John McAfee, the pioneer creator of popular computer antivirus software, has died in an apparent suicide at a Spanish prison, on the day that a court approved his extradition to the U.S. on tax evasion charges.
McAfee, 75, was found dead on Wednesday afternoon in his cell in Brians 2 Prison in Barcelona, with officials saying that the early investigation points to a suicide, the Catalan justice department said.
It came just hours after a Spanish court approved McAfee's extradition to the United States, where he is wanted on tax-related criminal charges that carry a prison sentence of up to 30 years.
McAfee still had opportunities to appeal his conviction but could not stand more time in jail, his lawyer Javier Villalba told Reuters.
'This is the result of a cruel system that had no reason to keep this man in jail for so long,' Villalba said.
John McAfee appears via videoconference during his extradition hearing at Audiencia Nacional court, in Madrid, Spain earlier this month. He has died behind bars at 75
Villalba said that McAfee had committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell.
McAfee had been held in Spanish prison since his arrest in October, when the U.S. Justice Department announced charges that McAfee and his supporters insisted were politically motivated.
His death follows a wild, controversial life filled with legal issues and foreign adventures, including allegations that McAfee murdered his American neighbor in Belize, a claim that was never proven in criminal court.
Soon after his arrest last year, McAfee's Twitter account posted a dark hint suggesting that if he died in an alleged suicide, a conspiracy would be to blame.
'I am content in here. I have friends. The food is good. All is well. Know that if I hang myself, a la Epstein, it will be no fault of mine,' he tweeted referring to persistent theories that sex predator Jeffrey Epstein did not take his own life, as authorities ruled.
In one of his final tweets, presumably dictated to his wife from behind bars and posted on June 16, McAfee denied having any hidden assets, claiming the fortune he made in an alleged cryptocurrency scam had 'evaporated.'
A cell at the Brians 2 Prison in Barcelona is seen in a file photo. McAfee was found dead in his cell on Wednesday afternoon in a suspected suicide
'I have nothing. Yet, I regret nothing,' the tweet stated.
McAfee had praised conditions at the prison where he was
