Convicted Rochester axe murderer David Brom to be released from prison on a work release program; local officials respond

Convicted axe murderer to be released

David Brom, the man behind one of Rochester’s most infamous crimes, is expected to be released from prison, according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections’ (DOC) website, on a work release program.

As initially reported by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS sister station KAAL, Brom brutally murdered his dad, mom, brother, and sister with an axe in their home on the outskirts of Rochester in 1988.

All four individuals had sustained numerous gashes to the head and upper body. Police subsequently found a blood-stained axe in the basement that forensic tests indicated was used to kill all four victims.

Brom was arrested on Feb. 19, 1988, while using a pay phone near the local post office. On Oct. 16, 1989, Brom was convicted of first-degree murder and was given three consecutive life sentences with 52 years and 6 months before parole.

Brom is currently being held at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Lino Lakes, and according to the Minnesota DOC, he was approved for a transition to work release status more than 35 years after the murders.

The release stems from a Supreme Court decision that sentences of life without parole for people under 18 are unconstitutional. It then opened the door for the State of Minnesota to pass a law in 2023 that allows minors sentenced to life in prison to have their cases reevaluated for an opportunity to get early release.

RELATED: Proposal in Legislature could reduce prison time for juveniles

Some local officials did not believe Brom should get that chance.

Several months after the law was passed, former Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem sent a letter to the state specifically asking them not to give Brom a chance to be released.

“Looking at a case some 15 years after the fact or more, in David’s case a lot more, um we lost the opportunity to really appreciate what that case really was a at the time,” Ostrem said.

Though not the county attorney at the time, the letter states the sentence handed down by the judge all those years ago was exactly what was needed.

“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,” Ostrem wrote in 2023.

Current Olmsted County Attorney Michael Walters agrees.

“When Judge Morse handed down this sentence, she was extremely thoughtful about it and she made every effort and I think successfully so to be as compassionate as possible,” Walters said. “She knew she was sentencing someone under the age 18 and so she handed down a really nuanced sentence.”

This particular case has left a heavy shadow over many in the community, so it’s no surprise that so many would be against Brom’s release, even if they respect the parole board’s decision.

Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson, who was one of the officers who initially responded to the scene at the Brom house, posted video statement on Facebook regarding the release, which can be found HERE.

“Mr. Brom is benefiting from leniency twice for mutilating four people,” Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson said in the video statement.

However, some argue that the law providing this opportunity is an important part of rebalancing the justice system.

“A lot of these folks are spending decades in prison and it’s very expensive to have people in prison that long,” said Will Cooley, policy director for the Minnesota Justice Research Center. “There’s been a move to rebalance our criminal justice system towards preventing crime and responding to violent crime instead of spending lots and lots of resources, our valuable resources warehousing people in prisons for long sentences.”

Brom will be entering the work release program through a halfway house in the Twin Cities.

Typically, it would be the case that he would return to Olmsted County; however, according to a spokesperson with the DOC, the parole board that approved the work release program also decided he would not return for this or any future potential parole release.

The board expressed an interest in getting Brom on the path to supervised release, and he has another parole board hearing scheduled for next January.
The post Convicted Rochester axe murderer David Brom to be released from prison on a work release program; local officials respond first appeared on KSTP.com 5 Eyewitness News.