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Mississippi Tea Party Leader Found Dead

A Mississippi tea party leader who was facing charges in connection with photos taken of Sen. Thad Cochran’s bedridden wife was found dead Friday.
Image: Mark Mayfield, Merrida Coxwell, John Reeves
Mark Mayfield, a member of the board of the Central Mississippi Tea Party, right, listens as his attorney Merrida Coxwell, center, responds to questions from city judge Dale Danks in Madison, Miss., city court, Thursday, May 22, 2014, during an initial court appearance on a charge of conspiracy in relation to the alleged illegal photographing of the ailing wife of U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., without her permission at the nursing home where she's lived for 13 years. Assisting with Mayfield's defense is attorney John Reeves, left.Rogelio V. Solis / AP

A Mississippi tea party leader who was facing charges in connection with photos taken of Sen. Thad Cochran’s bedridden wife was found dead Friday after an apparent suicide, police told local media.

Mark Mayfield was found in his garage with a gunshot wound, according to Mississippi news station WLBT. He was a well known lawyer and vice chairman of the Mississippi Tea Party.

Mayfield was one of three men accused of working with a blogger to post photos of Cochran’s ailing wife in her nursing home on the internet.

On Tuesday, Cochran won a bitter fought primary against state Sen. Chris McDaniel.

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