Chad Doerman: The evil family annihilator

For many years, I have lived in Clermont County, Ohio. I have written about many of my own personal experiences from working in the social services field for over eleven years. Additionally, I have written about many Ohio crime stories and missing people.

Having worked in social services for so many years, I became desensitized to many crimes we read about daily. However, a triple homicide occurred in Clermont County recently shocked and appalled me. Many of you are probably familiar with this story and share my sorrow and disbelief.

Around 4 p.m. last Thursday, a distraught mother called 911 for help after her sons were shot by their father. Clermont County deputies responded to a home in the 1900 block of Laurel Lindale Rd. in Monroe Township. Deputies found Chad Doerman, 32, sitting on some steps with the rifle he had just used to kill his sons.

They arrested Doerman for shooting and killing his three sons. When their mother intervened, he shot her as well. The boys were 3, 4 and 7. In an attempt to escape his father's wrath, one of the boys ran away, but was captured and killed along with his two brothers.

The victims' mother was an unidentified 34-year-old woman. In spite of being shot in the hand, she survived. Doerman is facing three counts of aggravated murder and his bond was set at $20 million. He is being held at the Clermont County jail.

CBS Austin reported that Doerman intended to kill his sons months ago, so it wasn't a random act of violence. According to Doerman's father, his son snapped.

What caused Doerman to snap?

At this point, I doubt if anyone cares what motivated him to kill his sons. The only thing we know about this evil monster is he chose to kill his sons just before Father's Day. This seems to have been a deliberate act. We can be sure that the death penalty was created for evil monsters like Chad Doerman.

As parents, we are responsible for protecting our children against evil. However, Doerman's actions prove he did not care about his children. What is truly disturbing is his attempt to portray himself as a fun-loving father to his sons. I reviewed his Facebook page. A photo of his sons on a Monster truck was used as his profile picture on June 11. There is also a photo of him and one of his sons with a fishing pole and another of him standing next to his boys. Each boy is smiling and giving a thumbs up. It's difficult to believe that these young men would all be dead within days of Doerman using a photo of his sons as his Facebook profile photo. He even did so knowing what he had planned for his sons.

Unfortunately, what Doerman did to his sons has happened too often. As defined by the term familicide, family annihilators are those who kill their own family members. John List and Chris Watts are two well-known men who killed their entire families.

There has been extensive research on why men and women kill their entire families. The most common perpetrators of these crimes are men. Although there are many theories behind these killings, it usually comes down to the killer maintaining control over his/her family.

For instance, a man may feel like he is losing control over his family. He may even be abusive and controlling. After a while, a protective mother may attempt to separate herself and her children from the controlling man. Once the man loses control over his wife and children, he may become enraged, spiteful and vindictive. Although millions of couples break up, the splits are often amicable as both parties can come to a peaceful resolution.

However, there are those who cannot handle a breakup and would rather kill their family than see them separated. Although the general public doesn’t know exactly what went through Chad Doerman’s head as he shot his three sons to death, it doesn’t matter. Nothing he can say can ever justify such an evil act.

He took the lives of three innocent boys who probably loved him. I saw a photo of him with tears running down his face after his arrest. I doubt the tears were for his sons. Instead, they were probably for himself because he knows he will spend the rest of his life in prison.

He may even know what happens to convicts in prison who commit crimes against children. If Doerman’s goal was to punish the mother of his sons, he succeeded. It’s agonizing for a parent to lose one child, but I cannot imagine simultaneously losing three. I realize there are no comforting words I can offer to the family of these young boys. However, as a parent myself, I offer my deepest sympathies to the family of these three precious angels. May they all rest in peace.

Marc is a longtime resident of Clermont County and an avid reader. Contact him through his website at www.themarcabe.com or through Facebook: www.Facebook.com/themarcabe or his Twitter account @themarcabe. Marc also has a podcast called Catch my Killer where he interviews family members seeking justice for their murdered loved ones. You can listen at www.catchmykiller.com.