John McAfee dies by suicide in Spanish prison, hours after he was granted extradition

Barcelona: US expertise entrepreneur John McAfee, who created the eponymous cybersecurity model, died by hanging in his jail cell on Wednesday after the Spanish excessive courtroom authorised his extradition to the US, his lawyer instructed Reuters.

Identified for his eccentric behaviour and movies, McAfee, 75, was a pioneer of antivirus software program and indicted in Tennessee on tax evasion fees. He additionally was charged in a cryptocurrency fraud case in New York.

McAfee’s lawyer, Javier Villalba, stated the antivirus software program pioneer died by hanging as his 9 months in jail introduced him to despair. Throughout a courtroom listening to final month, McAfee, 75, stated that given his age, he would spend the remainder of his life in jail if convicted in the US. “I hope that the Spanish courtroom will see the injustice of this,” he stated, including “the US desires to make use of me for instance.”

McAfee had lived for years on the run from US authorities, a few of that point aboard a megayacht. He was indicted in Tennessee on tax evasion fees and was charged in a cryptocurrency fraud case in New York.

The colorful tech founder was detained on Oct. 3 on the Barcelona airport as he was about to board a flight to Istanbul with a British passport, a Spanish police supply stated on the time.

McAfee labored for Nationwide Aeronautics and House Administration (NASA), Xerox Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. earlier than launching the world’s first industrial antivirus in 1987. He bought his software program firm to Intel Corp. in 2011 and not had any involvement within the enterprise. This system nonetheless carries his identify and has 500 million customers worldwide.

Spain’s excessive courtroom stated on Wednesday it agreed to extradite McAfee to the US. The regional justice division confirmed {that a} US man aged 75 awaiting extradition was discovered lifeless in his cell on Wednesday. Jail authorities had been investigating the reason for dying.

McAfee nonetheless had alternatives to attraction his conviction however couldn’t stand extra time in jail, Villalba stated.

“That is the results of a merciless system that had no purpose to maintain this man in jail for thus lengthy,” Villalba stated. US prosecutors will doubtless ask the choose overseeing the tax evasion case to dismiss fees due to McAfee’s dying.

McAfee stated in 2019 that he had not paid US earnings taxes for eight years for ideological causes. That 12 months, he left the nation to keep away from trial, largely residing on a megayacht along with his spouse, 4 giant canines, two safety guards and 7 workers. He supplied to assist Cuba keep away from a US commerce embargo utilizing cryptocurrency and sought to run for US president for the Libertarian Celebration.

McAfee, who stated in 2018 that he had fathered not less than 47 kids, lived in Belize for a number of years. He fled after police sought him for questioning within the 2012 homicide of a neighbour. They finally stated he was not a suspect. He met his spouse, Janice McAfee, when she solicited him as a prostitute whereas he was on the run, he stated.

Janice McAfee stated in a publish on Twitter on Sunday, “Now the US authorities are decided to have John die in jail to make an instance of him for talking out in opposition to the corruption inside their authorities businesses… There isn’t a hope of him ever having a good trial in America.”

McAfee was a prolific consumer of Twitter, the place he had 1 million followers, and different social media.

He posted a profanity-laced video on YouTube in 2013 that mocked the problem of eradicating the software program that bore his identify from computer systems.

Various cryptocurrency backers around the globe on Wednesday posted tweets of condolence. In his final public tweet on June 18, McAfee wrote: “All energy corrupts. Take care which powers you permit a democracy to wield.”