John McAfee Dies of Apparent Suicide in Spain

Wall Street was shaken to learn on Wednesday that John McAfee was dead of apparent suicide in a Spanish jail after court approved his extradition to the U.S. on tax charges.

The software company founder was found dead in his cell in Barcelona, Spain, shortly after Spain’s National Court approved his extradition to the United States to face federal criminal tax evasion charges.

He was arrested last October at the international airport in Barcelona on those charges, which are pending in Tennessee. He was separately charged in Manhattan federal court in an alleged “pump-and-dump” scheme involving cryptocurrencies.

Spanish newspaper El Mundo first reported that the Catalan Justice Department had said McAfee, 75, died within hours of the extradition ruling.

McAfee’s lawyer in Spain told Reuters that he apparently hanged himself.

“Confirmation has come from our legal team in Spain that John was found dead in his jail cell,” said Nishay Sanan, McAfee’s lawyer in Chicago. “I am saddened to hear of the events and my prayers go out to his wife Janice.”

“John was and will always be remembered as a fighter,” Sanan said. “He tried to love this country but the U.S. Government made his existence impossible. They tried to erase him but they failed.”

McAfee had the right to appeal his extradition which would need final approval from Spain’s Cabinet.

Javier Villalba, his lawyer in Spain, said McAfee could no longer tolerate being held up.

“This is the result of a cruel system that had no reason to keep this man in jail for so long,” Villalba told Reuters.

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