According to reports, tech entrepreneur John McAfee — and founder of the McAfee antivirus software company — has died by suicide in a Spanish jail cell while awaiting extradition to the United States on various financial charges.
Police sources told Spain’s El Pais newspaper that McAfee was found dead in his cell in Barcelona’s Brians 2 prison, located in Sant Esteve de Sesrovires, with the Catalan Department of Justice reporting that “everything points to a suicide.”
The news comes just hours after a Spanish court agreed to extradite McAfee to the United States, where he faced financial charges including tax evasion, according to the New York Post.
Past tweets re-emerged after his death, raising a few eyebrows.
On November 30, 2019, Mcafee tweeted, “Getting subtle messages from U.S. officials saying, in effect: “We’re coming for you McAfee! We’re going to kill yourself”. I got a tattoo today just in case. If I suicide myself, I didn’t. I was whackd. Check my right arm.” A photo accompanying the tattoo showed a tattoo on McAfee’s arm titled ‘WHCKD,” a cryptocurrency Mcafee had launched to draw attention to the “suicide” of Jeffrey Epstein in jail earlier that year.
Getting subtle messages from U.S. officials saying, in effect: "We're coming for you McAfee! We're going to kill yourself". I got a tattoo today just in case. If I suicide myself, I didn't. I was whackd. Check my right arm.$WHACKD available only on https://t.co/HdSEYi9krq:) pic.twitter.com/rJ0Vi2Hpjj
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) November 30, 2019
“I am content in here. I have friends. The food is good. All is well. Know that if I hang myself, a la Epstein, it will be no fault of mine,” McAfee wrote from jail in October 2020, following his arrest in a Spanish airport.
I am content in here. I have friends.
The food is good. All is well.
Know that if I hang myself, a la Epstein, it will be no fault of mine.
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) October 15, 2020
“In a democracy, power is given not taken,” McAfee wrote on June 18, 2021 in the final tweet before his death. “But it is still power. Love, compassion, caring have no use for it. But it is fuel for greed, hostility, jealousy… All power corrupts. Take care which powers you allow a democracy to wield.”
In a democracy, power is given not taken.
But it is still power.
Love, compassion, caring have no use for it. But it is fuel for greed, hostility, jealousy…
All power corrupts.
Take care which powers you allow a democracy to wield.
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) June 18, 2021
His official Instagram account posted a message consisting of the black letter “Q” on a white background after the reports on his death. No caption or explanation was provided for the post.
Instagram users were surprised on Wednesday to see that McAfee’s official account had this post.
Authors note,
Today that post has been removed, here is a screenshot,
This is an excerpt from the National File.
