Janice McAfee, the widow of tech impresario John McAfee, remains to be within the midst of grief. She is doing “odd jobs to feed herself,” has run out of funds, and nonetheless doesn’t know what actually occurred to her husband.
Because the demise of crypto guru and antivirus pioneer husband John McAfee in a Barcelona jail greater than two years in the past, she has remained in Spain in an undisclosed location and has solely been saved from homelessness by the kindness of pals.
She will be able to’t transfer on as a result of she nonetheless doesn’t know what occurred to her husband despite a September ruling this yr from a Catalan courtroom that John McAfee died by suicide and the case was successfully closed.
In an unique Zoom interview with Journal, she defined her present state of affairs.
“For greater than two years, I’ve not solely needed to take care of the tragedy of John’s demise, but it surely’s so onerous to maneuver on as a result of the authorities refuse to launch the post-mortem of his demise. I’ve tried and tried, however they won’t let me see it.
“There may be the chance of an unbiased post-mortem, however that may value 30,000 euros, and I don’t have the cash to pay for it. All I need is to see his physique for myself and know that basically occurred.”
“Not having the cash myself to make the choice to seek out out what actually occurred is tough, however I’m hoping that giving this interview will give individuals the chance to know what’s actually happening. I nonetheless have individuals contacting me who nonetheless can’t imagine he’s lifeless,” she says.
This video was taken at John’s seventy fifth party in Spain. I used to be behind the digital camera filming however was completely happy to place the digital camera down to bounce!
He regarded so good-looking that evening. That smile, how I miss that smile.
We have fun you in the present day John David❤🕊 pic.twitter.com/MDgvbd4tgY
— Janice McAfee (@theemrsmcafee) September 18, 2023
What occurred to John McAfee’s $100-million fortune?
Though John was price greater than $100 million after he resigned from antivirus firm McAfee in 1994 and bought his inventory, his official fortune had dwindled to an estimated $4 million on the time of his demise, in line with Superstar Web Value.
He claimed in 2019 that he had no cash and couldn’t pay a $25-million courtroom order over a wrongful demise lawsuit. Nevertheless, he was arrested the next yr on U.S. fees of tax evasion, with authorities claiming he and his workforce had earned $11 million selling cryptocurrencies. From jail, he advised his 1 million Twitter followers he doesn’t have any hidden crypto. “I’ve nothing. However I remorse nothing.”
In line with Janice, her husband didn’t have a will or an property, so there isn’t any cash, and due to the judgments towards him within the U.S., it’s extremely unlikely that any monetary legacy can be handed on to her.
There are tales that there are secret caches and paperwork, however Janice was intentionally stored at nighttime (about alleged “secret treasure”) by her husband, so she wouldn’t be in peril. She additionally has a raft of unanswered questions on John’s premature finish.
“I don’t suppose he thought issues would have ended the best way they did and nor did I. I don’t know if he dedicated suicide; we talked day by day after he was imprisoned close to Barcelona. I don’t know the way he bought strung up.”
“I don’t know if it was with a rope or a shoelace. Within the jail report, it says that after they discovered him, he was nonetheless alive; he had a pulse and was respiration after they discovered him. A faint pulse, however a pulse is a pulse.”
Janice can not imagine that when he was discovered within the cell with a ligature or shoelace round his neck, medical practitioners there appeared to have tried CPR on him with out eradicating it first.
“I went to highschool to be a registered nursing assistant, and I understand how to do CPR. Even within the films, it’s the very first thing you do: clear the airways.”
“If anyone has one thing tight round their neck, that’s the very last thing you’d do. The very first thing can be to take away the obstruction, however you’ll be able to see from the jail video that didn’t occur. I don’t know if it was negligence or stupidity; it simply feels sinister. However now I’m speculating, and I don’t wish to do this.”
Janice McAfee was frightened after John’s demise
After her husband’s demise, Janice was frightened for her security. Whereas John had advised her that the authorities had been solely after him, not her, she was nonetheless anxious that she can be a goal for others.
“John at all times assured me that he wouldn’t inform me something that may put me in peril; that was a consolation. He was public in regards to the 31 terabytes of data that he apparently possessed, however he by no means shared that with me, and I do not know the place it’s or whether or not it really existed.”
I’ve collected information on corruption in governments. For the primary time, I am naming names and specifics. I am going to start with a corrupt CIA agent and two Bahamian officers. Coming in the present day. If I am arrested or disappear, 31+ terrabytes of incriminating information can be launched to the press.
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) June 9, 2019
“However I really feel secure in the mean time. I’ve nothing to cover, and I don’t even know the way he actually died, not to mention what he possessed. If there was an unbiased post-mortem, I can get some peace. There is a chance to take action, but it surely’s very costly.”
I first met Janice and John at a blockchain convention in Malta in 2018. Just like the crypto world on the time, it was chaos — however good chaos.
I interviewed him on stage, and it wasn’t my most interesting hour, or perhaps it was. There was one thing about being close to him that affected me and made me behave on stage in a extra carefree method. Perhaps that’s what he might do, a Svengali of types.
John had been consuming whisky on the aspect of the stage however was sober and lucid. Janice was with him, defending him from the hundreds of people that wished to talk to him.
She jogged my memory of Kim Kardashian once I interviewed her in Armenia — calm, collected and virtually zen-like in her presence. I instantly preferred Janice and trusted her.
Later after the on-stage interview had been accomplished, I used to be approached by a husband-and-wife digital camera workforce who was doing a documentary on crypto that was virtually completed, however they’d love a phrase with John. Might I assist?
I wasn’t positive however texted Janice, and he or she stated it was OK; John apparently preferred me. I used to be invited to the penthouse suite and satisfied the armed guard exterior their room that I might vouch for the individuals with me. Once more, not one thing I did day by day.
John laughed when he noticed me. “You once more, for f–okay’s sake!” However he was civil to the husband-and-wife workforce and invited me to hitch him on a non-public yacht in Valletta Harbour that night.
What goes on on personal yachts stays there, however we grew to become pals there after which, primarily as a result of I used to be the one one “not blowing smoke up my arse,” in line with John. Additional invites would comply with — notably to an island off North Carolina when he was nonetheless incognito and on the run.
We stayed in contact, and I carried out a few interviews with him throughout the pandemic once I was working a podcast. After I reached out to Janet on Twitter/X to see if she can be focused on doing her first interview, she stated John thought-about me a pal and can be completely happy to take action.
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Janice McAfee nonetheless needs to recuperate John McAfee’s physique
So, that’s the backstory to this interview, however what’s extra vital is the journey from this level on. Janice is decided to comply with John’s needs that, if died, he wished his physique to be cremated.
“His physique remains to be within the morgue on the jail the place he died. I don’t know why they determined to carry on to his physique. They don’t want it. Two years in the past, I had the cash for an unbiased post-mortem; a yr in the past, I had the cash, however now I don’t.”
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“I’m surviving by taking little jobs right here and there to feed myself; that’s not what’s vital. What issues is what I can do for John. I’m not a sufferer — John was the sufferer — and I want that post-mortem report, to not proceed a combat towards Spanish authorities, however to know what actually occurred to him.”
I wished to share my ideas on the choose’s denial of my attraction filed final yr for John’s post-mortem report back to be launched.
20 months is a very long time to attend however at the least the choice has been made & I can lastly start the lengthy journey of shifting ahead. pic.twitter.com/24kikiU9pV
— Janice McAfee (@theemrsmcafee) October 5, 2023
I put it to Janice that the notion was that John had run out of time and had come to the tip of the highway. An extradition order to the U.S. had been made hours earlier than his demise, and it was absolutely going to be onerous for him in a U.S. jail.
American authorities don’t like individuals who thumb their noses at them, and an instance would have been fabricated from him. In some methods, didn’t his obvious suicide make full sense to a proud man?
“We by no means talked about that. Ever. Whereas he did inform me he wished to be cremated, that was as a result of he knew there have been individuals who wished him killed, however that’s not the purpose.”
“I don’t wish to be on one aspect or the opposite. Simply inform me what the physique says. I’m not making an attempt to hunt justice — there’s no such factor on this earth any extra. I simply need John’s needs to be fulfilled.”
Janice is an American citizen, however she’s understandably in no rush to return to the U.S. when she doesn’t know what her standing is.
John McAfee Netflix documentary
A Netflix documentary known as Working with the Satan: The Wild World of John McAfee was launched final yr and portrays her and John as fugitives, which isn’t one thing that Janice thinks represents the true story.
It was extra of a story in regards to the journalists themselves who tried to sensationalize a public determine and weren’t fairly as much as it. They centered themselves when the main target ought to have been on the true story of why McAfee felt disposed to be a so-called fugitive… or why Janice was staying with him.
I composed this piece 5 years in the past.
Now after practically 5 months in jail its notes replicate the isolation from my family members and from the society I’m making an attempt to vary.
If you wish to hear my coronary heart by means of music have a hear. pic.twitter.com/IJc6gMyciX
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) February 17, 2021
“Individuals neglect in a short time, and I perceive why as a result of the world strikes very quick these days. I simply need him to be remembered correctly, and that’s the least he deserves.”
Janice needs closure. She needs to cremate her husband, keep in mind him with love, and work out what to do subsequent.
I hope she will get her want. Everyone deserves an opportunity to maneuver on, and Janice McAfee far more than many others.
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Monty Munford
Monty Munford writes commonly for the BBC, The Economist and Metropolis AM and has been a tech columnist for Forbes and The Telegraph. He additionally runs a progress and visibility consultancy and has appeared at greater than 200 occasions and conferences, interviewing figures comparable to Tim Draper, the late John McAfee, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Steve Wozniak, Kim Kardashian, Weapons N’ Roses and lots of others.
