John McAfee’s wife says she doesn’t believe he killed himself

Spanish authorities await toxicology results to confirm suicide

The widow of antivirus creator John McAfee said she does not accept the story of suicide being spread by “malignant” forces after her husband was found dead in a Spanish prison.

Janice McAfee said in a statement that the reporting of her late husband’s suicide through anonymous, unnamed sources are "not to be trusted". It follows claims in the Associated Press last week that the 75-year-old was found with a suicide note in his pocket, which came as a surprise to Ms McAfee and her lawyers.

"The investigation into John’s death is still ongoing but I will share what information I can, when I can. Until then, I do not accept the ‘suicide’ story that has been spread by the malignant cancer that is the MSM [mainstream media]," she wrote. She said the claims of his suicide were already prepared and presented to the public before she or his attorneys were notified of his death.

"And now it’s being conveniently reported that there was a ‘suicide note’ found in his pocket, something that was not mentioned when I collected John’s belongings from the prison," she added.

"Another piece of information the media somehow got a hold of before myself and John’s attorneys."

An unnamed "official source familiar with the investigation" told the Associated Press it was a suicide note but would not comment on its content.

While Spanish authorities are conducting an autopsy, newspaper El Pais cited unnamed sources in June saying preliminary results concluded the death was by suicide.

McAfee had become increasingly worried before his death he would be “whacked” to keep him silent, warning in 2019 that US officials said they were “coming for” him. Following the “subtle messages”, he got “$WHACKD” tattoo on his right arm as evidence that he wouldn’t take his own life, saying “If I suicide myself, I didn’t. I was whackd”.

McAfee was found dead in a Barcelona prison cell about a week after he testified to a Spanish court that he feared spending the rest of his life in prison if extradited to the United States.

In 2020, he told followers that if he died in prison, it would not be by suicide, saying “know that if I hang myself, a la Epstein, it will be no fault of mine”.

Ms McAfee suggested in her statement that the "fighter" was not suicidal, saying they spoke twice on the day of his death to discuss the next steps in the legal battle during the months before extradition.

"Besides that John had already won a victory before the hearing in that seven of the 10 charges in the case were dropped in the days leading up to his hearing," she said.

"John was a fighter and he had so much more fight left in him. He told me to be strong and not to worry, we would continue to fight all the necessary appeals."

McAfee was arrested at Barcelona’s international airport in October, with the Spanish court ruling to extradite the billionaire to face a Tennessee arrest warrant.

The state’s prosecutors allege McAfee didn’t report earnings from cryptocurrency and speaking fees, as well as income from selling the documentary film rights to his life story.