David Brom, a teenager when he killed family members with an ax decades ago in Minnesota, is granted parole

Christa Lawler, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jan 27, 2026

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David Brom, convicted when he was a teenager of killing four members of his family with an ax, has been granted parole by the Minnesota Department of Corrections’ Supervised Release Board.

The transition from his work release status is expected to take one to three months while Brom’s parole plan and conditions of release are established, according to the corrections department. The board voted 5-2 in his favor on Tuesday, Jan. 27.

There was little conversation among board members about whether to grant Brom parole. A motion was made and seconded quickly, followed by the vote.

Brom was 16 in 1988 when he killed members of his family in their home on the outskirts of Rochester. His original release date was late 2031, but a law change in 2023 — reducing the minimum time of imprisonment for offenders who received life sentences before they were 18 — significantly bumped up his parole eligibility.

After shifting from incarceration to work release and a Twin Cities halfway house last summer, Brom has worked in cabinetry, gotten a driver’s license, and navigated a world made for smart phones with the flip phone he received when he left prison.

“The transition has actually been very smooth,” Brom told the board while sitting alongside his advocate, Paul Welchert. “Not that there hasn’t been issues or difficulties or struggles, but it has been relatively smooth.”

Brom said he has taken his return slowly. Everything is new and relatively uncomfortable, he said. He has opted to press into those experiences rather than retreating, he said, and he has called on his faith. On the outside, he has had to learn about society’s changes, which sometimes requires help. He brought along a friend when it was time to trade out the flip phone for a smart phone.

Welchert said Brom is a planner who always thinks ahead. He’s thoughtful and composed.

“I’m surprised, but I shouldn’t be surprised, at how well he’s doing,” he said.

If Brom had been originally tried as a juvenile, he would have gotten a three-year sentence. Instead, he was tried as an adult and sentenced to three life sentences of 17 1/2 years each.

Brom was in prison for more than 35 years and in that time had just a single infraction: He once had too many people in his cell.

Brom’s case was high-profile and the news that he was headed for release was met with a range of responses in his home state. When he was granted work release, a stipulation was that he not return to Olmsted County.

No response is new to Brom; he faced a range of reactions during his incarceration, he told the board. People meeting him now are meeting the person he is today, not who he was decades ago.

“And I hope they find somebody who’s more interested in healing situations and relationships and not interested in continuing any kind of harm,” he said.

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