U.S. NEWS
Ohio father sentenced to life without parole in execution-style killings of 3 young sons

Prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty after Chad Doerman, 33, agreed to plead guilty to three counts of murder.

Aug. 2, 2024, 10:36 PM EDT
By Tim Stelloh

An Ohio father was spared the possibility of being put to death after he admitted Friday to fatally shooting his three young sons last year in a series of killings that prosecutors described as executions. … Clermont County Common Pleas Judge Richard Ferenc sentenced Chad Doerman, 33, to three life terms without the possibility of parole for the killings of Clayton, 7; Hunter, 4; and Chase, 3.

During a hearing Friday, prosecutors said they agreed to drop the aggravating factors that made Doerman eligible for the death penalty if he pleaded guilty to three counts of murder. Ferenc said the victims approved of the plea agreement.

Doerman also pleaded guilty to two counts of felonious assault that included the shooting of his wife — the boys’ mother — Laura Doerman, who pressed her thumb over the barrel of her husband’s rifle in an effort to protect one of their children.

“There was really nothing — despite desperately fighting to save the lives of her boys — that Laura Doerman could have done,” Clermont County Prosecutor Mark Tekulve said in court.

{snip}