[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
New details have been released about the Ohio father who allegedly killed his three sons. As unbelievable as it sounds, the crime is even more horrifying than we imagined.
As we previously reported, 32-year-old Chad Doerman admitted to planning to kill his three sons last week. He apparently had intended to line them up to shoot them with a rifle. So, so horrifying. But things didn’t go according to plan…
Clayton, 7, Hunter, 4, and Chase, 3, were found and pronounced dead at the family home. Their mother sustained injuries as well, after being shot in the hand. Doerman is facing 21 charges, including aggravated murder, felonious assault, and kidnapping. Clermont County Prosecutor Mark Tekulve told WLWT on Friday he’s hoping for capital punishment:
“My goal is to have this man executed for slaughtering these three young boys. It is an incomprehensible act of horror that he perpetrated on this family.”
Obviously it’s horrific. But now, with more details being released to the public through Tekulve’s account on Friday, we’re really getting an idea as to what this prosecutor is saying. And we have to warn you, it is incredibly graphic, so proceed at your own discretion.
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According to Tekulve, 4-year-old Hunter was the first to be killed. The boy was “shot in the house, two times, then sustained two bullet wounds to the head causing his death.” Then, the next to be killed was 7-year-old Clayton, who tried to run away after his younger brother had been shot. He didn’t make it far. The prosecutor said:
“The second child shot was a 7-year-old who fled the residence, ran some 300 feet from the residence and was gunned down from behind by the defendant … [Doerman] then approached this little boy who was injured, incapacitated, alive, and shot him in the head twice from close distance.”
The third and final victim was 3-year-old Chase, whom the prosecutor says Doerman “ripped” right from his mom’s grasp:
“Then he went after the 3-year-old, he ripped the child from the mother’s arms and put a bullet in his head at close range.”
The mother was trying so hard to protect her last living son — this must have been when she sustained a bullet wound to the hand.
Tekulve went on to describe how the mother and the boys must have been terrified beyond reason, having to witness the horrific slaying of their loved ones:
“[I can] only imagine the terror these little boys felt and experienced as their father, their protector was murdering them. Unfortunately, their mother saw this. You can imagine the immense trauma and terror that she experienced and we will do the utmost in my office to see this defendant never sees the light of day again.”
During the hearing, Doerman was read all 21 of his charges and agreed that he understood them all — but even after his alleged confession to the crime, he pleaded not guilty!
It’s not looking good for his case, though, because in bodycam footage that was released last Friday, you can see him sitting on the stoop next to his sons’ dead bodies with the rifle in question nearby. It frankly seems pretty cut-and-dry.
It’s at this point, police threw him to the ground and handcuffed him, as he argued that he had “never” partaken in drugs, before quickly changing his story and saying he was clean now:
“Man, I ain’t trying to hurt nobody. I’m completely sober. Never done drugs in my life … I’m not trying to hurt you.”
During all this, the heartbroken 34-year-old mother can be heard screaming in agony in the background:
“They’re dead, aren’t they? What do I do? He took my life from me, my life! They’re so little!”
Gut-wrenching. You can see the bodycam footage for yourself (below):
Doerman is being held in custody without bail and his pretrial is set to begin on July 5.
Our hearts go out to the mother of the victims, as well as their other family and loved ones mourning this unimaginable loss.
[Image via Law & Crime Network/YouTube]