Alum Strelzin Serving in NH Attorney General's Office

Jeffrey Strelzin winces when he watches popular crime shows on television. “It’s extremely hard when you have to go to a crime scene,” he said. “It’s not like TV – it’s not very sanitary and it’s not two-dimensional. We go in, we see the victims, we meet their friends and family members, we see the devastation, and we are with these people for a year or two or how long it takes to bring the case to trial to get them justice.”

Strelzin, a 1986 Keene State grad, deals with the harsh realities of crime and murder in the streets and byways of the Granite State as the senior assistant attorney general of New Hampshire.

Since 2001, the Concord, NH, native has been the state’s legal point man on some of its most unsettling crimes. As the chief of the Department of Justice’s Homicide Unit, he is the first person police officials contact when investigating suspicious deaths. Strelzin has prosecuted several high-profile cases, including that of a convicted cop killer as well as those of two young men found guilty of brutally murdering a Mont Vernon mother in her home in 2009.

While it’s an extremely demanding job, Strelzin finds more pride than stress in his work. “The great thing about this job is you get paid to do the right thing,” he said. “It’s about doing the right thing and enforcing the law, and that’s a pretty great feeling. There are some days where it’s not so easy. This is a job you love with moments you hate.”

A ‘Life of Crime’

Strelzin always knew he was destined for a life of crime (on the right side of the law, of course), following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Harvey Strelzin, a New York City lawyer who started off as a prosecutor and later became a defense attorney. “I can remember from a very young age just how much he loved being a lawyer,” said Strelzin. He pretty much brainwashed me and was probably one of the best cheerleaders you could have for the legal profession.”

A 1980 graduate of Goffstown High, Strelzin took an unusual route to Keene State, making stops at UNH and NHTI in Concord before arriving on the KSC campus and completing his degree in management. “I wasn’t the big-city type person, and when I went to Keene State I really liked the atmosphere and the people,” he said. “It seemed like its own community within a community and a comfortable place to be.”

Taking a couple of years off to work and save some money after graduation, Strelzin was accepted to the only law school he applied to, Franklin Pierce Law Center – now UNH School of Law. Law school is a very different experience from college, he said. “It was a lot more work than college was – much more demanding and much more competitive. But at the same time it was extremely rewarding,” said Strelzin, who graduated in the top 10 percent of his class. “I don’t think I ever learned so much in my life than I did in those three years of law school.”

Calling it a daunting task, Strelzin passed the bar on his first try in 1991. “You know this is the gateway to your life, because if you don’t get through it it’s going to hold you back,” he said. “Only someone who has gone through it can understand it.”

Strelzin’s hard work paid off. He secured a highly competitive position as a law clerk in the Superior Court of New Hampshire before moving on to work at a private law firm in Manchester as an associate handling civil and criminal litigation.

Next up on the docket was a job serving an assistant county attorney at the Merrimack County Attorney’s Office in Concord. In 2001, he got his big break when he joined the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, where he has spent the last 14 years as a prosecutor in the Criminal and Homicide units. Elevated to his current position as senior assistant attorney general and chief of the Homicide Unit in 2004, he oversees the day-to-day function of the Homicide Unit and prosecutes homicide cases throughout the state.

Public Interest

It’s a difficult and sometimes exhausting job, with few open-and-shut cases. Strelzin and the other prosecutors in the office don’t wait for the file to hit their desk, but rather are on constant call, joining police at crime scenes and prosecuting cases that could take years to resolve.

While his work on the majority of cases isn’t under constant public scrutiny, Strelzin does work on his share of high-profile cases that put him in the spotlight. “I cringe sometimes when I watch TV and see some of the things police and prosecutors say to the media about cases,” said Strelzin, speaking at a First Amendment Forum a few years ago at the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications in Manchester. “In New Hampshire the rules that apply to police and prosecutors are really strict.”

At the forum, Strelzin also addressed the challenges that arise when media outlets request the opening of sealed documents that could hinder the investigation of a case. “We understand the public’s interest in the cases we work. At the same time we have to balance the requirements of the rules of professional conduct that limit what we can say and what’s required to prove our case,” he said. “Once the case is over, most of the documents in our cases are open for public review. So it’s usually a question of when the public gets access to the information as opposed to whether they do.”

Although he must remained tight-lipped regarding cases, Strelzin enjoys speaking about his position and offering advice to aspiring lawyers. He talks to people throughout the state and has returned to his alma mater on several occasions, lauding the work of lawyers and helping Mark Loevy-Reyes, KSC’s pre-law advisor, answering questions and encouraging students to consider the profession. SUBHEAD: Outstanding Service Award

Strelzin’s work hasn’t gone unnoticed. Last year, the 52-year-old prosecutor was selected as the recipient the New Hampshire Bar Association’s 2014 Outstanding Service in Public Sector/Public Interest Law Award. The honor is bestowed annually to an attorney in the public sector who demonstrates a strong commitment to advocacy, mentorship, or legislative change.

In announcing the award, the association noted Strelzin’s commitment to mentoring younger attorneys and his dedication to “protecting the rights and safety of New Hampshire citizens and to ensuring that victims of violent crime receive justice in the courtroom.” “It was an honor to receive that recognition,” he said. “However, it was really an award meant for all the people I work with here. What we do involves a team of prosecutors, victim-witness advocates, detectives, lab experts, medical examiners, and others, who work together to get justice for victims. That endeavor requires teamwork, so anytime one person gets an award it’s a recognition of that person and all the other people who work together toward the common goal.”