John McAfee, the tech innovator whose name is synonymous with antivirus software, died by suicide on Wednesday hours after a court approved his extradition from Spain to face U.S. tax evasion charges, officials said.
McAfee was found dead in his cell in Barcelona, following the Spanish High Court’s preliminary ruling for his removal to the United States, the regional Catalan government told The Associated Press.
Guards at the Brians 2 penitentiary found McAfee unresponsive and the jail’s medical team certified his death, officials said.
McAfee’s lawyer told Reuters that the 75-year-old hanged himself in his cell.
The accused tax cheat was arrested at Barcelona airport in October 2020 and he’s been fighting removal to the U.S. ever since, telling Spanish authorities he’s being targeted for political reasons.
He still had opportunity to appeal against the court’s extradition authorization.
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If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.