Spanish authorities claim that John McAfee was ordered to be autopsied by a judge. He was a gun-loving anti-virus pioneer, crypto promoter, and occasional politician who died while in prison awaiting extradition to the United States.
According to a Catalonia court spokesperson, McAfee’s death would be determined by toxicology tests. These tests could take several days or even weeks.
According to authorities, everything on the scene suggested that the 75-year old tycoon had committed suicide.
A Martorell court, located northwest of Barcelona, is handling the judicial investigation. This town has jurisdiction over McAfee’s death prison. Media reports didn’t allow the spokeswoman to be identified as such.
Javier Villalba (Spanish lawyer for McAfee) said McAfee’s death was a shock to his wife and other family members. He also stated that he would try to find the truth about McAfee’s death.
Villalba said that it was like pouring cold water over his family and defense team. “Nobody expected that, he hadn’t said goodbye,” Villalba stated to The Associated Press on Thursday.
Villalba claimed he did not have any evidence of foul play, but he blamed the death on the “cruelty of the system”, for keeping a 75 year-old in prison for economic crimes, and not violent ones, after judges refused bail.
The lawyer stated that seven of the 10 charges he was charged with had been dropped and that he could still be dangerously fleeing Spain if released. He was a world-eminent, so where could he hide?
Monday’s ruling by Spain’s National Court was that McAfee should face tax evasion charges of more than $4M in fiscal years 2016-2018. Seven of the 10 charges in the original indictment were dropped by the judge.
Villalba stated that McAfee was aware of Tuesday’s ruling and that his death on Wednesday wasn’t a sudden occurrence. McAfee, he said, and his legal team had been working on an appeal to prevent McAfee from being extradited.
According to a penitentiary source, McAfee was in a cell at Brians 2 jail. He had been in preventive detention since October last year. However, he was alone at the time of his death.
McAfee was accused by Tennessee authorities of failing to report income earned from cryptocurrency promotion, consulting work, speaking engagements earnings and selling rights to his personal story for a documentary. McAfee was sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in prison for the criminal charges.
After selling his share in the anti-virus software company, named after him in 1990s, the British-born entrepreneur lived an eccentric lifestyle. He ran twice for the U.S. presidency in long-shot bids.
McAfee frequently spoke out about his love of guns and drugs. Some of his actions led to him being in trouble outside Tennessee, including in Central America and the Caribbean. He was interrogated in 2012 in connection to the killing of his Belize neighbor, but he was not charged.