John McAfee’s widow is dismissing the suicide claims surrounding the software mogul’s recent death.
On Friday, 38-year-old Janice McAfee told reporters she had spoken to her husband just hours before he was found dead inside a Spanish prison cell. John, the creator of the eponymous antivirus brand, had been at the detention facility since October and was awaiting extradition to the United States on tax fraud charges. The extradition ruling was announced shortly before his death; but as Janice pointed out, John and his legal team still had the option to file an appeal.
“We were prepared for that decision and had a plan of action already in place to appeal that decision,” Janice told the press outside the Brians 2 prison near Barcelona. “I blame the U.S. authorities for this tragedy. Because of these politically motivated charges against him, my husband is now dead. His last words to me were, ‘I love you and I will call you in the evening.’ Those words are not words of somebody who is suicidal. All John wanted to do was spend his remaining years fishing and drinking. He did not deserve to die in a filthy prison, like a caged animal.”
She continued: “I don’t believe he did this. And I will get answers.”
A source told the Associated Press that a suicide note was found in John’s pocket on the day his body was found, but declined to reveal the contents of the message. John’s attorney, Javier Villalba, has said his client died from an apparent suicide but claimed he had no knowledge of any note.
John was accused of evading more than $4 million in U.S. taxes over the span of several years. About a year before he was arrested in Barcelona, the two-time presidential candidate unveiled a photo of his arm tattoo that read “$whackd.” He also alleged that U.S. government had threatened to kill him, and suspected they would try to make his murder look like a suicide.
The Catalonia Justice Department has launched an investigation into John’s death. A spokesperson for the U.S. embassy is assisting the probe: “We are closely monitoring local authorities’ investigation into the cause of death, and stand ready to provide all appropriate assistance to the family,” the spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters. “Out of respect to the family during this difficult time, we have no further comment.”
