Marcus R. Mumford, the Utah attorney who successfully represented Ammon Bundy in federal court in Portland, was found dead in his home Monday morning.

A colleague and friend who had stopped by Mumford’s home in Salt Lake City to bring him breakfast and discuss a case found Mumford, said Mumford’s sister-in-law, Katie Mumford.

Mumford, 46, lived alone. Family members don’t know what caused his death.

He was a divorced father of seven children ranging in age from 5 to 17. His ex-wife and children lived nearby in Salt Lake City, Katie Mumford told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

He wasn’t ill with the coronavirus, and there were no signs of foul play, according to relatives. They’re awaiting the results of an autopsy. His father and mother both suffered serious ailments at a young age; his father had a heart attack around age 40, according to Katie Mumford.

Marcus Mumford represented Bundy when he was acquitted on all charges stemming from the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in January 2016.

Mumford was tackled and stunned with a Taser by federal marshals moments after the acquittal. He had shouted at the judge, argued for Bundy’s release and demanded to see a detention order from Nevada following the October 2016 announcement of not guilty verdicts for Bundy and six co-defendants.

Mumford later agreed to voluntarily give up his standing to practice in federal court in Oregon, putting an end to U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman’s attempt to officially ban him in Oregon’s federal district.

Mosman pursued the sanction against Mumford, citing repeated instances of Mumford’s arguing with U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown during the refuge occupation trial, inappropriate commentary on a witness in the presence of a jury and failures or refusals to observe court rulings. Mumford previously told The Oregonian/OregonLive that Mosman was being “vindictive.”

At the time, another defense attorney in the refuge occupation trial praised Mumford. Defense lawyer Matthew Schindler, who was defendant Kenneth Medenbach’s standby lawyer during the trial, said Mumford represented Bundy zealously and successfully.

“What we need far more of in our legal community are Marcus Mumfords,” Schindler told The Oregonian/OregonLive then. “We have plenty of people who are polite. We need people who give everything they have to give.''

Angie Bundy, wife of Ammon Bundy’s brother and co-defendant Ryan Bundy, wrote on Mumford’s Facebook page Monday:

"Marcus Mumford was fearless in defending Ammon and the other men in the trial in Portland. He also became a friend to the family and he will be greatly missed. He was the one who felt that the case could be won, and helped make it happen. Our hearts are broken, Rest in Peace.''

Mumford grew up on an Idaho dairy farm and told students at his alma mater, Utah State University, in 2010 that he had to be “audacious enough” to enter the field of law with a significant stuttering condition that he had struggled with since age 4 because “the world wasn’t prepared for a stuttering lawyer.”

Mumford went on to graduate from Brigham Young University’s law school. He clerked for a federal appellate judge and worked eight years for one of the country’s biggest law firms, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, before returning to Utah to open his own practice.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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