An Ohio father read from the Bible, told his children he loved them, and made a cryptic call to his own father-saying his eldest boy would be “the hardest one”-before brutally murdering his three young sons at their family home, the Independent reported. 

Chad Doerman, 33, shot and killed his sons Clayton, 7, Hunter, 4, and Chase, 3, in Monroe Township, about 75 miles west of Columbus, on June 15, 2023. On Friday, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three consecutive life terms in prison.

Disturbing new details have emerged about Doerman’s actions leading up to the murders and the final hours of the three young boys’ lives.

Also Read| US Man Lined Up And Shot 3 Sons, Police Say Attack Planned Over Several Months

In a press briefing on Monday, Clermont County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Tekulve revealed that on the day of the shooting spree, Doerman had lunch with his wife Laura and told her, “This will be my last good meal.”

Despite this ominous statement, Laura did not feel the need to “do something to protect the family,” and Doerman spent the afternoon doing yard work and playing with the children.

Around 3:30 to 3:45 p.m., Doerman began reading the Bible to Hunter, Tekulve said. “He was walking around the house with the Bible, mumbling ‘Chad knows what’s right. Chad knows what’s right,'” he said.

Just before 4 p.m., Doerman asked his family to join him for a nap in the master bedroom. His wife and three sons entered the room with him while his 12-year-old stepdaughter watched television in another room.

When Doerman opened the gun safe, his wife grew alarmed and told him, “You’re scaring me.”

What followed were events so harrowing that they brought experienced officers to tears, Tekulve told reporters in a separate press briefing on Friday.

Doerman told his family he loved them and called his sons the “best boys ever.” Then he jumped up from the bed, grabbed a .22 rifle from the safe, and his family initially worried for his safety rather than their own, fearing he would kill himself.

“Laura is screaming, the boys are screaming, Laura is frightened that he’s about to kill himself,” said Tekulve. “They’re all trying to discourage him, telling him that they love him and begging him not to kill himself.”

According to a press release from the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office, the mother of the boys was also shot in the hand. She was sent to University Hospital in Cincinnati for non-life-threatening injuries after being discovered outside the house. The prosecutors added that she was trying to take the gun away from Mr Doerman and was shot during the same. She was sent to a hospital to be treated for her injuries. However, the age and the extent of the daughter’s injuries are still unknown.

After the incident, the father was found sitting on a porch outside his residence and admitted to lining the boys up in the yard and firing at them during a subsequent interview with the authorities. He said that he had been planning the killings for several months.