Father Allegedly Confessed to Killing Three Sons, Now Lawyers Want Interrogation Thrown Out

His attorneys filed a motion to suppress evidence earlier this month, claiming Doerman's request for a lawyer was denied following his arrest -- so everything he said to authorities during questioning, including his alleged confession, should be thrown out.

Doerman stands accused of fatally shooting sons Clayton Doerman, 7, Hunter Doerman, 4, and Chase Doerman, 3, on June 15, 2023. He was later indicted on 9 counts of aggravated murder, 8 counts of kidnapping and 4 counts felonious assault.

According to FOX 19, citing the filing, Doerman was read his Miranda rights and responded "Yep" when asked if he understood them. His attorney claims the detective never asked Doerman if he wanted to waive those rights, before saying his client asked for a lawyer five minutes later.

"I'll wait for a lawyer. I really don't know," he allegedly said at one point. "Give me a couple of days and let me talk to a lawyer so I can get nice, good answers."

The filing claims Doerman also said he had a family lawyer, but didn't know who it was -- before detectives continued on "as if he hadn’t just requested an attorney." He also allegedly asked, "Where's a lawyer?" later in the interrogation, before being told, "I don't know, you tell me."

His lawyer also claims Doerman was "threatened" by a Clermont County Sheriff’s Office officer, that detectives used "coercive tactics during the interrogation ... including comparing him to a monster" and claimed his mental state at the time was "such that he could not make a knowing, intelligent or voluntary consent to police being present – had he been asked. He was in no condition to object to their presence."

"It is the Detectives' duty as trained law enforcement officers to realize the critical importance of the moment when a suspect invokes his right to counsel," added the filing. "The burden was not on Mr. Doerman to understand how his demands for counsel triggered the Detectives' duty to stop the interrogation; nor was the burden on Mr. Doerman to resist the Detectives' attempts to keep him talking."

"The interrogation of Mr. Doerman was over three hours long," his attorney added. "He invoked his right to counsel at least twice. Detectives ignored Mr. Doerman's request and continued to question him as if he didn't ask for an attorney."

He has pleaded not guilty to 21 charges facing him ... despite prosecutors previously saying he admitted to planning the killings. Warning: The allegations below are extremely disturbing.

According to a bill of particulars filed by prosecutors laying out the allegations against the suspect (via FOX19), the attack happened after Doerman returned home early from work and had his wife and sons "join him in the master bedroom for a nap." At some point, he allegedly got out of bed, loaded a rifle and shot son Hunter twice. Though his stepdaughter was watching TV in another room during the nap, authorities say she "witnessed the shooting."

According to the report, the boys' sister saw Doerman chase after one of the children who made a run for it toward a nearby field -- Clayton, 7 -- shooting him and causing him to fall to the ground. Doerman then allegedly shot the child in the head, "at close range."

As this happened, the young girl is said to have ran back inside the home and picked up the youngest boy, Chase, before she "attempted to flee the residence with him." Doerman, however, allegedly caught up to her, held her at gunpoint and "demanded" she put down the child, which she did as she "begged" him not to shoot her. Doerman allegedly shot at Chase, but his gun didn't fire, so the child ran to his mother. The sister, meanwhile, ran to the fire department and told witnesses her father was "killing everyone."

The two parents then got into a "physical altercation," with Doerman reportedly "going so far as to bite" his wife to get her to drop Chase, per investigators. During the altercation, she is said to have placed her thumb over the barrel of the gun and was shot, causing her to drop the child. Doerman is accused of then fatally shooting the third son, before laying all three boys in the same area on the side of the home.

According to the docs, he then "sat on the side stoop of the residence and calmly watched [the wife] undertake futile live-saving measures on her three children," who all died from their injuries.

The docs also claim Doerman told authorities, "I did it. Take me to jail" and said "I shouldn't have done that." They also claim he "admitted to having been thinking about shooting his sons since October" and indicated "that the thoughts of having to kill his sons was so heavy on him that he hadn't slept for three or four days prior" to the murders.

A hearing for the motion to suppress evidence is set for February; a trial was previously expected for July.