Court rules that cybersecurity tycoon, John McAfee died by suicide in Spanish jail cell … but his ex-wife insists he was murdered

Cybersecurity tycoon, John McAfee died by suicide in a Spanish jail cell, a court has ruled.

McAfee, 75, was found hanging in his prison cell at Centre Penitenciari Brians 2 in Barcelona on June 23, just hours after his extradition to the US was approved.

Last week’s court ruling confirmed the findings of the original autopsy that McAfee’s death was a suicide, MarketWatch reported.

Authorities in Spain had previously said everything at the scene in his cell indicated that the tech mogul did kill himself, but his ex-wife Janice disputes that and has already mounted an appeal, insisting the death was murder. 

An official source familiar with the investigation also told The Associated Press that a suicide note had been found in McAfee’s pocket. 

The tech entrepreneur, who founded the eponymous anti-virus software, but was just worth $4m at the time of his death wrote: ‘I am a phantom parasite. I want to control my future, which does not exist.’ But Janice says she doesn’t believe the note was in her late ex’s handwriting.

For seven months, McAfee’s body has been held in the prison morgue’s freezer since his death. Last year, McAfee’s ex-wife, Janice McAfee, demanded a ‘thorough investigation’ of his death, saying her husband did not appear suicidal when they last spoke.  

‘His last words to me were ‘I love you and I will call you in the evening,’ she told reporters outside the prison in Barcelona after collecting her husband’s belongings back in June.  

McAfee’s body remained at the prison morgue for seven months during the ongoing cause-of-death investigation as his ex-wife and his daughter, named only as ‘Jen’ for her privacy, have been in a legal battle over his remains. 

Following the ruling of McAfee’s cause of death last week, it is unclear when his body might be moved from the prison morgue where it has been since his death.  

Jen’s lawyer, Joy Athanasiou, told MarketWatch that she hopes to meet with Javier Villalba, Janice’s McAfee’s lawyer, on Monday to discuss the case. 

‘At this point, we don’t really know much aside from the ruling,’ Athanasiou told MarketWatch. ‘It’s been a long, strange process.’ 

McAfee was arrested at the Barcelona airport in October 2020 on a warrant issued by prosecutors in Tennessee who were seeking up to three decades of imprisonment for allegedly evading more than $4 million in taxes.