Notorious ax murderer who whacked his family released from prison early thanks to law backed by Gov. Tim Walz
David Brom, now 53, was cut loose from a state prison on authorized work release on Tuesday more than a decade earlier than he was initially meant to be freed, Fox9 reported.
The convicted killer, who was just 16 at the time of the infamous 1988 murders, was initially supposed to be locked up well into his 70s.
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3 David Brom, now 53, was cut loose from a state prison in Lino Lakes, Minnesota on authorized work release on Tuesday.
Minnesota Department of Corrections
But he became eligible for release — earlier than expected — under a Minnesota law passed in 2023 that banned life sentences without parole for juveniles.
Gov. Walz, the failed Democratic vice presidential contender, backed the law and approved it after it was passed by the Dem-controlled state House and Senate.
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Lawmakers with the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party said that the law was changed to comply with a Supreme Court ruling that banned sentences of life without parole for juvenile offenders, according to KTTC-TV.
Brom served more than 35 years in prison after he was convicted of slashing his parents, Paulette and Bernard, sister Diane and brother Richard, to death in their Rochester home Feb. 18, 1988.
All four victims were discovered with multiple ax wounds to their heads and bodies.
Brom, who tried to argue he was mentally ill at the time, was ultimately found guilty by a jury.
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3 The convicted killer, who was just 16 at the time of the 1988 murders, was initially supposed to be locked up well into his 70s.
Star Tribune via Getty Images
Still, he and other already-convicted offenders became eligible for parole when the amended law was introduced by Minnesota lawmakers as part of a public safety spending bill.
Under the changes, the law now allows for juvenile perps who are sentenced to life to be fully eligible for parole after 15 years behind bars.
Brom became retroactively up for release in 2018. If the old law was still in place, he wouldn't have been eligible for parole at least 2037.
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Republican state Sen. Jordan Rasmusson had tried to fight to have the law amended so juvenile offenders had to serve at least 25 years — arguing the new terms were too lenient.
3 Brom served more than 35 years in prison after he was convicted of slashing his parents, Paulette and Bernard, sister Diane and brother Richard, to death in their Rochester home Feb. 18, 1988.
Star Tribune via Getty Images
'I warned of this exact scenario during the 2023 public safety debate, and it is precisely the kind of outcome I sought to prevent,' Rasmusson told the Valley News in the wake of Brom's release.
'The Democrats' soft-on-crime approach has led to dangerous early releases like this one. The release of David Brom is a profound failure of justice and a painful betrayal to the memory of his victims.'
'Brom committed one of the most horrific crimes in our state's history. Releasing him now undermines the severity of that act and the suffering it caused,' he continued.
Under the terms of his release, Brom will still be under supervision and subjected to GPS monitoring at a Twin Cities halfway house.
The Post reached out to Gov. Tim Walz's office but didn't hear back immediately.
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