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David Brom Axe Murders: Crime, Trial, and Release After 37 Years

The David Brom Axe Murders: Faith, Fury, and a Future Outside Prison Walls

Dicking Around With Richie: A True Crime Feed
Brought to you by The Sassy Gazette

🪓 “David Brom Took an Axe...”

In the winter of 1988, a teenager in Rochester, Minnesota, did the unthinkable.

David Francis Brom, just 16 years old, murdered his parents and two younger siblings with an axe.

Yes, it was gruesome. Yes, it was horrifying. And yes it was real.

The brutality of the crime, paired with David's youth, ignited a national firestorm of legal, psychological, and moral debate one that still rages today, especially as David Brom is set to walk free on July 29, 2025.



🙏 Religion, Rebellion, and a Punk Rock Problem

Let’s not sugarcoat this: David’s parents were beyond devout. The Brom household was ultra-religious, and David was constantly at odds with their conservative beliefs. The final straw?

They had him committed to a mental institution... because he wouldn’t stop listening to punk rock.

Let that sink in. A kid’s love for rebellious music led to psychiatric confinement fueling a pressure cooker environment that would eventually explode in the most violent way imaginable.

🩸 February 18, 1988: The Axe Falls

That night, David stayed awake after a heated argument with his father. By 3:00 AM, he had taken up a household axe and unleashed a level of violence that stunned even seasoned law enforcement.

  • Victims: Bernard Brom (41), Paulette Brom (41), Diane Brom (13), and Richard Brom (11)
  • Weapon: A blood-soaked axe found in the basement, with David’s prints all over it

The injuries were brutal: multiple gashes to the head and upper body evidence of close-quarters, unrelenting rage.

“He kept hitting his dad... and his dad kept on getting up,” David reportedly told a friend.

🕵️‍♀️ The Slip-Up That Brought Him Down

Initially, police feared David had been kidnapped until school officials shared a rumor. David had confessed to another student that morning. And just like that, the focus shifted.

He was found the next day, using a payphone near the post office.

🧠 Inside the Mind of a Killer

During trial, defense psychiatrist James Stephans testified that David suffered from:

  • Multiple personalities
  • Atypical psychosis
  • Major depression

He had reported hearing voices since childhood and wrote about them in letters to friends. He feared investigators would discover his magazine titled Murder Can Be Fun a dark detail that, while not evidence of premeditation, hints at his long-standing obsession with violence.

The prosecution didn’t argue he wasn’t mentally ill they agreed. But under Minnesota’s strict M’Naghten Rules, David had to prove he didn’t know right from wrong. The jury didn’t buy it.

⚖️ Tried as an Adult Rightly So

David’s case started in juvenile court, but due to the sheer horror of the crime, it was moved to adult court. As it should’ve been.

On October 16, 1989, he was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to three consecutive life terms, with a fourth to run concurrently.

🧘 35 Years Later: Model Inmate or Master Manipulator?

David’s prison record? Nearly spotless.
His only infraction? “Too many people in his cell.”

He’s soft-spoken now. Polite. Thoughtful. During his parole hearing, he reflected:

“I blamed my family for how I felt... I believed it would never end.”

He called himself a success story of the system. A model for transformation. And you know what? Maybe he is.

But let’s be real can you truly rehab a teenage axe murderer? Or is this just a better costume he’s learned to wear?

🔓 Freedom Day Approaches

Thanks to a 2023 Minnesota law change, juvenile lifers like Brom became parole eligible. David Brom now 53 is being released on July 29, 2025 under strict supervision.

  • Transferred to a halfway house in the Twin Cities
  • Work release, GPS monitoring, and continuous oversight
  • Banned from returning to Olmsted County

His plans? Save money. Find employment. Rebuild a support network.

We hope it’s all true. But forgiveness doesn’t come easy especially not for first responders like Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson:

“I still can’t forget the sights and smells of what I saw that Thursday evening in 1988.”



🗣 Public Reactions: Deeply Divided

  • Rep. Lisa Demuth called the new law dangerous and vowed to repeal it.
  • Rep. Sandra Fiest, the bill’s author, defended it: “No one should spend their life behind bars for something they did as a child if they’ve truly been rehabilitated.”

Big if, though.

🎶 A Song for the Butcher of Rochester

The band Macabre, known for their murder-metal, memorialized Brom in the track “David Brom Took an Axe” on their 1989 album Gloom.

Clocking in at 1 minute and 29 seconds, it’s as fast and brutal as the crime itself.



🎙 What’s Next on the Feed?

Up next on Dicking Around With Richie:
🕵️‍♀️ A deep dive into the murder of Melissa Manhart.
You don’t want to miss it.

📰 Stay tuned. Stay loud. Stay curious.
📌 Dicking Around With Richie: A True Crime Feed
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