A judge has ruled that a statement from a man confessing to police that he killed his family can no longer be used in court.
Chad Doerman, from Ohio, was arrested in June 2023 after police officers accused him of fatally shooting his three sons at their Monroe Township home, as reported by NBC News.
He allegedly lined up his children: seven-year-old Clayton, four-year-old Hunter, and three-year-old Chase, and "executed" them with a rifle in a planned attack, a prosecutor said at his bond hearing last summer.
When authorities responded to the residence - which was about 25 miles southwest of Cincinnati - they found the 33-year-old sitting on a step outside the home. His wife and daughter, who later flagged down a neighbor for help, both told police they witnessed the tragedies.
Doerman has since been indicted on 21 charges, including nine counts of aggravated murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
According to PEOPLE, authorities disclosed that during Doerman's interrogation, he shared an incriminating confession about the killings.
"The defendant made multiple statements to law enforcement, such as 'I did it. Take me to jail', 'I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have shot [redacted] and them.' The defendant also gave a statement during an audio and video recorded interview, during which he admitted to having been thinking about shooting his sons since October," the documents said, WCPO reported.
However, in January, Doerman's legal team filed a motion to stop the admission, alleging that cops had failed to properly inform the suspect of his Miranda rights and continued to question him even after he had asked for an attorney.
Judge Richard Ferenc has now ruled that prosecutors would not be able to use statements, stating: "The Defendant's Miranda rights were violated when the custodial interrogation continued after the defendant had unequivocally and unambiguously invoked his right to counsel when he told [the detective], 'I'll wait for a lawyer, I don’t know, give me a couple of days, I can talk to a lawyer and get nice good answers.'"
Per WCPO, court documents filed in Clermont County reveal that on the day of the murders, Doerman came home from work early and asked his wife and his sons to join him in the master bedroom for a nap. During this time, the boys' sister was watching television in the family room of the home.
After lying down with his wife and three sons, the suspect got back out of bed and retrieved the rifle from the gun safe. He then inserted a loaded magazine into the rifle and shot one of his sons twice. One of the boys tried to flee, but police alleged that Doerman "hunted him down" and shot him.
In all, nine total shots were fired: one boy was shot once, and the other two were each shot four times. The boys' mother was injured when trying to protect her sons from gunshots.
Doerman is set to go on trial in July.
