John McAfee death - latest news: Tech mogul found dead in Spanish jail after court approves extradition

Mr McAfee was found dead in his prison cell in Barcelona, Spain

John McAfee was found dead in his prison cell on Wednesday (AP)

The anti-virus pioneer John McAfee was found dead on Wednesday in his Barcelona prison cell, where he had been awaiting trial for tax evasion.

Just before his death, Spain’s high court had authorized his extradition to the United States. According to local reports, Mr McAfee had said in court only a week ago that if he was extradited, he feared he would spend the rest of his life in prison.

“If I am extradited, it is almost certain that I will spend the rest of my life in prison because the United States wants to use me as an example,” he said, according to the Spanish news outlet Europa Press.

Spanish authorities have said his death was likely a suicide.

Nishay Sanan, the Chicago-based defence attorney representing McAfee, said they had not been formally informed of the cause of death and the legal team was asking Spanish authorities to confirm whether the prison had video cameras on his cell.

McAfee appears to have been increasingly fearful he would be “whacked” by unnamed government officials; warning in 2019 that US officials said they were “coming for” him. He posted a photo with a “$WHACKD” tattoo he says he got following the “subtle messages”, saying “If I suicide myself, I didn’t. I was whackd”.

In 2020, he told followers that if he died in prison, it would not be by suicide, saying “know that if I hang myself, a la Epstein, it will be no fault of mine”.

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden warned that WikiLeaks’s Australian born founder, Julian Assange, could be next to kill himself as defendants would rather die than be subject to an unfair system of extradition for non-violent crimes.

• John McAfee’s last prison interview speaking exclusively to The Independent
• From software pioneer to fugitive: Who was John McAfee
• ‘I’ll spend the rest of my life in prison’: John McAfee said he feared extradition to US days before death
• John McAfee’s Instagram posts ‘Q’ image minutes after his death is reported

[24 June 2021 00:00 · Justin Vallejo]

From software pioneer to fugitive: Who was John McAfee

While McAfee first rose to prominence by releasing the first commercial anti-virus computer software, igniting what would become a multi-billion dollar industry, his final years were mired in controversy, writes The Independent’s Chantal da Silva.

“In 2012, he was at the centre of international attention after Belize police named him as a “person of interest” following the death of his neighbour, Florida businessman Gregory Faull. In 2019, he was detained in the Dominican Republic, where he was accused of bringing weapons into the country, according to the BBC. Despite facing repeated controversies, McAfee continued to pursue his ambitions, even seeking out the highest position in the United States twice over. The software tycoon unsuccessfully pursued the Libertarian Party nomination to run for President of the United States in both 2016 and 2020.”

[24 June 2021 00:15 · Justin Vallejo]

McAfee lawyer questions whether Spanish prison had video cameras during reported suicide

Chicago-based defence attorney representing John McAfee told the Associated Press in a phone interview that the legal team was asking Spanish authorities to confirm whether the Spanish prison had video cameras on the anti-virus creator’s cell when he died.

Sanan said they had not been formally notified of his cause of death, but that he would “always be remembered as a fighter.”

“He tried to love this country but the U.S. government made his existence impossible,” Sanan said. “They tried to erase him, but they failed.”

Before the death McAfee repeatedly warned he wouldn’t “Epstein” himself, in reference to Jeffrey Epstein’s apparent suicide in New York prison at a time when video cameras had also stopped working.

[24 June 2021 00:30 · Justin Vallejo]

‘Julian Assange could be next’ Edward Snowden warns after John McAfee death

American NSA whistleblower warned that WikiLeaks’s Australian born founder Julian Assange could be next to kill himself after the apparent suicide of British-born (but still US citizen) anti-virus creator John McAfee.

Placing McAfee in the same company of the Anglo-sphere’s most infamous whistleblowers, Snowden said defendants would rather die than be subject to an unfair system.

Europe should not extradite those accused of non-violent crimes to a court system so unfair—and prison system so cruel—that native-born defendants would rather die than become subject to it. Julian Assange could be next,” he said in a tweet.

[24 June 2021 00:45 · Justin Vallejo]

Read McAfee’s last prison interview given to The Independent

In what was one of his last media interviews from a Spanish prison in November, John McAfee exclusively spoke to The Independent about his “fascinating adventure” behind bars.

“I am constantly amused and sometimes moved. The graffiti alone could fill a thousand-page thriller,” he said.

“One young man from Senegal confided that he is a guest here for stabbing random people. ‘They were bad people,’ he explained. Another confessed to ‘accidentally’ strangling his wife. He did not explain why it was an accident but you must admit – accidents do happen.

“All in all, it’s fascinating to watch and an adventure to experience.”

Read the full story.