Man Who Murdered Parents, Siblings with Ax and then Mutilated Body as Teen Will Soon Go Free By Nicole Acosta

After spending more than three decades behind bars for brutally killing his parents and two younger siblings, David Brom will soon be released from Minnesota state custody.

Brom, who was sentenced to life in prison for the 1988 murders, is expected to be released on July 29, 2025, according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections website.

According to CBS News, KARE 11 and the Post Bulletin, authorities said Brom was 16 when he used an ax to kill his parents, 13-year-old sister, and 11-year-old brother in their Rochester, Minn., home. He was found guilty in 1989 of four counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. A motive has remained unclear.

Brom became eligible for early monitored release after a state law passed in 2023 allowed juvenile offenders serving life to become eligible for parole after 15 years, the Post Bulletin reports.

He will released to a halfway house in Twin Cities as part of a work release program, which the Minnesota DOC says is a “standard process when those serving a life sentence are transitioned from a correctional facility to a monitored community setting,” KARE 11 reports.

Per the Post Bulletin, Brom will be supervised by a case manager and monitored with a GPS tracking device. His next board appearance is scheduled for January 2026.

Earlier this year, Brom told the state’s supervised released board that he’s a “good example of what a transformation can look like” behind bars and apologized to his victims’ loved ones, KARE 11 reports.

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“I can assure anyone now looking at this case, this office completely understood and appreciated the significance of trying Mr. Brom, 16 years old at the time of the offense, as an adult and seeking to sentence him to prison for most of the rest of his natural life. It was not a decision taken lightly,” former Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem said in 2023, per KAAL-TV.

Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson, who was called to the crime scene in 1988, shared his reaction to Brom’s release in a video posted to Facebook on July 16.

“I cannot stop what is already in motion, and I, we, as the public, must trust the parole board’s decision and must hope Mr. Brom is ready for this transition in his life,” the sheriff said.