MISSISSIPPI: Tea Party Leader Suspected In Photo Scandal Commits Suicide

Via Mississippi's Clarion-Ledger:

Sources have confirmed that attorney Mark Mayfield has died of an apparent suicide. Mayfield, vice chairman of the Mississippi Tea Party, and is one of the three men charged with conspiring with Clayton Kelly to photograph U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran's bedridden wife in her nursing home and create a political video against Cochran. Mark Mayfield of Ridgeland, an attorney and state and local tea party leader, was arrested last month along with Richard Sager, a Laurel elementary school P.E. teacher and high school soccer coach. The arrest of Mayfield, well-known in political, business and legal circles, caused shock in Mississippi, in a criminal case and election that already had Mississippi in the national spotlight.

GOP Gov. Phil Bryant has expressed sadness at the loss of his "longtime friend."