By
Ibukun Ogundare
October 4th, 2022
McAfee maintained both British and American citizenship while alive and he once tried to run for US presidency under the Libertarian Party.
Controversial tech mogul and cryptocurrency proponent John McAfee has been found dead in a Spanish prison, hours after his extradition news was made public. Per a Reuters report, the 75-year old allegedly committed suicide as many believe he was tired of facing an unfair trial in the United States where he is being tried for tax evasion.
McAfee was detained on October 3 after being arrested in Barcelona airport. While the extradition clause maintained charges related to tax evasions between 2014 and 2018, he is also under trial by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for his involvement in the promotion of Dogecoin (DOGE), and Verge (XVG).
The cause of death is still being investigated, however, reports had it that the business mogul hung himself, despite attempts by security personnel to revive him. “A judicial delegation has arrived to investigate the causes of death,” according to a statement from the regional Catalan government, adding that “everything points to death by suicide.”
The death of John McAfee has sparked outrage on crypto Twitter as many take a jab at the unfair legal and prison system. One of these is Edward Snowden, a former NSA official turned journalist. According to him, “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,” Snowden warns that Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks who has been on a diplomatic asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in the UK “could be next.”
McAfee’s extradition according to his lawyer, Javier Villalba could still be appealed, however, he could no longer stand jail time, and that his nine-month spell in jail has brought him to despair. “This is the result of a cruel system that had no reason to keep this man in jail for so long,” Villalba said. The tax allegations are likely to be called off following McAfee’s death.
John McAfee before He was Found Dead: The Life and Times of the McAfee Antivirus Founder
John McAfee was a computer programmer who worked with NASA, Xerox, and Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) before launching the world’s first commercial anti-virus in 1987. He sold the antivirus company, which was named after him to Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC). McAfee was more involved in digital currencies in the latter part of his life, and renowned for creating the Ghost Coin.
McAfee was a family man, married to Janice McAfee. Janice took to Twitter on Father’s Day to bemoan her husband’s incarceration per the Reuters report.
“Now the US authorities are determined to have John die in prison to make an example of him for speaking out against the corruption within their government agencies… There is no hope of him ever having a fair trial in America,” she said.
McAfee maintained both British and American citizenship while alive and he once tried to run for US presidency under the Libertarian Party.
