Analysis by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News February 3, 2026

You would think that someone who, after getting into an argument with his father, took an axe and used it to murder his parents and two siblings would never be released from prison, if not executed.

But in Tim Walz’s Minnesota, that’s exactly what has happened.

Thanks to the Democrat governor’s soft-on-crime policies, David Francis Brom, who used an axe to kill his 41-year-old mother, 41-year-old father, 13-year-old sister, and 11-year-old brother when he was 16 has been set free.

Brom committed the gruesome murders in 1988. He is now 54.

Brom was given three life sentences after being convicted in 1989. He served just 36 years for murdering his four family members.

Police said they found the bodies at the family’s Rochester home with gashes to their heads and upper bodies, and they found a bloody axe in the basement of the home. They initially believed David Brom had been abducted before learning from a witness that he had confessed to killing his family over an argument with his father.

Minnesota Democrats who controlled the state’s legislature passed legislation in 2023 that led to Brom’s early release. Signed into law by Walz, the legislation eases sentences for those convicted of crimes committed while they were minors.

“Some crimes are so horrific that real accountability, serving the entire sentence, should be the only option. Early release after four brutal murders is not justice,” Republican Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth said.

The Minnesota Supervised Release Board voted 5 to 1 on Tuesday to grant Brom parole, but he has been on work release since last year.

“This case is especially painful for our community, which still remembers the trauma of those horrific events. I’ve heard from constituents who are shocked that such a brutal act no longer warrants permanent removal from society under current law,” Republican state Rep. Duane Quam said.

“Minnesota must revisit this misguided policy. Public safety and justice for victims must remain the foundation of our legal system,” Quam said.

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  two siblings is set free, Walz’s Minnesota: Axe murderer who killed parents, WorldTribune.com