() Convicted ax murderer David Brom, who killed his parents and younger siblings in 1988, will be released from prison next month.
Then 16, Brom used an ax to kill his family in their Rochester, Minnesota, home. Now 55, the man who grew into his adult years behind bars will see freedom on July 29, despite an initial sentence of life imprisonment without parole.
A 2023 law made his release possible. The state’s legislature enacted SB 2909, prohibiting sentences of life without parole for juveniles. It made Minnesota the 28th state to do so in cases where the defendant was under 18 at the time of the crime.
The law applies retroactively if the person serves 15 years and is deemed eligible by a parole board.
Brom pleaded innocent by reason of insanity at his 1989 trial but was found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder. If the 2-year-old law in Minnesota hadn’t passed, Brom would not be getting out of prison.
One state representative has tried to get the law reversed.
State Rep. Matt Bliss, a Republican, authored a failed bill this session to preclude those convicted of first- and second-degree murder, first-degree assault, violent sexual assault and other serious crimes from earning early release credits. Inmates can get time taken off their sentences if they participate in rehabilitation programs in prison, allowing for early release under the 2023 law.
“The consequences of Democrats ramming through policy under the trifecta, with little concern for its effects, have been fully realized as the state is set to release an ax murderer from prison,” Bliss wrote in a press release. “The people of Minnesota deserve a justice system that prioritizes victims and public safety, not early release for violent offenders.”
State Rep. Sandra Feist, who authored the legislation allowing for Brom’s release, said in a statement, “No one should have to spend their entire life behind bars for something they were convicted of as a child when they’ve spent decades being rehabilitated.”
