Ohio father says he killed his 3 sons ‘for God’ in newly released video

Download the FREE FOX19 NOW news app for iPhone

Download the FREE FOX19 NOW news app for Android

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - Chad Doerman said he “knew what he had to do” after attending a church service in Amelia — the same day he killed his three sons and tried to kill two other family members.

Doerman pleaded guilty and was convicted of three counts of murder and two counts of felonious assault in August 2024. Although the plea put an end to the trial, a motive was never revealed.

According to newly released videos and police interviews obtained by FOX19 NOW, Doerman told detectives he shot his sons – Chase, 3; Hunter, 4; and Clayton, 7 – “for God.”

The murders happened in June 2023 after the Clermont County father came home earlier than usual from work. He grabbed a Bible and began walking around his house mumbling, “Chad knows what’s right.”

Moments later, he grabbed a rifle out of his gun safe, loaded it, and started executing his family one by one.

By the time police arrived at the family’s Monroe Township home, they found the three boys’ bodies lined up in the yard while Doerman was sitting outside with the rifle on his lap, body camera footage showed.

He was arrested and taken in for questioning.

Father believed it was ‘the end of the world’

Inside a small interrogation room wearing blood-stained clothes, detectives began trying to understand the horrific scene they witnessed.

At first, Doerman was not cooperative, often responding, “I don’t know” to their questions.

Halfway through the hours-long questioning, Doerman insinuated he thought he was in Hell.

Doerman: “Am I in Hell?”

Detective 1: “No.”

Doerman: “This is Hell.”

Detective 1: “No, Chad. We’re having a conversation.”

Doerman: “This is Hell right here.”

Detective 2: “Why would you be in Hell?”

Doerman: “Because it’s the end of the world.”

In the video, Doerman said he had been looking for help because he continued to have bad thoughts about being in Hell.

“What were the thoughts going through your mind when you were asking everybody for help and they wouldn’t help you? What was going on, what were you thinking about,” the detective asked.

“I was scared because we are all in Hell,” Doerman said. “This is the fiery gates of f****** Hell. And Jesus is coming. You don’t know who’s going to get stuck and who’s not.”

God tested him, asked him to kill his family, Doerman says

Doerman told detectives his dad read him a story from the Bible about making sacrifices to God. He says he recalled that same story after he went to church with his family in Amelia “a while ago,” and he had not stopped thinking about it since.

Although he never said the name of the scripture, the story of Abraham and Isaac is the most similar to what he is referencing.

According to Genesis 22, God tests Abraham by commanding him to kill his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice. Before Abraham kills Isaac, an angel stops him because he had demonstrated his willingness to obey.

Doerman: “He tests you and you have to do it. You can’t deny it. You have to do it. You can’t stop.”

Detective 2: “And you did.”

Doerman: “For God. And now I’m in Hell. And he’s gonna come down and it’s gonna be a mess. And I feel so bad because I should’ve done [redacted name] first so that [redacted name] didn’t suffer.”

The father of four said had an “order” in which he was supposed to shoot his family.

“I messed up,” he said. “In order to go to Heaven, in order for it all to work, I thought it’d be 4-3-2-1. And I would never shoot myself, because if you shoot yourself, you go to Hell.”

Detectives asked him when he came up with the plan. Doerman said he did not know but said he was feeling “sick to his stomach” about it.

“There were signs all over the f****** place. They were walking like zombies. It’s gonna be a nightmare down here. It’s gonna be a mess,” he said. “And I’m not gonna have my family anywhere near harm.”

In addition to the investigation’s interviews and videos, a toxicology report revealed Doerman did not have any drugs the day he executed his sons, but he did test positive for alcohol in his system.

RELATED | Judge says police violated rights of man accused of killing his 3 sons

After pleading guilty to the murders, Doerman was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As part of his plea deal, he avoided the death penalty.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.