MONROE TOWNSHIP, Ohio (Scripps News Cincinnati) — The father of the 32-year-old man who confessed to killing his three young sons says his son “just snapped.”
Keith Doerman, 59, said he has no exact explanation for what happened outside his son’s home last week, when Chad Doerman shot and killed his young children, who were 3, 4 and 7 years old.
The grandfather calls the triple-murder “just terrible.”
“(He) just snapped. I could tell in his eyes he’s hollow inside,” Keith Doerman said. “That wasn’t Chad standing at the arraignment, that was not him.”
Photo by: WCPO, Scripps News Cincinnati
In court Friday morning, Chad Doerman confessed to what the Clermont County prosecution called “the most heinous, monstrous crime.”
Court documents said Chad Doerman “confessed to planning and carrying out the deaths of victims involved for several months.”
Prosecutors said all three of the children were shot execution-style with a rifle. First responders discovered all three boys lying in the yard of a home. They were all pronounced dead at the scene; the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office said all life-saving measures were “unsuccessful.”
In court, prosecutors said Chad Doerman lined his three sons up, ready to shoot them. One of the boys was able to run into a nearby field, but he chased him and dragged the boy back to the property before shooting him, according to prosecutors.
Chad Doerman was found sitting on the front porch of his home next to the rifle. When police arrested him, he had a calm demeanor and didn’t resist when officers grabbed him and forced him to the ground to handcuff him.
He is currently being held in the Clermont County Jail on a $20 million cash bond.
Keith Doerman said he wishes to speak to his son, but he’s currently not allowed to.
“I don’t know if it was financial, I don’t know if it was mental, I don’t know if it was work related. I don’t know,” Keith Doerman said. “I can’t talk to him.”
The 32-year-old was charged with domestic violence in 2010 for allegedly choking his father, but a judge dismissed the case.
Keith Doerman himself said that charge was a misunderstanding. It had been resolved and there was “no story to that one.”
“He wasn’t that type of person,” Keith Doerman said. “He was a fun-loving guy.”
Though Keith Doerman said he’s angry with Chad. He referred to his son as a “super father,” and remembers him laughing and joking with his sons.
“He was a good kid,” Keith Doerman said while crying. “It’s awful. I can’t handle this no more.”
Chad Doerman’s next court appearance is scheduled June 26 for a preliminary hearing.
