(Barcelona) A year after his death in prison, the body of John McAfee, creator of the famous eponymous antivirus software, is still in a morgue in Barcelona while his wife, who does not believe in his suicide, has filed an appeal in justice.
Posted at 1:13 p.m.
The body of the American businessman is still in the premises of the Barcelona Institute of Forensic Medicine, the regional authority responsible for justice confirmed to AFP on Thursday.
John McAfee was found dead on June 23, 2021 in his cell in Brians 2 prison, located near Barcelona, at the age of 75.
A spokesperson for the prison authorities then mentioned to AFP the thesis of suicide which has since been confirmed by an autopsy.
But his wife, who says she does not believe in suicide, has asked for the investigation to be continued and a new autopsy, deeming the first “incomplete”, according to her lawyer Javier Villalba.
Faced with the refusal of the investigating judge, the family finally filed an appeal to relaunch the investigation. This appeal is still being examined by a court in Barcelona.
“A year ago today, John McAfee was stolen from us […] the world is a darker place without him,” Janice McAfee wrote on Twitter.
John McAfee, who became a cryptocurrency guru after making his fortune with his antivirus in the 1980s, was arrested in October 2020 at Barcelona airport, just before boarding a plane bound for Istanbul.
This arrest came the day after a US prosecutor published an indictment accusing him of having failed to declare millions of dollars in income, in particular from the promotion of cryptocurrencies.
Shortly before his death, a Spanish court had given the green light to his extradition, requested by Washington. But the latter could still be appealed.
John McAfee had already hit the headlines in 2012 when his neighbor in Belize, a small country in Central America, was mysteriously murdered, a case still unsolved to this day.
The police then discovered that he was living with a 17-year-old girl and that he had several weapons in his house. McAfee had embarked on an incredible run that had kept the media in suspense for a month.