John McAfee dies by suicide in Spanish prison cell

Antivirus software pioneer John McAfee was found dead in his jail cell in Spain on Wednesday, officials said, shortly after a court-approved his extradition to the United States where he was wanted for tax evasion.

The 75-year-old was found dead in his cell in the Brians 2 penitentiary near Barcelona “apparently from suicide”, a spokeswoman for the prison system in the northeastern Catalonia region said.

A spokeswoman for the Catalan branch of the legal body which oversees Spain’s courts, the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), also confirmed that McAfee had been found dead in his cell about 7:00pm of an apparent suicide.

McAfee’s lawyer, Javier Villalba, said the antivirus software pioneer died by hanging as his nine months in prison brought him to despair.

McAfee has been in jail in Spain since he was arrested at Barcelona airport in October 2020, just as he was about to board a flight to Istanbul.

He is alleged to have deliberately failed to file tax returns between 2014 and 2018, despite earning millions from consulting work, cryptocurrencies and selling the rights to his life story.

If convicted, he could have faced up to 30 years in prison.