More than three years after Chad Doerman fatally sH๏τ his three young sons at the family’s home in Monroe Township, Clermont County, Ohio, newly released police interview footage has provided the most detailed public account of the statements he made to investigators in the hours after the killings. In the recordings, Doerman told detectives he carried out the acts “for God” and believed he was fulfilling a divine test.

The events took place on the afternoon of June 15, 2023. Doerman returned home from work earlier than usual. According to court records and the interrogation video, he walked through the house holding a Bible and repeatedly saying phrases such as “Chad knows what’s right.” He later opened a gun safe, loaded a rifle, and sH๏τ his sons—Clayton, age 7; Hunter, age 4; and Chase, age 3. When deputies arrived, the boys’ bodies were found outside the residence and Doerman was sitting nearby with the weapon. Other family members were also harmed during the incident; the children’s mother was injured while trying to protect them, and a stepdaughter managed to escape and seek help.

In the interrogation room that evening, Doerman initially gave short or evasive answers. As the interview continued, he expressed the belief that he and those around him were in Hell and that the world was ending. He spoke of feeling scared and of having sought help for troubling thoughts in the period leading up to that day. He referenced a Bible story his father had once read to him about making sacrifices, and he said the idea had remained with him after attending a church service in the nearby community of Amelia some time earlier.

Doerman told the detectives that God tests people and that such a command cannot be refused or stopped. When an investigator asked whether he had followed through, Doerman replied that he had done so “for God.” He also indicated he had considered a specific order in which family members should be involved and expressed regret about the sequence that actually occurred. A toxicology report later showed alcohol in his system but no other substances.

Prosecutors described the killings as planned. Doerman had reportedly been thinking about the actions for an extended period. In August 2024, he entered a guilty plea to three counts of aggravated murder and two counts of felonious ᴀssault. Under a plea agreement that removed the possibility of capital punishment, he was sentenced to three consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. Until the August 2026 release of the interrogation videos by the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office, a clear statement of motive from Doerman himself had not been made public.

The newly available recordings have brought renewed attention to a case that shocked the Cincinnati region and beyond. They show Doerman linking his actions to religious interpretations and a conviction that he was living in a state of Hell from which he believed his family needed to be removed. Investigators and court records continue to characterize the events as deliberate. Doerman remains in prison serving the life sentences imposed in 2024.

Anyone with additional information related to the case is directed to contact local law enforcement or the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office.

Sources : FOX19 NOW