Alex Taclott, GOP lawyer fatally stabbed at NH home, was former New Yorker who wanted to be ‘Willy Wonka’

The GOP lawyer fatally stabbed at his New Hampshire home was an Ivy League-educated former New Yorker and dad of three who wanted to be “Willy Wonka” and pass down the mantle to his kids.

Alex Talcott, 41, was found stabbed in the neck inside his Durham home early Saturday in what has been ruled a homicide — with cops saying they are probing whether his attacker acted in self-defense.

The stabber has been identified and is no danger to the public, police said. No arrests have been made.

Talcott was a private equity real estate lawyer in the Granite State who also made a name for himself as a Republican adviser and adjunct professor at the University of New Hampshire business school, according to an interview he gave to Authority Magazine in November.

In the interview, the legal hotshot attributed his success to his innate curiosity and his upbringing on Long Island.

“I take my thinking about a legal career back to third grade, when my state assemblyman in New York visited class,” Talcott recounted. “He showed us a piece of paper that was the bill he introduced in the legislature to clean up a local pond.

“I was the one student who asked for his autograph, and I have that signed bill to this day. It was an ‘aha’ moment about how big things can get done around me.”

Talcott went on to credit his curiosity to his mother, who would often bring him and his sisters to the local library, and said his “superpower” was speed-reading.

“Public schooling in an affluent New York suburb surrounded me with a lot of good nature and nurture,” the lawyer said.

“My classmates were highly ambitious and enriched. In college, I met and later married a prestigious prep school alumna. And today we homeschool our three kids!” 

After attending Dartmouth College and Notre Dame Law School, Talcott became involved in politics.

“I’m involved in a lot of civic causes and regularly meet people who are successful in their professional lives and giving back to the community,” he said.

In 2021, he was named the New Hampshire leader of the Republican National Lawyers Association.

“There was one political event where I put a prominent attendee I recognized on the spot in a parking lot about maybe loaning money for an affordable housing project,” Talcott recounted. “He became an equity partner within a week.”

When asked about his aspirations for the future, Talcott said he wanted to be “Willy Wonka and literally turn over the keys to my children, my students and other bright-eyed people. I’ll help them get ready to take over.”

He also said that, if given the opportunity to meet any celebrity, “I would like to pray with the pope for wisdom.

“In the small, first-in-the-nation-primary state of New Hampshire, I make it my business to meet most of the leading national political figures,” he explained. “So I’d go sacred with Pope Francis.”

After Talcott’s sudden death, friends remembered him as “a staunch advocate for the core values of the Republican Party” who had an “unwavering belief in liberty, free markets and limited government,” the state director for the New Hampshire chapter of the Republican National Lawyers Association told NBC 10 Boston.

“Alex was an exceptionally skilled champion for the rule of law and the importance of fair and honest elections. We will forever honor Alex’s selfless dedication and profound contributions to our shared vision of liberty through legal processes,” said the state director, William O’Brien.

“His legacy will undoubtedly inspire future generations within the RNLA and the greater legal community.”

Friend Chris Ager also told WMUR that Talcott always wanted to lend a helping hand.

“He always wanted to do more, and he was very helpful. He wanted to help,” Ager said.

“He came to me many times just asking, ‘Hey, Chris, how can I help?’ Never asking for anything in return. He was that kind of person. We’re really going to miss him a lot.”