David Brom was a sixteen year old from Minnesota who would murder his entire family
According to court documents David Brom would get into an argument with his parents which ended with him killing mother Paulette and his father Bernard. While leaving the home David would come across his two younger siblings Diane, 13, and Ricky, 9, who he would murder
David Brom would flee the residence. Soon police began to hear rumors about something horrific taking place in the Brom household. When they investigated they would find the four bodies
David Brom would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to multiple life sentences
On July 29 2025 David Brom was released from the Minnesota Department Of Corrections
David Brom Case
Sunday marks a dark anniversary in the city of Rochester. David Brom brutally murdered his dad, mom, brother and sister with an ax in their home on the outskirts of Rochester 30 years ago.
Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson was a deputy at the time and first on the scene. When he reflects on his 34-year career in law enforcement, there are countless cases he can recall, but undoubtedly none compare to February 18, 1988.
“All I knew was that there was something wrong, and all I remember of the call was that David Brom had made some kind of threat to his dad,” Torgerson said.
Bernard and Paulette Brom had what looked like the American dream, a nice home on the northwest side of Rochester, four children: Joe, 19, David, 16, Diane, 13, and Ricky, 9. They were actively involved in their church, and from the outside, the Broms looked to be a typical middle-class family. However, David had a dark side, just how dark, not even his family knew.
“It was just my circumstances that day to take that call and stuff happens,” Torgerson said.
At the time, Torgerson had only been in law enforcement for four years, only two in the city of Rochester, when he was dispatched on a call to do a welfare check at the Brom home.
“I knew which house it was, but that I was just going to wait for my backup. We were losing daylight at the time, 5:23 p.m. – I think about that time – 6:00 it’s getting pretty dark, so I got out, and I waited he got out his car and I said well here is what I got, told him the stuff I already knew. announced ourselves ‘sheriff’s office’ and of course, nobody answered,” Torgerson said. “At this point with no one responding, that was the point where really it just … now we got a bad deal here.”
Torgerson goes on to explain going heading to the bedrooms upstairs.
“And when I got to the top of the step, and where I could see up on the floor, then that’s when I saw what turned out to be both females, their feet laying there,” Torgerson said. “And I whispered then to my partner, ‘we’ve got two bodies up here,’ two females, did a quick peek and I remember looking left, it was quite a sight.”
You can hear in his voice, the trained law enforcement officer’s description of just the facts until he gets to the last bedroom.
“So I walked in further and then I got in just to the corner of that little entry of what was Ricky’s room, and he was laying in bed in a fetal position, and again, massive injury to his head, multiple other injuries across his body, and he’s laying there clutching a little blanket.”
In the days that followed, Torgerson and his wife left for an anniversary getaway, the weight of what was inside that house was heavy. However. for whatever reason, Torgerson said he is able to not let crime scenes haunt or burden him, even the one at the Brom house,
“It was just my circumstances that day to take that call, and stuff happens. you know, whatever it was, it was I was able to find a way to get through it,” he said.
And while he would forever carry with him the images from inside the Brom house that night, they are just that, memories.
“You know I can’t get stuck in that place.”
Joe Brom, the oldest of the children was 19 years old at the time and did not live at home. He ended up moving to New York and became a philosophy teacher. He died two years ago from cancer.
As for David Brom, he remains in the St. Cloud Correctional Facility serving time until he is approximately 70 years old when he will be eligible for parole in 2041.
https://www.kaaltv.com/news/rochester-minnesota-david-brom-family-ax-murder/4790899
David Brom Release
A man who murdered his entire family with an axe when he was 16 years old was released from a Minnesota prison overnight after serving 35 years of three life sentences.
KARE 11 was told by a guard at the Minnesota Correctional Facility (MCF)-Lino Lakes that David Brom left the facility during the overnight hours. A Department of Corrections spokesperson said last week that Brom will live at an unnamed Twin Cities halfway house while on work release. He will be monitored using a GPS bracelet and receive ongoing case management
David Brom, who is now 53, took the lives of his father, mother, sister and brother inside their Rochester home back in 1988. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but was convicted on four counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
David Brom used a law passed in 2023 to secure his release from the Minnesota Correctional Facility at Lino Lakes. The law was designed to give individuals sentenced to life imprisonment as juveniles the opportunity to appear before a Supervised Release Board and present evidence of personal growth and rehabilitation after they have served 15 years.
Among other criteria, the board evaluates the person’s behavior while incarcerated, reviews psychological assessments and weighs statements from victims or their families.
During a meeting with the board in January, Brom said he has spent his time in prison working to change the things about his life that led to “the decisions that I made” and that he believes himself a “good example of what a transformation can look like.”
He also apologized to the family and friends of the people he killed, as well as to the community of Rochester.
While she couldn’t provide specifics about Brom’s case, DOC spokesperson Shannon Loehrke did share on Monday that individuals out on release are required to work or go to school full-time, develop a work release plan with their case worker, and meet regularly to review whether progress is being made.
Brom, like all inmates out on release, must adhere to a strict schedule and all aspects of their release plans. Any deviation from those approved plans or schedules may result in that individual being sent back to prison.
According to data from the Minnesota Department of Corrections, 23 individuals convicted as juveniles had parole hearings under the law last year. Four of them were granted parole, and 19 were denied.
“I hope that it gives people in prison the realization that they may have a light at the end of the tunnel. That’s important for how people live their lives, even if they never get released; to know that there’s a chance,” Rachel Moran, a professor and founder of the Criminal and Juvenile Defense Clinic at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, told KARE 11 when Brom’s pending release was announced. “And, I hope that some of these folks get out and can show that they’re ready to contribute to society in ways they’ve been wanting to do for many years and haven’t had the chance.”
Olmstead County Sheriff Kevin E. Torgerson is taking a wait-and-see approach to David Brom’s release, maintaining that the convicted killer is “benefiting from leniency.”
“I cannot stop what is already in motion… we, as the public, must trust the parole board’s decision and must hope Mr. Brom is ready for this transition in his life,” Sheriff Torgerson reflected in a news release. “… it is still hard for me to accept and forget the sights and smells of what I saw that Thursday evening in 1988.”