Widow of antivirus pioneer John McAfee says he was not suicidal
SANT ESTEVE SESROVIRES, Spain — The widow of John McAfee, the British American tycoon who died in a Spanish prison this week while awaiting extradition to the United States, said Friday that her husband was not suicidal when she last spoke to him hours before he was found dead.
“His last words to me were, ‘I love you and I will call you in the evening,’” Janice McAfee told reporters outside the Brians 2 penitentiary northwest of Barcelona, where she recovered her late husband’s belongings.
“Those words are not words of somebody who is suicidal,” she added in her first public remarks since the software entrepreneur’s death Wednesday.
Authorities in Spain are conducting an autopsy on McAfee’s body but have indicated that everything at the scene indicated that the 75-year-old took his own life.
Prosecutors say cybersecurity pioneer John McAfee used his Twitter account to push a variety of digital currencies without disclosing that he was being paid millions for the promotion.
McAfee was arrested at the Barcelona airport in October on a warrant issued by prosecutors in Tennessee for allegedly evading more than $4 million in taxes. Hours before he was found dead, Spain’s National Court agreed to his extradition to the U.S., though the decision was not final.
“We were prepared for that decision and had a plan of action already in place to appeal that decision,” Janice McAfee, 38, told reporters. “I blame the U.S. authorities for this tragedy: Because of these politically motivated charges against him, my husband is now dead.”
Results of McAfee’s autopsy could take “days or weeks,” authorities have said.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
