The Brom Ax Murders: A Suburban Nightmare // 586

What is going on true crime fans? I'm your host Heath and I'm your host Daphne and you're listening to Going West. Hello everybody. Thank you so much for tuning in. This episode was recommended by Sarah. So big shout out to Sarah for sending this one in. It is a very gruesome case with a shocking resolution. Yes, this one is extremely gruesome. If you want to see photos from this case and all the other cases that we've covered thus far, follow us on our socials. We're on Instagram at Going West Podcast. And before we get started today, I should mention that we just covered the case of Susan Hamilton over on our bonus series. You can find that at patreon.com slash going west podcast, or you can subscribe on Apple. That is easily one of the most confounding cases we have ever covered. And I'm actually kind of sad we didn't do it for a Going West episode so more people could hear it because it's there's so like you and I have a lot of conversation throughout that case because like I just can't figure it out. It's one of those ones. Yeah, it takes place on Valentine's Day in 2001. There's a wealthy doctor. There is some definitely some screwed up things going on within that case A weird kind of like culty situation So check it out over on Apple Podcasts or on Patreon.com slash Going West Podcast We have like 150 bonus episodes over there That one's almost an hour long So they're all full length ad free cases that we're never going to cover on Going West And it's a great way to support the show Indeed Also, I want to say Heath and I have been doing a ton of social videos lately in the studio. We just did one that you guys have to watch. We kind of talk about something that we forgot to mention in the Mary Schleiss episode that we covered a week ago. So we also did like a little Haley Busby video update. We do a lot of videos now over on socials on Instagram at Going West Podcast, TikTok. Also Facebook. We've got a discussion group, so make sure that you're following us for all of the latest with Going West. And without further ado, this is episode 586 of Going West. So let's get into it. In February of 1988, four members of a Minnesota family were brutally murdered in their home in the middle of a winter's night. The shocking nature of the crime stunned a quiet rural community. and left investigators grappling with the sheer violence of the act, especially when they learned who the murders were committed by and what their larger plan was. These are the Brahm Axe murders. Bernard Francis Braum, known to friends and family as Barn, so Barn Braum, but we are going to call him Bernard today, was born on August 13th, 1946 in Anoka, Minnesota, which is a northwest suburb of Minneapolis. and just a month later, also in Minneapolis, his wife Paulette was born. Once they met and began dating, you know, later on as teens, they married young and had four kids, Joseph, David, Diane, and Richard or Rick. And it is in that order, Joseph, David, Diane, Rick. Now, Bernard spent years working for IBM while Paulette stayed home to raise the children, at first right there in Minneapolis until 1984 when the family moved to Cascade Township, Minnesota, which is about an hour and a half southwest of their old home. And by the way, this is a small suburb just north of the larger city of Rochester, again, Minnesota. Friends of the Brom family said that church and their children were at the center of Bernard and Paulette's lives. And since church and community was so important to them, The two of them even led a counseling program for couples through their congregation. For many years, Paulette ran the ministry preschool, but left two years prior to her death in order to spend more time with her family. Now, Thursday, February 18th, 1988 started like any other school day for 16-year-old David, who was the second of the four Brahm children. At the beginning of the day, David was seen at his high school, having driven the family van there and parked it in the student parking lot. But despite driving over there, he didn't show up for any of his classes. Instead, he headed to Kutsky Park in Northwest Rochester. He was then seen at a grocery store called Barlow Foods in the Barlow Plaza Strip Mall, also in Northwest Rochester, before stopping at a Kmart and then meeting some friends at a godfather's pizza restaurant. So he's skipping school that Thursday and going to all these other spots, like a park, shopping, pizza. And then he stopped by an IBM credit union and withdrew $250 and quickly stopped back at the family house. And I want to mention while David had gone to school, but then not really gone to school, his other siblings did not attend school that day. But when the Olmstead County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to the Brom family home for a wellness check because multiple members of the community called in concerns, David was nowhere to be seen. The first call came in at 5.23 p.m. that day, and more than one report detailed fears that something had gone wrong at the Brom home. Deputies arrived shortly before 6 p.m. and found the front door closed, but it was unlocked. And what they found inside was straight out of a slasher movie. A scene so disturbing that many officers said well into their retirement from the force that it was the worst thing that they ever saw on the job. Later, Olmstead County Deputy Michael Braley would tell the court, I had never seen so much carnage in such a small area. Entering through the door between the house and the garage, officers were met with cards and letters scattered around the first floor. Black dye stained the bathroom on the main floor, and as they headed upstairs, they came across the first two bodies, that of 41-year-old Paulette and 14-year-old daughter Diane, who were found in their pajamas clinging to each other at the top of the stairs. They had been brutally beaten and died from their wounds as well as blood loss. And the horrors continued as police searched the rest of the house and found both 41-year-old Bernard and 9-year-old Rick deceased in their beds. Now, based on the onset of rigor mortis, they believed that the bodies had been there for at least 12 hours, so the murder would have been committed that morning at the latest. In the basement, atop a stack of National Geographic magazines, was a bloody axe, measuring between two and three feet long, which was later confirmed to have been the murder weapon for all four of these victims. Between the four victims, there were at least 56 wounds from the slashes of the axe. There were also axe cuts made into multiple doors in the house, indicating that, at least between Paulette and Diane and their attacker, a pursuit and struggle had taken place. but who could have carried out such a heinous act and why had they wanted to well detectives had actually been tipped off by schoolmates and teachers of david's that he may have been involved and his teachers and administrators were the ones to report their suspicions in the first place multiple students at lord high school where david was a sophomore had tipped off their teachers that David had been talking about and even bragging about what he had done. Because after briefly showing up to his school that morning, he left to run his errands in the family van and failed to attend any of his classes that day, as we know. But after meeting that group of friends for lunch at Godfather's Pizza, rumors began to circulate his school. And by the end of the school day, many people believe that he was telling the truth about his involvement in a crime that hadn't even been reported yet. So this is why police were receiving so many, you know, concerned calls about the Brom family, because everybody knows about this crime before they even know it happened. Well, inside the closet of David's bedroom, deputies discovered a journal belonging to David, which clearly laid out plans for his terrifying premeditated murder plot. After carrying out the murders late on the evening of Wednesday, February 17th, David wrote that he planned to pack a cooler with ice and food, pack a suitcase, and contact a few of his friends to see if they wanted to join him on his plan to flee Minnesota. He would bury his family to cover the evidence, pull out as much cash as he could, and then dye his hair in order to assume a new identity. Well, the following day, Thursday, February 18th, David would pack up his family's car, retrieve any friends who wanted to come along for the ride, and then flee Cascade Township for good. But obviously, that's not how it went down because he stayed locally running some errands and shopping. And then he ended up going back home later for a brief time. I wonder if he was possibly, you know, his scheme was a lot bigger than what he could actually pull off. And he had this whole plan that he was going to leave Minnesota and he was going to do all these things. But then after he murdered his family, he's like, hey, what do I do now? Well, yeah, you and I know after living longer than David that, you know, most things don't go to plan. Yeah. So he doesn't know that. He thinks, oh, I'm going to craft this amazing scheme and it's going to go off of that hitch because I have no life experience. So, like, you know, it's giving no life experience. And it's just honestly crazy to me how quickly this felt cut and dry. I mean, even tests of the handle of the axe that was used as the murder weapon, obviously, revealed David's finger and palm prints, which just confirmed the suspicions of police. So, like, didn't think about that, David. Yeah. But also, how does he think he's going to get away with it if he's going around telling his friends and classmates and teachers are overhearing of this plan? Like what Like you forgetting the cardinal rule of like the secrecy of it Yeah like don tell anybody that you just committed a crime I guess you know And even though this is 1988 and not 2026 like, did he seriously think that he was just going to use the murder weapon, keep it in the house, leave all the bodies where they passed, and then they're not going to figure out that you did it by investigating? Like, this is a serious crime. This was not very planned. This was not very well planned. And obviously, he didn't really think about all the little intricacies of the crime that he was committing and how he was going to get away with it. Thus, an APB was issued for David, but by then, he was MIA. Well, on the night of the discovery of the bodies, the only other surviving member of the Brom family massacre was 19-year-old Joseph. And he was informed of the murders during his shift at Henry Wellington's restaurant, where both he and David worked at the time. Joseph, obviously being 19, had already moved away from the family home, which may have been the only reason that he was spared. now that evening David was spotted by a former teacher of his at Northgate Mall in Northwest Rochester then at 11 p.m. the family van was discovered at the local Methodist hospital deputies for the sheriff's office searched for him all night long following tips around the community but to no avail David apparently spent the night at a concrete plant near the mall where he had last been seen, just trying to avoid police. You're not going to flee the state? A part of your big master plan? I mean, yeah, he did have his family's van, so I'm not sure why he didn't just, I mean, really, he only took $250 out of the bank, so it's not like he's really going to get all that far. Later, investigators found multiple items belonging to David as well as his parents, which kind of pointed to the fact that he was attempting to get away. these included a debit card belonging to his parents as well as toiletries including a comb and a toothbrush and refreshments like candy and Mountain Dew oh my god that like the fact that this is just so telling the fact that this 16 year old kid is trying to flee with candy and Mountain Dew that just goes to show you how young this kid really is you know how immature in his mind he is. He's not thinking, oh, I need to take like sustainable food. Let me grab the Mountain Dew. Yeah, exactly. So true. And, you know, the fact that he had their debit card proved that he was probably going to try to steal more money from his parents later. You know, he definitely wanted to get away. He just wasn't. Well, more of those items were also found in the van and basically pointed to the fact that he was trying to drive to Florida. The next morning, Friday, February 19th at around 8 30 a.m. They finally found David and he was apprehended and arrested inside a Rochester post office after he had been spotted using a payphone outside. I just can't get over that. You're still in the area. And the fact that somebody spotted him means that everybody in Rochester was on high alert looking for David. He's not even going to a small town or the next big city over. Like, this is 24 plus whole hours after you committed these murders. Yeah, that is probably the dumbest thing you could do is be seen out in public in the same area in which you committed those murders. Like, you went to the freaking post office. Well, it seems like he, you know, knew that police were on to him because the person who called in the tip reported seeing someone matching David's description on the phone inside the payphone booth telling someone, quote, it's too late now. On the way to the police station, he was told by the arresting officers that they had some questions for him, to which he responded, yeah, shoot. But after his arrival at the station, he demanded an attorney and their line of questioning was totally derailed. So then David was taken into custody without issue. Since there were so many signs pointing to his involvement, I mean, at this point, the evidence is really stacked up against him. And he calmly attended his arraignment, where he was charged with four counts of first degree murder and eight counts of second degree murder. Yeah, and anybody who's wondering how that is possible. So in Minnesota at the time, second degree murder had multiple legal subdivisions. So prosecutors could charge him for two counts of second degree murder each because they believed he committed second degree intentional murder and second degree felony murder. So they had two separate second degree theories and also believed each murder was committed in the first degree because they believe that he planned it as well. So he received 12 charges total, and then he was placed on a psychiatric hold. Now, surprisingly, for someone who is being charged with such heinous, unimaginable offenses, the community's opinion of 16-year-old David had been mostly positive up to that point. One neighbor remembered that David had often babysat for their family, and another recalled that just days prior, David had voluntarily shoveled his walkway and driveway in the midst of a blizzard. Yeah, so it's not like, you know, he's... The punk around town. The goth kid, you know, and it's like, oh man, totally expected that guy that wears the trench coat to do that or whatever. Yeah, like he's the creepy kid. No, he was just a regular freaking kid who's shoveling his neighbor's driveway and then came up with this totally insane plan. Actually, that neighbor, his name was Richard, remembered, quote, he was a very pleasant fellow. He always had a smile, which really is like the scariest part that he could watch children offer acts of kindness to neighbors and also do this. Yeah, it's like, you know, sometimes you really just can't judge a book by its cover because you could see somebody who looks, you know, it's this it's the funny thing that I always go back to. the scar no no no not that i know i was gonna say uh you know someone once told me that you know hippies they they look like they're nice people but they're mean people and punks they look like they're mean people but they're nice people so it's like you look at this kid and you're like huh you know he's got to be like a upstanding citizen within his community but whatever was going on inside david inside his mind was so clearly fucked up yeah truly truly well overall David is remembered as helpful and dependable, like one family on the block had him water their plants while they were traveling, and he happily agreed to do so. So initially, many of his friends, neighbors, and peers didn't feel like he could have been responsible, obviously despite him bragging about having done so. It's like, oh yeah, we thought he was kidding. Like, there's no way he actually did it. But then, of course, you think about it like, well, if that did happen and he said he did it, we're going to believe him. Well, yeah. And, you know, he's 16 years old. So a lot of 16 year olds like to say things that feel outrageous because they're trying to get attention from their friends or trying to get a reaction. So I'm sure it I mean, if somebody came up to you right now and they were like, hey, I just murdered my whole family. You'd be like, shut up. I mean, what are you talking about? I believe them now. You would? Well, now after hearing David's story, maybe. Well, it's like that that phrase when people show you who they are believe them yeah it's it's just like that he's he's not kidding he really really did this well family friend patty price who was very close with diane at the time of the murders remember diane is david's sister who was brutally murdered uh patty said that she initially believed that david had fled from you know whoever had actually committed the murders and that he too was a victim. Even after his arrest, she said, quote, I was positive he had been set up. He was too nice of a kid to have done that. In another interview, she said, quote, he was like a brother to me. I mean, he was nicer than my brothers, to be honest, which again, just makes the intimacy and the brutality of the crime that much more unbelievable you know not actually unbelievable but everybody's saying what he was such a nice kid he did all these nice things it's hard to believe because of how close he would have had to have gotten to them four victims choosing to do this one two three four times you said he 56 strikes with the axe. Exactly. That's 56 times over and over that you are choosing to do this to your family. I was going to say 56 chances for you to say, hey, I should stop now. And he didn't. You know, it's like after the first murder, I wonder what was going through his head. You know, like, am I going to keep going with this? Am I going to really kill all of them? And he did. And I will say, it's not like, you know, he came home with a gun and decided to just pop, pop, pop, pop. You know, this is a very passionate crime where when you use an ax to kill someone, you know that it's going to be horrifically brutal, slow. It's also very physically taxing for you. It takes a lot of strength and effort, physical effort to do that. And we also talked about how it seemed like a few of the family members probably put up a fight. So this really felt, I mean, it's just, how does somebody snap like that? You know? Well, it seems like he may have been a Jekyll and Hyde type because others remember a very dark side to him, alleging that he had a very volatile and temperamental side that coexisted with his persona as like this hardworking and kind of responsible teenager. and many pointed out that he had just cut his hair into spikes with shaved sides and dyed his light locks black and what he regarded as kind of like a punk style which is why there was black dye at the house because this was probably like his new persona that he was gonna take on you know as he escaped this is like his his alter ego and his disguise now he's like this angsty teen punk killer. Well, found among his personal effects after his arrest was a stash of makeup and more hair dye, likely to continue to act as kind of this disguise while he was on the run. In interviews with his friends and peers at Lord High School, detectives built out a rather unsettling profile of David's plotting and scheming in the weeks that preceded the murders, which included stealing money from his parents. Of course, we know that he went to the bank and pulled out that $250, and also his escape in their car to Florida. Well, on top of this entire plot of his, he also had a friend in on the greater plan with him, and allegedly, when they ran out of that money that David stole from his parents, he and his friend would kill themselves. The friends had told multiple other buddies in their group about this plan, but David had a dark sense of humor, and And these threats were misunderstood for like a joke and poor taste so nobody was actually truly believing it Two of his friends were interviewed by police in connection with the murder and both claimed that they couldn't imagine that David was actually fantasizing about murdering his entire family. He told his friends that he had done just that. As word got around the school, more and more people began to wonder if David had followed through with his plan. And after making his rounds at school and running a few errands, David continued to talk about the murders with some friends from another high school when they met for lunch at Godfather's Pizza. So he's just going around spilling all the tea here. There, he asked a girl that he had been dating casually if she wanted to go to a movie with him that night, but she declined. Like, hours after he murdered his family, he's asking a girl on a date. Well, I wonder if he told this girl that he had murdered his family and then he's like, hey, want to go on a date? It's like, no, weirdo. I don't think so. But especially when he's supposed to be on the run and how casual to do something so horrific and be able to just go to a movie the same night. Well, then this girl admitted to investigators that she was scared of David and that he often joked about wanting to hurt people. Thank you. they attended very frequently for the memorial in which all four victims of the murders were laid to rest together. One mourner told the press, quote, they were so intelligent, so neat, it's just too bad. Psychologist Dennis Gannon was there to provide comfort to fellow students of David's who were likely dealing with many complex emotions in the aftermath of the vicious murders and subsequent arrest of one of their own. Dennis explained, quote, teenagers are very good about bottling up rage. They keep it inside. Then any little provocation can set them off. Most of them will commit suicide or run away from home. A few will kill their families. From the beginning, investigators were never quite sure why David had done what he did, aside from a possible excuse of this disagreement with Bernard on the night of the murders. According to David himself, he took the lives of his siblings not because he had a score to settle, but because he knew how traumatizing it would be for them to have their parents murdered, and he wanted to, quote, spare them further pain. And let us remember, again, like you said earlier, Heath, he used an axe, not a gun. These attacks were vicious and violent and grueling. So when his friends were questioned about a possible motive, one friend tipped them off that David had supposedly been in a fight with his dad on the night that he snapped and murdered his family. A fight which had started over the music that David was listening to, which at the time had been heavy metal. Remember, this is 1988. Yeah, there was a lot of stuff going on at this time. Like during the 80s with heavy metal, there was a lot of lawsuits against like heavy metal bands because... crazy yeah like twisted sister motley crew you know because parents were like this is the devil's music these kids are they're listening to satan's music and they want to kill people because of like this heavy metal music so there was actually like a lot of like trials and hearings where rock stars had to go to court and defend their music at this time that is truly unhinged with this particular fight like we don't know if the music was too loud or his dad didn't approve of what kind of music he was listening to or if this conversation had happened before. Like, we just don't really know. Of course, we don't even know if this happened. This is just what David told friends. But David essentially in general seemed to have had enough and decided to carry out his evil plan. Paulette, Bernard, his parents, and then siblings, Diane and Rick, were believed to have been killed between 1.30 and 3 o'clock in the morning on February 18th. Another of his friends reported that David would complain about being asked to do chores, including chopping wood in order to keep their house warm. Multiple friends also alleged that David had tipped them off about abuse taking place in the home, but I will say there was nothing to substantiate these claims. His parents had supposedly kicked Joseph out of the house two years earlier when he was about 18, which David also resented as someone who idolized his brother. But this too remained unsubstantiated and it's possible that maybe Joseph himself just wanted to leave because he was about of age and he had a job. So I think that's something that's so fascinating about this story is that the motive behind it feels very unclear and kind of muddied and mixed with other things. We're going to get to the trial where David explains a little more but it still seems lacking. Yeah, it feels very surface level in my opinion. Yeah, totally. Well, when Joseph Brom was interviewed, he told detectives that he and his brother worked as cooks at the neighborhood restaurant called Henry Wellington's, I mentioned them earlier, and that they saw each other often and had a pretty good relationship. Joseph claimed that he had never heard from David about any abuse taking place in the home, nor had he witnessed or experienced any for himself when he lived in the house. Like, the idea of his brother wanting to murder his parents and family was just completely out of left field to him. Well, according to friends and peers of David's, he had a running hit list of people that he wanted to harm in addition to his family. Ay-yi-yi. Yeah, so he's creating lists of people that he wants to pick off. Which I think shows his mental state in general. Which, let's be honest, you're not going to murder your entire family because your dad doesn't like that you're playing music too loud. This is a lot deeper than that. That might be your outside reasoning, but there's a lot going on underneath if that is what you do. Yeah. Well, family friend Patty Price actually wondered if maybe David had been molested by a priest at a young age and that that had been something that, you know, he was never able to properly process and receive help or counseling for. Not really sure where this comes from or how she suspected this, but it is interesting given the fact that apparently the family was fairly religious. But to this day, David is never willingly admitted to an exact reason, aside from saying that he was, quote, severely depressed. In letters exchanged with Patty, David allegedly admitted to being remorseful over, quote, snapping on his family, and added that he misses his family and regrets what he did. On April 5th, 1988, a hearing was held to determine whether David would be tried as a child or as an adult, a decision that would impact his case probably more than a guilty verdict would. And surprisingly, I guess because of how brutal this crime was, initially he was set to be tried as a juvenile since again he was 16 years old but this decision was eventually amended i mean especially after hearing from the deputies who were first to respond to the scene about how horrific it was it was determined that david should be tried as an adult because of the viciousness well a few of his friends who had been kind of hesitant to speak out about the situation or to speak on David's behalf, conducted interviews on Monday, April 25th, 1988. Speaking for all of David's friends, this friend and classmate said, quote, he wants to live his life now. He wants to get better. He regrets it, but he felt he had no other choice, which is just kind of wild. This is only two months after the murders occur, And he's already like telling his friends that he just probably wants to get out of jail and not have to go to prison for life. And they're saying, oh, he just, you know, now he wants to live. Now he wants to get better. Yeah, but that's just the consequences of your own actions. Like you did this to yourself. Yeah, exactly. Well, in a psychiatric evaluation, David revealed to his doctor that he had attempted to take his own life in both June and September of 1987. so the year earlier, and that his depression had been compounding for multiple years. In June of 1988, while on suicide watch, David was transferred to the Oaks Treatment Center, which is a juvenile psychiatric facility in Austin, Texas. David's insurance, which had been through his dad's employer, was paying out $400 a day for his care. On October 18, 1988, the court determined that David will be tried as an adult, as Heath and I just mentioned, and his defense team appealed this decision, of course. But on December 9th, 1988, the Minnesota Supreme Court declined his appeal and ruled that he would officially be tried as an adult. Per the defense, hoping to mount an insanity plea, David was evaluated by a doctor and was diagnosed with severe depression. His doctor also maintained that David would likely commit another crime if given the opportunity, but this testimony had the opposite effect that the defense had attempted to provoke and merely made for a meager excuse for David's actions, per the Minnesota Supreme Court. On January 25, 1989, David was arraigned on 12 counts of murder, and his bail was set at $500,000 bond, which he did not meet. On February 27th, 1989, 17-year-old David pleaded not guilty by reason of mental illness. His trial began on September 18th of that year. Now, if he was successfully convicted of first-degree murder, he would receive an automatic sentence of life in prison. Had he been tried as a juvenile, he would be eligible for release on his 19th birthday within two years. Yeah, I don't think the court was going to take their chances with that. Yeah, that's why they're like, no, what you did was so horrific, we've got to make sure you're tried as an adult. Thus, David Brom was found guilty on October 3rd, 1989. Actually, this was his 18th birthday. On October 15th, he was sentenced to four life sentences with a minimum of 48 years served before becoming eligible for parole. That's how it was originally supposed to be. So he would not be able to get out until 2037 when he was about 66. And by the way, the last two life sentences would be served concurrently. His team, of course, attempted to appeal his conviction, but they were unsuccessful Though he may have been in a depressive state David behavior was reported as normal while he was in custody Definitely not clinically insane. He enjoyed talking to fellow prisoners about cars and frequently tuned into the Oprah Winfrey show. Yeah, I mean, I'm sure at some point he was feeling depressed, but the court was like, yeah, we know that you can stand trial. I mean, he's it's not like he was, you know, letting milk cartons sit and rot and fester in the jail cell like that one fucking guy. Who was that? Oh, Haddon Clark. Yes. Haddon Clark. Yeah, that was a different story. He was insane, like insane, insane. But I don't even think he was found guilty by reason of insanity. No, he wasn't. So it's like even. Yeah. If that dude, the guy who thought he was Jesus Christ and flung his shit around the walls. Yeah. If he's good, then you're definitely good. Yeah. So very much so, David was found to be mentally stable while incarcerated. And you know how I just said that the last two life sentences would be served concurrently? While many people in the community of Rochester were very disappointed by this because they felt that the lives of his siblings, Diane and Rick, were almost treated like they were less important than the loss of their parents. But they really just hoped that he would never be released. Yeah, I'm sure that's kind of the point of the whole thing is just like, well, he's probably going to be in there forever. So that's what we want. At least that. Yeah. But by the way, in the aftermath of the trial, Joseph Brom, who is the other surviving sibling, went on to receive two master's degrees and then worked as a college professor you know he's trying to make the most of his life and get past this horrific tragedy but sadly he actually passed away from cancer in 2016 at the age of 46 which is really just a tragedy because the only person that was left in the brahm family is david and he's in prison for the rest of his life for murdering his whole family yeah he's the one who gets to stay alive and he's the one who did the most horrific thing. Yeah. So David spent over three decades in prison until a chance amendment to a longstanding law triggered his release. Because in 2023, a Minnesota state law was passed that ended the sentencing of life without parole for juveniles, making him eligible for parole 14 years early. During David's hearing, he admitted to the board that he had suffered from depression as a teen, as we mentioned, for which he blamed his family. In his meeting with the parole board, which was later aired publicly, David said candidly, quote, I've kind of spent my time the best that I can to change the things about my life that led me to the despair and the decisions that I made and the actions that I took, the crimes that I committed. I tried to change everything that I could about myself, and I believe that truly, the help of staff, programs, the support system I have in my life, I'm a good example of what a transformation can look like in a person's life through the Department of Corrections. I think that I've demonstrated consistency in that progress and in that maturing and growth, and I believe that I'm ready for parole. And here's a clip from that Zoom interview so you guys can hear exactly what he sounds like. I would just like to apologize to the family and friends of Bernard, Paulette, Diane, and Richard. I caused tremendous loss in their lives, incredible grief and pain, and left them with confusion and unanswered questions. and I apologize for that loss, for that grief, for the murders that I committed and the effect that it had on their life. I'd also like to apologize to the courts, the court officials, the sheriffs, who just as a matter of the service that they provide to their community, that they were a witness to the crimes that I committed, I apologize for the impact that that had on their lives. and lastly to the neighborhood, to the church we attended, the schools we were enrolled in, and the community of Rochester. I apologize for the ripple effects of losing an entire family in such a horrific way. And to give an idea of what leads a person to commit the murders that I did, I struggled with depression for some time and it had clouded my thoughts and it clouded my ability to process things and I had grown to a short-sighted view that I thought these things were going to last forever and I knew I couldn't live that way forever and in the cloud of depression, I started to believe that other people were at fault for the way I felt. And unfortunately, that fault I placed on my parents and my family because I was often more depressed at home than I was in other areas of life. Now, David also shared that he had been in occasional contact with his brother Joseph before his passing, as well as his grandparents and Patty Price, and that he was there to hear and validate the negative effects and fallout that his actions had on them, sharing, quote, It's always difficult to hear how painfully you've affected someone else's life. And so, that's always... It was a difficult thing to hear how it wasn't... It didn't end. The effects of the crimes did not end after the funeral or after a short period of time, that they continue to feel the effects of loss and grief. It was also honestly sometimes difficult to hear their acceptance of me into their lives, as I struggled to go through the journey of finding a way to forgive and accept myself. On January 27th, 2026, exactly one month before this episode releases, in a 5-2 vote, David's parole was granted. In response to his release, Sheriff Kevin Torgerson, who investigated the murders back in 1988, released his own statement that read, Mr. Brom, as we are now told, has faced a parole board and they have determined he is now eligible to move from a medium security prison and step down to a halfway house and eventually finish the remainder of his sentence on parole in public. So with that, Mr. Brom is benefiting from leniency twice for mutilating four people, his family members including two younger siblings. Diane and little Ricky could be parents and very productive members of our society, but were never given the chance due to Mr. Brom's selfish, immature 16-year-old actions. I mean, can't say I disagree. To Mr. Brahm's credit and my understanding, he has done remarkably in the various prison settings and has reached an understanding of the seriousness of his crimes. Mr. Brahm has apologized to everyone involved and is remorseful for his actions. I cannot stop what is already in motion, and I, we as the public, must trust the parole board's decision and must hope Mr. Brom is ready for this transition in his life. I am very pleased to hear that, but it will still be hard for me to accept and forget the sights and smells of what I saw that Thursday evening in 1988. Very well said, I think. Well, after his parole was voted upon favorably, David was officially released on July 29th, 2025. and the reason that came six months before his parole was officially granted is because he was first released not on parole but on work release. He has ascribed his release to his newfound emotional maturity and ability to lean into mental health resources as well as turning to his parole officer and peer recovery specialist for support when he needs it. David was sent to a Twin Cities halfway house where he would be required to work, You know, check in regularly with his parole officer and wear an ankle monitor. Most recently, David was working in cabinetry, so continuing a job he had while incarcerated, where he was offering construction training to men who would soon be released to the workforce. So far at work, David has been described as detail-oriented and thoughtful. He will go before the parole board again in the next few months so that next steps can be determined. But what do you guys think of all this? Thank you so much, everybody, for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. it's kind of a hard thing because I do believe in rehabilitation of course but I mean when you look at crimes that were committed like this of such violent nature it's really hard for you to kind of convince your brain that someone like this should be released I know I want to be forgiving as well and you and I say a lot when you're a teenager a lot of the time in many capacities you don't know shit about shit. We say that a lot. But I know that me at 16 would not have done anything remotely close to doing that. It just seems like he grew up in a great family. And I do believe that mental illness played a big role in this. I don't think it was just like, oh yeah, I was in a bad mood and I killed my family and that's why. There is so much under the surface to be able to do something like that, not only to one person, but to four. so all I can say is that I hope that he is a better person today and wants to spend the rest of his life doing good things only yeah and at least at this point he is being monitored you know they're making sure that they know where he is at all times and all of that good stuff so yeah but would love to know your thoughts on today's episode so please head on over to our socials give us a follow on Instagram at Going West Podcast we're also on Facebook and TikTok leave us a comment and let us know what you think about David Brom. Yeah, it's kind of like the sheriff said it very well. I cannot stop what is already in motion. So it's like he's kind of saying, I don't agree with this, but I hope that it ends well. Yeah, it is what it is. What can you do? So thank you guys so much. Like Heath said, let us know your thoughts. Follow us on socials and we will see you guys on Tuesday. All right, guys. So for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. Thank you. Thank you.