And this is a bad thing, how?
A prominent lawyer and
leader of the Mississippi tea party, who was arrested in connection with
photos posted online of U.S. Senator Thad Cochran's bedridden wife,
died on Friday of an apparent suicide, the man’s attorney said.
Mark Mayfield, 58, was a founding member of the state's tea party and had served as its vice chairman, the organization said.
"This is a terrible tragedy that shouldn’t have happened," Mayfield's lawyer and brother-in-law, John Reeves, told Reuters.
Mayfield
was one of three men accused in May of conspiring with a blogger to
illicitly take photos of Cochran's wife, who has dementia, in her
nursing home for use in a political video against the six-term
incumbent.
Mayfield was
charged with conspiracy to photograph someone without permission, an
allegation met with shock and some skepticism in the legal community
where he was highly regarded.
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant was among those who expressed sadness on Friday, calling Mayfield a long-time friend.
“A good number of us just
simply refused to believe that he had anything to do, at least on any
criminal level, with what happened with the nursing home scandal,” said
attorney Matt Eichelberger, who blogs about progressive politics in the
state.
Mayfield's
death comes
after state Senator Chris McDaniel, who had the backing of conservative
tea party groups, lost a bitterly contested primary runoff against
Cochran on Tuesday for the repugican Senate nomination.
McDaniel,
who has denied any connection to the photo conspiracy, has accused
Cochran's camp of slandering him by insinuating his involvement.
Mayfield,
a lifelong resident of Mississippi who practiced real estate law, bowed
out of politics after his arrest, said Merrida Coxwell, another
attorney who represented him.
Coxwell
said he last spoke with Mayfield on Wednesday, when they discussed the
criminal case but not the results of Tuesday's election. He said he had
urged Mayfield to be patient.
“I
don’t know what was on his mind,” Coxwell said. “I guess just being
charged, for a man of Mark’s kind sensibilities, was too much.”
***
The scum are killing themselves off now ... this can only be a good thing for America.
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