Today, July 29, David Brom will be released from the Lino Lakes prison. In 1988, at the age of 16, Brom murdered his parents and two younger siblings with an ax in their Rochester home. He was convicted the following year and sentenced to multiple life terms in prison for the crime.

During the 2023 legislative session, Senator Jordan Rasmusson (R-Fergus Falls) offered an amendment to the judiciary and public safety omnibus bill addressing juvenile offenders sentenced to life without parole for committing heinously violent crimes.  His amendment would have required these individuals to serve a minimum of 25 years before becoming eligible for release. The amendment did not pass, and the final legislation allowed parole eligibility after just 15 years. Rasmusson cited 96 affected cases, including Brom’s, and emphasized that the legislation opened the door to earlier releases.

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles are unconstitutional. Following that decision, Minnesota courts began reviewing affected cases individually. The 2023 law significantly changed that timeline, making juvenile offenders like Brom eligible for release after just 15 years.

Rasmusson released the following statement condemning Brom’s early release:

“I warned of this exact scenario during the 2023 public safety debate, and it is precisely the kind of outcome I sought to prevent. 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.”