Chad Doerman confession to police in death of 3 sons not admissible in trial, judge rules

A Clermont County judge has ruled that statements a man made to police confessing to killing his three sons will not be admissible in his trial.

Clermont County Common Pleas Judge Richard Ferenc said that Chad Doerman's rights were violated when he was interviewed by police for more than two hours in the wake of the June 15 killings.

Doerman is facing multiple counts of aggravated murder, kidnapping and felonious assault. He faces the death penalty if convicted.

In a hearing on the issue, Detective Michael Ross said Doerman, 33, was advised of and understood his Miranda rights before answering questions. However, Ross admitted he did not read those rights word for word, neglecting to say Doerman had the right to have a lawyer present for questioning.

According to the defense's motion to suppress, 45 minutes into the interview, Doerman asked: "Where's a lawyer?" Ross replied: "Laura?"

Ferenc said in his ruling that the statements made during this "custodial interview" will be suppressed. The judge said this was due to the detective not properly advising Doerman of his rights and failing to stop the interview when Doerman asked for a lawyer.

Ferenc also ruled that the interviewers were not coercive and that Doerman did offer the information voluntarily.

The judge referenced a second interview with Doerman and said Doerman's statements made at that time were still admissible.

Prosecutors said Doerman lined up the boys, ages 3, 4 and 7, at their home and executed them with a rifle as part of a plan he had been thinking about for months.

According to investigators, one of the boys tried to flee into a field, but Doerman "hunted" him down, brought him back to the house in Monroe Township and killed him.

The boys' mother and sister witnessed at least some of the incident. The mother was shot in the hand trying to protect one of her sons, prosecutors said.

Doerman has remained incarcerated at the Clermont County Jail since being arrested at his house last summer. He is scheduled to go to trial in July, though it is common for murder trials to be delayed.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Chad Doerman confession in death of sons not admissible, judge rules