Tipsheet

John McAfee Found Dead in Prison Cell Hours After Court Ruled in Favor of Extraditing to US

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  June 23, 2021 6:00 PM

On Wednesday, John McAfee was found dead in his prison cell, having reportedly hanged himself, EL PAÍS reported. The founder of McAfee antivirus company was imprisoned in Spain for tax evasion. Hours before he was discovered hanging in his cell by guards, a court ruled in favor of extraditing him to the United States.

As Rebeca Carranco reported from the outlet in Barcelona:

In recent years, McAfee had regularly claimed that there was a conspiracy against him. McAfee was detained in Spain after a notification was sent out from Interpol, who had included him on their list of most-wanted people after a request from the United States. The businessman regularly spent time in Tarragona, in Catalonia. After an investigation by the National Police, investigators discovered that he had traveled to Germany, from where he had returned on a private jet that landed in the airport in Reus, in Tarragona. A photo that he himself published on social media helped to locate him in the area. From that point onward, officers focused their efforts on Spanish airports, before arresting him at El Prat at 9.30am when he was due to fly to Istanbul. The next day, October 4, he was taken into custody in the Brians prison, where he was found dead.

There is much speculation that McAfee did not commit suicide, but rather was killed, just as there was such speculation over the death of Jeffrey Epstein.

McAfee, who Carranco reported was a friend of Epstein, referenced the convicted sex trafficker, in a tweet of his from October 15, 2020.