‼️ HE SAID HE BELIEVED HE WAS BEING TESTED BY GOD. HOURS LATER, THREE LITTLE BOYS WERE ᴅᴇᴀᴅ — KILLED BY THEIR OWN FATHER.

Some tragedies are so devastating that people spend years trying to understand how they could ever happen.

The June 2023 deaths of Clayton, Hunter and Chase Doerman left an Ohio family shattered and a community struggling to comprehend how three young brothers could become victims inside their own home.

Clayton was 7 years old.

Hunter was 4.

Chase was only 3.

Their father, Chad Doerman, was later charged in connection with their deaths and ultimately accepted a plea agreement. Because the case did not proceed through a full trial, many questions surrounding his motives were not publicly explored in the same way they might have been during a trial.

Now, newly released interrogation footage is providing a disturbing look at what Doerman told investigators about his thinking before the killings.

During questioning, Doerman spoke repeatedly about God, sacrifice and a Bible story he remembered from childhood.

According to his statements to detectives, he believed he was being tested and claimed he had reached a point where he felt he could not refuse what he believed he had been commanded to do.

He described feeling as though he was already living in a place of suffering and darkness.

Investigators also examined Doerman’s behavior during the hours leading up to the killings.

That day, he reportedly returned home from work earlier than usual and spent time with his children.

His wife, Laura, was preparing lunch, and the family shared what should have been an ordinary meal together.

But according to information described in the investigation, Doerman made a statement that would later become one of the most chilling details of the case.

He reportedly told his wife that it would be his “last good meal.”

Later, Doerman contacted his father.

During that conversation, he reportedly said that Clayton would be the hardest one.

Before the killings, investigators said Doerman spent time reading the Bible and walking through the house. His behavior reportedly became increasingly concerning, with statements about knowing what was right.

His wife later told investigators that she was frightened by what she was witnessing.

Then Doerman retrieved a rifle from the family’s gun safe.

What followed changed the family forever.

According to investigators, Hunter was the first of the three brothers killed.

Their mother desperately tried to protect her children as the situation became a nightmare.

Clayton, the oldest, reportedly attempted to escape. Investigators said Doerman followed him and sH๏τ him.

The details are difficult to comprehend because these were not strangers caught in a random act of violence.

They were three young brothers inside their own home.

Children who should have been thinking about school, birthdays, games and growing up.

Instead, their lives ended in a tragedy that continues to haunt everyone who knew them.

The newly released interrogation footage does not erase the unanswered questions surrounding the case. It does, however, provide additional insight into what Doerman himself told investigators about his beliefs and thoughts before the killings.

Those statements are his account of what was happening in his mind and should be understood in that context.

For the family left behind, however, the most painful reality remains unchanged.

Clayton will never grow older.

Hunter will never get another birthday.

Chase will never have the chance to grow into the person he might have become.

💔 Three brothers. Three childhoods interrupted. Three lives that should have stretched far into the future.

Their names deserve to be remembered beyond the horrifying circumstances of their deaths.

🕊️ Clayton. Hunter. Chase. May they never be forgotten. ❤️