{{Short description|American mass murderer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox criminal | image_name = | name = David Brom | birth_name = David Francis Brom | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1971|10|3}} | birth_place = Cascade Township, Minnesota, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | other_names = None | conviction = First degree murder (4 counts) | penalty = Life imprisonment (Paroled in 2025) | occupation = None | spouse = None | parents = Bernard Brom and Paulette Brom | children = None | date = February 18, 1988 | time = |motive = Unknown | fatalities = 4 | targets = Family | locations = Rochester, Minnesota | weapon = Axe }}
'''David Francis Brom''' (born October 3, 1971) is an American mass murderer. He killed his parents, brother, and sister with an axe in February 1988 at the family's home in Rochester, Minnesota after an argument with his father.
==Crimes== In the early evening of February 18, 1988, Olmsted County sheriff's deputies discovered the bodies of Bernard (41), Paulette (41), Diane (13), and Richard (11) Brom in the Brom family home. Missing from the home were the two oldest sons, David (16) and Joseph (18). The police had been notified by the administration of David's school that students had reported hearing a "rumor" that David had informed another student that he had killed his family that morning. All four individuals had sustained numerous gashes in 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mn.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.19901130_0016.MN.htm/qx |title=11/30/90 State Minnesota v. David Francis Brom |work=FindACase |access-date=2012-10-29 |archive-date=2014-04-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413150339/http://mn.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.19901130_0016.MN.htm/qx |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Immediately after the discovery, the police were concerned that David might be the victim of an abduction, but a friend of David's informed the police that David himself told her that he killed his family, and testified to the discussion in the subsequent trial. She told jurors at the trial that Brom stopped her on the morning of February 18, 1988, as she was going to school, and convinced her to skip school with him. He then detailed how he killed his parents, brother and sister. "He said he hit his dad with an axe, he kept hitting his dad and his dad kept on getting up." The girl said Brom told her he had gotten into an argument with his father at about 11:30 p.m. the previous night, and that he then stayed up until about 3 a.m. She indicated that Brom detailed the crime, saying that he went to his parents' room, first killing his father. Then he hit his mother and went to his brother's room. Then he saw his sister standing over their mother in the upstairs hallway, at which point he attacked them both.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1989-09-30 |title=Friend testifies Brom gave killing details |url=https://www.postbulletin.com/friend-testifies-brom-gave-killing-details |access-date=2024-12-22 |website=Rochester Post Bulletin |language=en}}</ref>
Brom was captured on February 19, 1988, while using a pay phone near the local post office.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/20/us/boy-16-charged-in-ax-murders-of-4-in-his-family-in-minnesota.html|title=Boy, 16, Charged in Ax Murders Of 4 in His Family in Minnesota|date=February 20, 1988|work=The New York Times}}</ref> His case was initially referred to the juvenile court system because his age at the time of the crimes was 16, but was eventually sent to the adult judicial system based on the severity of the crime. As Brom's defense claim was insanity, mental illness was a factor in the trial, and much media and legal focus was placed on Minnesota's use of the M'Naghten Rules in determining if Brom was legally insane at the time of the crime.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lehman |first1=Jeffrey |last2=Phelps |first2=Shirelle |title=West's Encyclopedia of American Law, Vol. 7 |edition=2 |date=2005 |publisher=Thomson/Gale |location=Detroit |isbn=9780787663742 |page=97}}</ref> On October 16, 1989, Brom was convicted of first degree murder and was given three consecutive and one concurrent life terms with 52 years and 6 months to serve before becoming eligible for parole.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://krocnews.com/30-years-has-passed-since-murderer-david-brom-was-sentenced/|title=30 years passed since David Brom sentencing|website=krocnews|date=October 19, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq2HELkfXjk |title=Flashback Friday: Rochester teen who killed family with ax sentenced 30 years ago |date=2019-12-17 |last=KSTP 5 Eyewitness News |access-date=2024-12-22 |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1989-10-17 |title=Brom's aunt critical of sentencing decision |url=https://www.postbulletin.com/broms-aunt-critical-of-sentencing-decision |access-date=2024-12-22 |website=Rochester Post Bulletin |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/when-is-convicted-axe-muderer-david-brom-eligible-for-parole|title=When is convicted axe muderer [sic] David Brom eligible for parole?|work=Bring Me The News|date=8 March 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/09/26/corrections-commissioner-decides-whether-to-parole-four-convicted-murderers|title=Corrections commissioner decides whether to parole four convicted murderers|work=MPR News|date=26 September 2019 }}</ref>
In 2023, Brom's minimum term was reduced to make him immediately eligible for parole under a new state law restricting life terms for juveniles in Minnesota.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-28 |title=Minnesota inmates sentenced to life as juveniles to become eligible for parole |url=https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/mn-inmates-sentenced-to-life-as-juveniles-to-become-eligible-for-parole/89-730effdb-3c00-4113-a34e-edda47884ade |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=kare11.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Brom was granted parole in July 2025. He was freed under a work release program on July 29, 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-29 |title=Convicted axe-murderer David Brom released from prison Tuesday on work release|url=https://www.kttc.com/2025/07/29/convicted-axe-murderer-david-brom-released-prison-tuesday-work-release/ |access-date=2025-07-29 |website=kttc.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
Brom was housed at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Lino Lakes prior to his release.<ref>{{cite web |title=MNDOC Locator: David Francis Brom |url=https://coms.doc.state.mn.us/publicviewer/OffenderDetails/Index/146854/Search |access-date=December 22, 2024 |work=Minnesota Department of Corrections}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== *[https://coms.doc.state.mn.us/publicviewer/OffenderDetails/Index/146854/Search MN Department of Corrections Offender Locator]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brom, David}} Category:Living people Category:1971 births Category:1988 murders in the United States Category:20th-century American murderers Category:American male criminals Category:American mass murderers Category:American murderers of children Category:American people convicted of murder Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Category:Crime in Minnesota Category:Criminals from Minnesota Category:Familicides in the United States Category:Male juvenile murderers Category:Minors convicted of murder Category:1988 mass murders Category:1980s mass murders in the United States Category:People convicted of murder by Minnesota Category:People from Olmsted County, Minnesota Category:People paroled from life sentence Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Minnesota