played together. During lunch prepared by Laura, Chad said, “This will be my last good meal,” which she worried was a suicidal statement.
Prosecutors said Chad Doerman called his father and said, “Clayton’s going to be the hardest.” He read the Bible to Hunter, mumbled to himself, “Chad knows what’s right,” and told his sons around 4 p.m. that he loved them and they did nothing wrong.
When the family went into a bedroom for an afternoon nap, Chad jumped out of bed and grabbed a rifle from the gun safe. Laura believed he was going to kill himself.
Chad took Laura’s phone when she tried to call 911 and told her, “It’s too late.”
Prosecutors played distressing audio of Laura screaming for help during a 911 call, with gunshots heard in the background. The dispatcher repeatedly told her to “calm down,” not yet understanding what was happening.
Bodycam video showed Doerman waiting on the front step for deputies to arrive. The rifle was next to him. When Clermont County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded, they took Doerman to the ground and handcuffed him. One deputy asked, “What are you doing, man?” Doerman replied, “Can I roll over? I ain’t gonna hurt ya. I ain’t gonna hurt nobody.” After again being asked what was going on, he said, “Nothing. Can I stand up? It’s kind of uncomfortable.” Video recorded after he was taken into custody also showed him banging his head against a wall.
Prosecutors initially pursued the death penalty based on the evidence of planning, the severity of the crimes, and a confession. However, Common Pleas Judge Richard P. Ferenc ruled in March that Doerman’s “full admission” had to be suppressed because a detective failed to properly advise him of his Miranda rights and continued questioning after he asked for an attorney.
Doerman then shifted his defense strategy to plead not guilty by reason of insanity and mental illness, claiming he was in a state of psychosis on the day of the murders.
Months later, Doerman pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and felonious assault charges. The latter two crimes involved wounding Laura Doerman with gunfire as she tried to save her children and attacking Alexis, who was watching TV in the living room when the shooting began.
Prosecutors reiterated their view that Doerman knew what he was doing before, during, and after the murders. Twelve days after the murders, during a jailhouse visit with his brother, Doerman compared himself to Hitler, saying Hitler made global news and so did he, without expressing remorse.
With the support of the surviving victims, the state and defense reached a plea agreement that took the death penalty off the table in exchange for life without parole, ending Doerman’s “serious mental illness” claims.
Laura Doerman said Friday that she and her children “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.”
She added she was “in full agreement with how the criminal case resolved,” as 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.”
“No punishment will ever bring my boys back,” the grieving mother said. “Having a guarantee that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars is what is best for my family.”
Laura asked for privacy and for the public to remember Clayton, Hunter, and Chase for how they lived, not how they died.
“Remember them as the little boys who were always at the baseball fields or running outside. Remember them as the boys who love to have fun and were inseparable from one another,” she said. “Their lives are not only about what happened to them — they are so much more than that.”
During victim impact statements, which were not allowed to be recorded, stepdaughter Alexis looked directly at Doerman as a prosecutor read her statement, according to Angenette Levy.
“Nothing will ever be the same again because of you,” she said. “Softball will never be the same… you made me a good ball player. I always want to tell you because I know you would be so proud of me… And Chad I still work very hard on my grades and I was on the honor roll this year.”
Alexis said Christmas mornings aren’t the same anymore, and that when Doerman murdered her brothers Clayton, Hunter, and Chase, he took her mom’s life and her own life too. Laura’s statement said that Chad “ripped away and destroyed forever” the life she once knew.
“I grieve the loss of Clayton, Hunter, and Chase every day. I grieve the life they never got to live,” their mother said.