Suffolk DA's office mourns loss of a colleague in Afghan crash

Suffolk County and Boston Municipal Court workers, used to consoling victims' families when crime strikes the streets of Boston, were comforting one another yesterday after confirming that their colleague had died in a helicopter crash while on military duty in Afghanistan.

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley and others said they learned soon after the crash last week that military officials officially deemed Assistant District Attorney David S. Connolly's whereabouts unknown.

It was not until yesterday that his colleagues received official word that the 37-year-old North End lawyer, a captain in the Army Reserve, was indeed aboard the CH-47 Chinook helicopter that crashed in bad weather on April 6, about 80 miles southwest of Kabul. None of the 18 people on the aircraft survived.

''We were hoping for a miracle," Conley told reporters at a press conference yesterday at his office in Boston. ''Now, we're just grieving for our loss."

Connolly had worked for the office just six months, but had already made a name for himself among colleagues, who yesterday recalled his commanding presence and the effort he put into cases he prosecuted.

''You only needed to spend a few minutes with David to realize that this soft-spoken, serious-minded young man was a leader, and he inspired confidence in others," Conley said.

Reached by telephone yesterday, friends in the tight-knit group of Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps members who attended Boston College with Connolly recalled his qualities. At well over 6 feet, he had a booming voice and a lean, sturdy frame, they said.

''A contradiction, at times, was striking between the loud voice and his charisma and the intellectual who was quiet and introspective at times," said John Foley, a friend who met him in the ROTC program.

Those who had served with him were stunned Friday when they heard about the crash.

''All of us have experienced someone being killed in combat or training," Foley said of their group of friends. ''This just seemed radically different than the others."

Whether Connolly was playing golf, hunting, or fishing with the guys, he was a natural leader with ''a million-dollar smile and a good laugh," said Chris Buckley, who also attended transportation officers' school with Connolly.

''He set the example for the junior officer corps and the young leadership of the US Army," Buckley added.

Connolly started working for Conley's office in June, after returning from a tour in Iraq. He took up mostly cases stemming from Operation Neighborhood Shield, a Boston police effort to clean up the city's most violent communities.

In November, Connolly was called to duty in Afghanistan. Colleagues threw a big going-away party, which was very well-attended given his short tenure, county officials said.

Connolly, who grew up in Newton, graduated from Boston College in 1994 before heading into active duty and serving with the Army Rangers. About two years ago, he married Debra, a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was hired for the district attorney's office shortly after his 2003 graduation from Suffolk Law School, from a pool of 600 candidates applying for 12 positions.

''Today is a sad day here," Conley said. ''As we go about our work to help others who have suffered loss, and to help some who have suffered the ultimate loss to violence, we do so with the heaviest hearts because we have suffered our own loss."