The Ohio father, who is accused of lining up and executing his three sons, ages seven, four and three years in a row, spent months planning the gruesome murders, according to police.
Chad Doerman, 32, who is also charged with wounding the boys’ mother in the family’s home, has been charged with aggravated murder, authorities said.
Clermont County Municipal Court chief prosecutor David Gast said at Doerman’s arraignment Friday that one of the boys tried to flee to a nearby field, but Doerman “hunted” his son and brought him back to their home before killing him .
Doerman’s bail is set at $20 million. He is currently being held at the Clermont County Jail. The horror took place in the town of Monroe Township, about 20 miles east of Cincinnati.
Gast called the murders the worst crime he had ever witnessed, and that Doerman confessed to planning the murders months in advance.
Body CCTV footage shows the arrest of Chad Doerman, who was sitting on his doorstep when police arrived after allegedly shooting his three sons aged 7, 4 and 3
Doerman updated his Facebook page with this photo six days ago
Deputies responded to the home in Monroe Township shortly before 4:30 p.m. Thursday after receiving two 911 calls, one apparently from the mother screaming that “her babies had been shot” and another from a passing motorist who said a girl about the ran off the street said her father was killing people, according to a press release from the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office.
The deputies found three boys outside the house with gunshot wounds and tried to save their lives, but the children died at the scene.
Haunting police bodycam footage shows the moment officers arrived to find Chad sitting calmly next to his gun on Thursday afternoon, shortly after he allegedly executed his young sons.
Doerman was detained without incident after being found on the steps of his Ohio estate.
“I’m not going to hurt anyone,” Doerman told arresting officers as he told them his dog wouldn’t bite them.
‘Shut up, dude. You have the right to remain silent. Fuck it, use it,” a deputy tells him.
Mug shot of Chad Doerman released by the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office
He shared several recent photos of the boys before he was due to execute them last Thursday
The sheriff’s office said the 34-year-old mother, who was not identified, was outside the home and had been shot in the hand while trying to protect her sons from their father.
She was taken to a hospital with injuries that did not appear life-threatening.
“They held these kids knowing there was nothing they could do,” Gast said. ‘How do you avoid such horrors?
“This was the man they woke up to every day seeking protection, love and guidance in all things,…” Gast added. “He was their world, he was their guard, and he executed them in cold blood.”
The sheriff’s office said there were no signs of a break-in at the home and detectives are not looking for any other suspects.
Doerman later confessed to lining up his three young sons and shooting them one by one, while his terrified daughter ran, screaming that her father was “killing everyone,” prosecutors said Friday.
He is also accused of shooting the boys’ mother in the hand. He was charged with aggravated murder on the death of his children.
Officials have not released a motive behind the shooting.
Neighbors in Monroe Township, about 75 miles west of Columbus, reported hearing several shots in what they say is usually a quiet, calm neighborhood.
“I was sitting in the garage and all of a sudden I hear ‘boom, boom’ and five more, and I thought, ‘That’s seven shots,'” Alexis Spoonamore recalled. WLWT. ‘I’m shaking. It was a lot. It was bad.’
Another neighbor, Dan Thomas, told the station that nothing like this has ever happened in their community.
‘I’m shocked, to be honest. We moved here six years ago, and the place is amazing… You hate to see things like that everywhere.”
A child’s bicycle, along with evidence, in the front yard of the Monroe Township home where three brothers, ages three, four and seven, were killed, execution-style, according to Clermont’s chief prosecutor
Several law enforcement agencies responded to a shooting on Laurel Lindale Road in Monroe Township Thursday afternoon
A tearful Doerman appeared in court on Friday for his arraignment
Doerman’s father, Keith Doerman, 59, said he and his wife were “still trying to understand” how their son allegedly killed his own boys, but added that they have “no answers.” “He just snapped,” Keith said.
“There was something going on in his life that he couldn’t handle anymore. I can’t talk to him, they won’t let me talk to him, so I have no answers. He probably kept a lot of things from me.”
Chad’s father said he just visited his son last week.
“He seemed fine,” Keith Doerman said. “He was a joker and a jolly fellow.”
He also insisted that Chad had no criminal history or mental illness. Chad was once charged with a domestic violence incident in 2010, where he allegedly strangled his father.
However, the case was dropped when Keith Doerman failed to appear as a witness for the prosecution.
The elder Doerman told the Post that the Cincinnati Enquirer’s account was false and that the “judge dismissed the case.”
Just days before their gruesome deaths, Doerman appears to have changed his profile picture on Facebook to one of his three young sons.
He also posted several photos of himself with the boys in recent days. On June 11, a photo showed Doerman with his three sons all giving a thumbs up.
“Grandma loves this picture,” said a woman named Gloria Doerman.
A friend painted a slightly different picture of the suspect. “He was in a bad mood, very bad. I think he was a bomb about to explode,” said friend Mark Holland The messenger.
A neighbor, Richard Kincannon, echoed that sentiment in a separate interview WCPO.
“He was angry every day. There wasn’t a day he didn’t yell at his wife and kids,” Kincannon said.
The day before the horror unfolded, the president of the baseball league where the boys played said she had seen the family.
“He told the boys to get into their car seats. Be safe. You wouldn’t have thought anything. Just normal typical conversations with another family on the ball field,” Kristin Bennett said WLWT.
While their team’s assistant coach, Brandon Allen, called the brothers “incredible kids.”
“We were told that these kids were talented athletes and loved baseball. Their coaches remember these incredible kids. You can’t help but think of all the memories you had,” Allen said.
“They were typical guys. They were good guys. They loved playing football, just everything you could want in a little boy you coach,” he added.
a GoFundMe established for the family and funeral expenses for the boys have raised over $200,000.
Crowdfunding organizer Rachel Brown referred to the child’s mother as her sister in a post.
“My sister lost her three wonderful babies yesterday. Nothing will make this better, it will never work out. But please, if you can find it in your heart to help ease the financial burden of this tragedy, please donate. No one should have to go through this,” she wrote.
Doerman will appear in court on June 26 for a preliminary hearing. Mark Tekulve, Clermont County prosecutor, did not say whether his office will seek the death penalty.