An Ohio father who fatally gunned down his three kids last summer listened to a creepy song in his car just hours before, officials have revealed.
Clermont County Prosecuting Attorney Mark J Tekulve gave a briefing on Monday after Chad Doerman pleaded guilty on Friday to three counts of murder.
The 33-year-old wept in court as he admitted to gunning down his sons Clayton, seven, Hunter, four, and Chase, three, at their family home in Monroe Township, 20 miles east of Cincinnati, on June 15, 2023.
He also pleaded guilty to two counts of felonious assault on his then-wife, Laura Doerman, who tried to stop the murders, and his teenage stepdaughter, who has not been named due to her age and status as a victim in the case.
Tekulve revealed that on the morning of the killings, Doerman searched YouTube for a song called Happy in Hell by Colt Ford as he drove to work.
Chad Doerman, the Ohio father who fatally gunned down his three kids last summer, listened to a creepy song in his car just hours before, officials have revealed. (Pictured: Doerman at his sentencing in court on Friday)
Doerman admitted to gunning down his sons Clayton, seven, Hunter, four, and Chase, three, at their family home in Monroe Township, 20 miles east of Cincinnati on June 15, 2023
Tekulve displayed the song’s chorus, which comprises the sinister lyrics: ‘I’m in a catch twenty-two/ Damned if I don’t damned if I do/ I’m in love with another girl/ And I’ve been dreamin’ in another world/ I’ve been livin’ with the devil/ While I’m creepin’ with an angel/ All’s well that ends well/ I guess I’ll be happy in hell.’
Doerman then called his father around midday and told him ‘Clayton is going to be the hardest one’ – a reference to the killings which was only clear to his father in retrospect – Tekulve said.
The prosecutor also showed chilling surveillance footage of Doerman waiting for help which never came at a Little Clinic at his local Kroger’s that same day.
Doerman waited in the clinic – which is intended to provide help for common illnesses – for just two minutes and left without speaking to anyone.
He is seen nonchalantly leaning on the counter before leaving the store.
The Ohio father then purchased a Bud Light beer before returning home to his family.
Doerman made several strange comments in the hours before the killing, Tekulve said – but nothing which could have alerted his wife to what was about to happen.
He admitted to killing his sons Clayton, 7, Hunter, 4, and Chase, 3, when he was arrested on June 15, 2023, in Monroe Township, 20 miles east of Cincinnati
Doerman updated his Facebook page to include this picture just six days before the murders
Doerman will serve three life sentences without parole, but not face the death penalty
He told his wife ‘this will be my last good meal’ as they ate lunch together, and unlocked the gun safe later in the day.
But he also spent much of the day playing with his family as normal, just as he had coached them at baseball practice the night before as though nothing was untoward.
‘Between around 1pm and 3.30pm the defendant spends the afternoon doing yard work, playing with the kids, nothing out of the ordinary, nothing to alert Laura that she needed to do something to protect the family,’ Tekulve said.
‘At 3.30, 3.45pm, he begins to read the bible to Hunter. He’s walking around the house with the Bible mumbling «Chad knows what’s right, Chad knows what’s right».’
‘Shortly before 4pm he gets into the gun safe, leaving it unlocked. Laura says «you are scaring me». Chad says «I’m just playing around».
‘He did this to again allay any concerns about her safety, his safety, or the safety of the boys. He actively deceived her.’
Tekulve added that by 4pm Doerman was telling his boys that he ‘loves them and they did nothing wrong’ and they were ‘the best boys ever’.
The prosecutor then described the moment Doerman turned the gun on his sons.
A child’s bike, along with evidence markers, in the front yard of the home in Monroe Township
Police body camera footage shows the arrest of Chad Doerman, who was sitting on his front steps when police arrived after he shot his three sons, ages 7, 4 and 3
A tearful Doerman appeared in court for his arraignment on Friday
‘Around 4pm, on that day of the killing, the defendant and Laura and all three boys go into the master bedroom,’ he said.
‘Laura is concerned in the back of her mind that he’s going to do something to hurt himself.
‘Suddenly, after lying down, the defendant jumps up, grabs the 22 rifle from the safe, and terror fills the room.
‘Laura is screaming, the boys are screaming, Laura is frightened that he’s about to kill himself.
‘They’re all trying to discourage him, telling him that they love him and begging him not to kill himself.
‘Laura gets the phone out to call 911. He grabs the phone, throws it across the room, and tells her, it’s too late.’
‘And then what I can only imagine – well I can’t imagine – he points the rifle at Hunter, and shoots him multiple times.’
Doerman then shot the younger two boys, and injured his wife as she tried to save them.
On Friday, Judge Richard Ferenc jailed Doerman for three life sentences without parole, and a minimum 16 years for the assault charges. He will not face the death penalty.
The boys’ distraught mother told the court she approved of the plea deal, but said the decision would come as a surprise to some even though it ‘brings some finality to the court case for my daughter and me’.
