Another Family Axed : David Brom

Season 22 : Family Annihilators Part 2 

David Brom didn't like the how strict his parents were, so after an argument in February of 1988, he took an axe and killed everyone how was living in his house with him.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
David Brahm was born on October third, nineteen seventy one,
in Cascade Township, Minnesota. He was the second oldest of
four children born to Bernard and Paulette. His older brother, Joe,
then nineteen, had moved out of the house and it
hadn't been on good terms. Joe was a rebellious teen,
and after their falling out, his parents vowed that their

(00:22):
three other children, sixteen year old David, thirteen year old Diane,
and eleven year old Richard, would not end up the
same way. They tightened the rules around the house and
tried to be involved in the lives of each children.
For David, his father Bernard had taken up running with
him and the two were restoring a car together. Friends

(00:43):
of the family said it seemed like a loving home,
and the other two children, Diane and Ricky, seemed happy
and active. Others described David as being dependable, having been
the babysitter for one neighbor and did outside chores for
others without accepting payment. Would later be revealed that David
suffered from depression, and those feelings were deepened when two

(01:05):
good friends moved away around the same time his brother
left home. That sense of loss had a profound effect
on David, with him having attempted to end his life
twice in nineteen eighty seven. As his mood darkened, David
began feeling like he was being oppressed by his parents.
He began telling friends that he was going to kill

(01:25):
his parents, and like many cases before this one, his
friends thought he was just displaying teen angst. He wasn't
until the morning of February eighteenth, nineteen eighty eight, that
his friends realized just how wrong they were about David.
This is Monsters. Before we begin, I just want to

(02:07):
make sure you know that my other show, Sinister is
back up and there are three episodes a week. They're
dark stories from history, and if you like this show,
you'll probably like that one. Give it a shot. There
are links in the description. Thanks. David was a sophomore
Lord High School, and he arrived at school in the morning,
where he confided in two friends that he had killed

(02:30):
his family. David didn't attend any classes, as he eventually
left the school and was seen driving around town in
the family van. He was seen at Kmart, Godfather's Pizza,
and it's believed he went back home at one point,
but was no longer there by the time authorities arrived
in the afternoon, he was seen withdrawing cash from an atm. Eventually,

(02:53):
his friends reported what they had heard to school counselors,
who consequently contacted authorities. He was At five twenty three pm,
Olmstead County deputies Kevin Torgersen and Mike Brayley arrived at
the Bramber resid ends to perform a welfare check. The
deputies entered through an unlocked garage door, noticing fresh snow

(03:13):
outside and wet tire tracks indicating recent vehicle movement. Upon
entering the home, the deputies discovered a first floor bathroom
covered with hair dye and letters and cards scattered across
the floor. As they proceeded upstairs, Torgersen spotted two sets
of bare feet at the top of the stairs, which
belonged to Paulett and Diane. In the master bedroom, deputies

(03:38):
found Bernard in what Torgensen described as quote a weird position,
kind of squatting on his knees next to the bed
with his right arm up on the bed. Meanwhile, Ricky
was discovered in his bedroom lying in a fetal position,
clutching a small blanket with massive head injuries. All four
victims had sustained numerous gashes to their heads and upper

(04:00):
bodies from an axe. Investigators later located the blood stained
murder weapon in the basement, on top of a stack
of National Geographic magazines. Two knives were found upstairs, but
appeared to have been unused. Joe was located at work
as a cook at the Henry Wellington restaurant, where he

(04:20):
was informed of his family's murder. David, however, was nowhere
to be found. A manhunt began in search of the
teen who was believed to have killed his family. He
was spotted by a teacher at the Northgate shopping Center
and then the van was located at Methodist Hospital a
few hours later. He was the following morning that David

(04:41):
was finally apprehended at a post office after being reported
by a citizen who had spotted him using a payphone outside.
David was arrested without any resistance. He was charged with
four counts of first degree murder. Investigators examining the case
after the arrest uncovered disturbing evidence suggesting the killings were

(05:02):
not a spontaneous act of rage. Instead, a methodical plan
had been developing in the teenager's mind for weeks prior
to that deadly night. During a thorough search of David's belongings,
detectives discovered a notebook containing detailed writings about his desire
to kill his family. The entries dated back several weeks,

(05:23):
growing increasingly specific about methods and timing. One particularly chilling
entry outlined how he would wait until everyone was asleep
before carrying out his plan. The notebook also contained sketches
of the family home with marked pathways between bedrooms, suggesting
extensive premeditation. Former classmates provided investigators with crucial information that

(05:49):
further illuminated David's mindset. Beyond the initial confession on the
day of the murders, Several peers recalled numerous instances where
David had openly discussed killing as pairs terarans. One friend
remembered David mentioning how easy it would be to kill
someone with an axe during a casual conversation weeks before
the murders. Yet another recalled David asking detailed questions about

(06:12):
inheritance laws and whether miners could access family funds after
parents' deaths. Those conversations, once dismissed as dark teenage humor
now appeared as warning signs overlooked by those around him.
The investigation revealed an increasingly troubled relationship between David and
his father. Family acquaintances described Bernard as strict but fair,

(06:36):
while David perceived his father's disciplinary style as overly controlling.
School records indicated David had visited the counselor's office three
times in the month before the murders, complaining about family pressure.
Neighbors reported overhearing heated arguments between father and son about
music choices, curfew violations, and declining grades. Several friends noted

(07:01):
David had begun experimenting with darker aspects of music and
fashion changes. His conservative Catholic parents struggled to accept those
mounting tensions, combined with possible undiagnosed mental health issues, created
a volatile situation that ultimately erupted in violence. The investigators
believed that David had gotten into an argument with his

(07:23):
father on the evening of February seventeenth. David stayed up
that night and retrieved an axe from the property before
sneaking into each bedroom and murdering his parents and siblings.
The first thing that needed to happen in court was
to determine if David would be tried as a juvenile
or an adult. He had brutally murdered his four family

(07:44):
members with an axe, but if he was tried as
a juvenile, he would be free in less than three years.
The judge ruled that David would be tried in juvenile court,
which created public outrage. He claimed that he was only
basing his decision on the state law the time, but
the State Court of Appeals overturned the decision and David
was ordered to be tried as an adult. It's likely

(08:07):
that the evidence of premeditation helped make that decision. Prosecutors
presented compelling evidence, including the notebook found in David's bedroom.
Investigators discovered the murder weapon with his fingerprints on the hand.
All witnesses testified that on February eighteenth, David withdrew two
hundred and fifty dollars from a credit union, purchased makeup

(08:29):
and hair dye, and dramatically altered his appearance. Since David
pleaded both not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity,
his trial proceeded in two phases. The court applied the
McNaughton rule, requiring proof that he didn't understand his actions
were wrong. Unsurprisingly, seven of eight mental health professionals who

(08:50):
evaluated David found him mentally competent. You don't spend weeks
writing in your journal about killing your family with specific
details about how to do it and how to get
away with it, and not understand it's wrong. Similarly, you
don't tell your friends all about how you're going to
murder your family and how you will get away with
it and not understand that it's wrong. The other psychologists

(09:12):
claimed that David had suffered from visual hallucinations for years
and that he had three distinct personalities. Both the prosecutor
and the judge were skeptical about those claims. It seems
the jury was as well, because on October sixteenth, nineteen
eighty nine, David Brahm was found guilty of all four
counts of first degree murderer. He was sentenced to three

(09:36):
consecutive and one concurrent life sentence, with him becoming eligible
for parole after fifty two years. In May of twenty
twenty three, Minnesota became the twenty eighth state to ban
juvenile life without parole sentences. The landmark legislation made individuals
who committed crimes as juveniles eligible for supervised release after

(09:58):
serving fifteen years. That retroactive change immediately affected David's case,
as his three consecutive life sentences were suddenly eligible for review.
I want to make it clear that this law still
applies to people who are tried in adult court. There
are some laws that mean it is unconstitutional to sentence

(10:18):
a juvenile a certain way, no matter what court they're
tried in. One is the death penalty. No miner can
be sentenced to death, even if they're tried in adult court.
Now in most states, and likely soon in all states,
no miner can be sentenced to life in prison. Adult
court still means they can get a harsher sentence. Though

(10:42):
juvenile courts can usually only sentence someone to serve until
a certain age, usually eighteen, nineteen or twenty one, in
adult court, they can be sentenced to more time and
their records don't have to be sealed. Under the previous law,
David would have remained in prison until at least two
thousand and forty one. Upon review, the Parole Board voted

(11:04):
six to one to deny David full parole, yet granted
him step down status with work release privileges. Beginning July
twenty ninth, twenty twenty five, David, now fifty four, transitioned
to a Twin Cities halfway house where he receives constant supervision.
His movement remains restricted through GPS monitoring, with permission only

(11:25):
for seeking employment and limited community involvement. As part of
that custody agreement, David must comply with strict parameters or
risk losing those privileges. His next parole hearing is scheduled
for January of twenty twenty six. Whether he can reintegrate
into society after spending most of his life incarcerated remains unknown.

(11:49):
Only time will tell if David Brahm proves that he
has been rehabilitated, or if he continues to be a monster.
If you're the victim of domestic abuse, please reach out
to someone for help. Please talk to your local shelter,
call the National Domestic Abuse Hotline at one eight hundred
seven nine nine safe that's one eight hundred seven nine

(12:10):
nine seven two three three, or you can go to
the hotline dot org to chat with someone online. If
you're having feelings of harming yourself or someone else, or
even just need someone to talk to. Please contact your
local mental health facility call nine one one, or call
the National Suicide Prevention Hotline by simply dialing nine eight
eight in the United States, they're available twenty four hours

(12:32):
a day, seven days a week, and we'll talk to
you about any mental health issue you might be facing.
If you're a member of the LGBTQ plus community and
suffering from discrimination, depression, or are in need of any support,
please contact the LGBT National Hotline at one eight eight
eight eight four three four five six four, or go
to LGBT Hotline dot org. Thanks so much for letting

(12:54):
me tell you this story. If you're a fan of
true crime, you can subscribe to this show so you
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no longer getting new episodes, but you can check it
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that you listen to podcasts. You can also check out

(13:15):
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