By all accounts, David Brom has made the transition from prison to work release without a hitch, setting the stage that the Rochester ax killer could be granted parole as early as January. “David Brom is doing well, as expected,” said Aaron Swanum, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Here's David Brom today. (Courtesy of Minnesota Department of Corrections) In an email, Swanum said Brom is set to go before the Supervised Release Board on Jan. 13, where a decision to put Brom on supervised release, a form of probation, could be approved. The meeting is public and can be viewed through live-streaming. Earlier this year, the 54-year-old man who killed his parents, brother and sister with an ax when he was 16 in February 1988 was the beneficiary of a change in state law that repealed life sentences for juveniles. Sentenced to three consecutive life sentences, Brom had served 37 years of what was supposed to be, at a minimum, a 52.5-year sentence. The change in law made Brom eligible for supervised release after serving 30 years in prison, which he had already done. But instead of granting Brom supervised release, members of the Minnesota Department of Corrections Supervised Release Board opted to grant him work release. Brom went from life in a medium-security prison to one in a halfway house — but not in Olmsted County. That was a stipulation of his release. Supervised release is an intermediate state that comes after an offender is released from prison but before the person is restored to full liberty. If granted supervised release, Brom would no longer be required to reside in a Department of Corrections facility — a halfway house. He might have an opportunity to rent or buy a home. People on supervised release generally have to check in with a corrections agent, abstain from drugs and alcohol, and abide by a curfew. For many offenders, the next step is freedom. You have paid your debt to society and are free to go. However, for some — and this may include Brom — a person sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of release may be on supervised release for the rest of his life. Even though officials describe work release as a form of custody, the fact that Brom was getting a measure of freedom outraged and dumbfounded many legislators, law enforcement officials and members of the community with knowledge and memories of the horrific crime. Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson issued a statement revealing how he struggled with the concept of leniency in the Brom case. Torgerson had been among the first law enforcement to arrive at the murder scene on Feb. 18, 1988, and he had never been able to forget the “sights and smells of what I saw that Thursday evening.” “Diane and little Ricky could be parents and very productive members of our society, but we were never given the chance due to Mr. Brom’s selfish, immature, 16-year-old actions,” Torgerson said. Yet as horrific as Brom’s actions were, the parole board was required under the new law to operate within new public policy parameters. It was duty-bound to weigh the factors in the Brom case through a correctional lens — and not through the horror of the crime, which no one was disputing. And another factor in Brom’s favor, prison officials said, was that he had been an “utterly model prisoner” during his 37 years of incarceration. He had continued his education and worked toward becoming an inmate chaplain. When Brom was moved to the correctional facility in St. Cloud, it was so that he could serve as a mentor to other prisoners. And those who dealt with Brom, including prison staff who had interacted with him for years, didn’t see the murderer. “You talk to many of those staff, and those staff were saying stuff like, ‘If he were my neighbor, based on my experience with him, so be it,’” said Paul Schnell, the state’s commissioner of corrections. For his part, Brom told the board that he had been in the grip of a depression that clouded his thoughts and emotions and that he felt he never would escape from. “I had grown to a short-sighted view that I thought these things were going to last forever. In the cloud of depression, I started to believe that other people were at fault for how I felt.” Related Articles Stabbing investigated at Grand Marais food co-op, sheriff says Crash kills 2 in Carlton County, sheriff reports Midair helicopter crash in New Jersey leaves 1 dead and another critically injured St. Paul poised to end 2025 with half the homicides of 2024 Security guard assaulted by Wyoming, Minn., ER patient dies of injuries ...read more read less