Briefing: The Life and Death of John McAfee According to Janice McAfee
Executive Summary
This document synthesizes the testimony of Janice McAfee regarding the life, persecution, and death of her husband, John McAfee. The central assertion is that John McAfee did not die by suicide in a Spanish prison on June 23, 2021, but was murdered. Janice McAfee cites numerous contradictions in the official report, including that he was found alive, that resuscitation was attempted without removing the ligature from his neck, and that key evidence was destroyed.
The narrative details a life on the run, which Janice McAfee claims was initiated by John's discovery of widespread corruption within the government of Belize. After retaliating against an extortion attempt by hacking officials, he obtained evidence of drug trafficking, money laundering, and murder for hire, making him a target. This threat allegedly evolved to include the Sinaloa cartel and persisted throughout their time in the United States and abroad.
Janice McAfee describes a relationship defined by constant paranoia, surveillance, and multiple attempts to collect or harm John. She recounts specific, life-threatening incidents in Portland, Oregon, and their subsequent flight across the United States. She also provides a critical perspective on media portrayals of John, arguing that his public persona as a "crazy mad man" was a cultivated act and that documentaries like Gringo were sensationalized and factually compromised, alleging that sources were paid for their stories.
The Death of John McAfee in Spanish Custody
John McAfee was arrested at the Barcelona airport on October 4, 2020, and incarcerated at the Brians 1 penitentiary. He died there on June 23, 2021, the same day a Spanish court approved his extradition to the United States on tax-related charges.
The Official Narrative and Contradictory Evidence
The official cause of death was ruled a suicide by hanging. However, Janice McAfee presents a sequence of events and details from the prison's own report that challenge this conclusion.
- Discovery and Initial Condition: According to the prison's report, John was not dead when he was found. He was alive with a faint pulse and shallow breathing.
- Resuscitation Efforts: A medical team performed chest compressions and administered oxygen for over 10 minutes. Crucially, these life-saving measures were reportedly conducted while the shoestring noose remained around his neck.
- Physical Circumstances: A prison guard informed Janice that John’s feet were on the floor when he was found, a detail that raises questions about the feasibility of suicide by hanging for a tall man in a cell with a low window.
- Destruction of Evidence: The material that allegedly connected the shoestrings around his neck to the window was "burned off" by authorities to bring him down, effectively destroying a key piece of evidence.
- Lack of Official Notification: Janice, his wife and emergency contact, was not officially notified of his death. She discovered it through a Google search after receiving a direct message on social media. His Spanish attorneys were also not contacted and learned of his death from the news.
- Limited Autopsy Information: The family was never provided with the full autopsy report, receiving only a four-page summary. When Janice was permitted to identify the body, it was through a glass window, and she was only shown his head, preventing her from identifying tattoos or examining his body for bruises or other signs of a struggle.
Janice McAfee's Conclusion
Janice McAfee firmly believes John was murdered. She rejects the idea that the extradition ruling would have driven him to suicide, stating that the outcome was expected and that an appeals process would have taken months or years.
"If you knew John you just would know that that wasn't him like killing himself... He was a fighter till the end."
She spoke to him that morning, and his last words to her were, "I love you and I'll call you later." The prison staff, including the head of the guards, described John as an "exemplary prisoner" who was always smiling and engaging, and they expressed shock at his death, noting he showed no signs of being suicidal after returning from court.
The Belize Conflict: The Alleged Origin of Persecution
Janice McAfee identifies John's time in Belize as the genesis of the threats against his life. After moving there to retire, a series of events allegedly made him a target of corrupt government officials.
Event | Description |
Extortion Attempt | Belizean government officials allegedly offered John land, tax breaks, and women in exchange for a $2 million donation to the ruling political party. John refused. |
GSU Raid | Approximately one week later, the Gang Suppression Unit (GSU) raided his property. During the raid, they destroyed his lab (where he was working on a topical antivirus), handcuffed him for over 14 hours, and shot his deaf dog in front of him. |
Second Refusal | A week after the raid, the officials returned to ask if he had changed his mind. He told them to "Get the f off my property." |
McAfee's Retaliation | In response, John gifted laptops loaded with keylogging spyware to secretaries and associates of high-ranking government officials. |
Discovery of Corruption | Over several months, he collected what he claimed was hard evidence—emails, receipts, and more—of "drug trafficking, human trafficking, murder for hire, [and] all sorts of evidence of illegal money laundering" perpetrated by these officials in collusion with cartels. |
The Murder of Gregory Faull and Flight from Belize
After his spying operation was discovered, John went on the run within Belize. Shortly thereafter, his neighbor, Gregory Faull, was murdered.
- John believed the murder was a botched assassination attempt meant for him, as he was no longer staying at his main property.
- He maintained he was never a suspect in the murder, only "wanted for questioning." A CNBC article from November 15, 2012, corroborates that Belizean police stated McAfee was not a suspect.
- He fled to Guatemala with a Vice documentary crew. His location was compromised when Vice published a photo with its EXIF metadata intact. He was arrested, faked a heart attack to avoid extradition to Belize, and was ultimately deported to Miami.
Life in the United States and on the Run (2012–2019)
Meeting and Early Relationship
Janice met John in Miami on December 14, 2012. At the time, she was working as a prostitute, and he had just arrived from Guatemala with only the clothes on his back and $5,000 in five-dollar bills brought by a friend. From the outset, their relationship was characterized by John's extreme paranoia; he identified armed individuals following them and orchestrated a road trip from Tennessee to Portland, Oregon, during which he would disappear for hours at a time to dig up buried stashes of emergency cash and supplies.
The Sinaloa Cartel and the Portland Incident
Janice recounts a period where her pimp became entangled with an individual named Francois, who claimed to be a representative of the Sinaloa cartel. They attempted to use Janice as an inside source to gather intelligence on John.
- Demands: She was asked for information on John’s whereabouts, travel plans, and weapons. The demands escalated to requesting she poison his food and park his vehicle in a specific location to be accessed.
- The Apartment Stakeout: The situation culminated in a tense night in their Portland apartment. After observing suspicious signals, John initiated a lockdown, and they hid for hours under a car in the building's parking garage. They heard a significant commotion, including a garbage truck operating in the middle of the night, and observed their building manager react with shock upon seeing them alive the next morning.
- Conclusion: John believed the Sinaloa cartel had purchased the entire apartment building to facilitate his capture. He later sent an email to the manager claiming he had installed cameras in the elevator; shortly after, security personnel packing their belongings reported that the elevator's interior panels had been stripped out.
Constant Relocation and Presidential Campaign
This incident triggered a period of constant movement for their safety, from Portland to Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and eventually Tennessee. The threats continued, including overt surveillance on highways and the appearance of Janice's pimp in Colorado, far from his usual territory.
In 2016, John ran for President of the United States. Janice states the primary motivation for the campaign was safety. By maintaining a public profile, it would be significantly more difficult for his enemies to make him "disappear" without public outcry.
Departure from the U.S.
In late 2018 and early 2019, the situation intensified, leading to their decision to flee the country.
- Suspected Poisoning: In the summer of 2017, John was hospitalized and put on a ventilator after an incident he believed was a poisoning attempt at their home on Hatteras Island.
- Grand Jury: An attorney in Tennessee informed John that a grand jury had convened regarding his failure to pay taxes.
- Flight: Fearing an imminent arrest that would put him in the custody of his enemies, John prepared his boat, "The Great Mystery." They fled the U.S. in January 2019, beginning a journey that took them through the Bahamas, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic before arriving in Europe.
Critiques of Media and Public Persona
Janice McAfee argues that the public image of John as an unhinged, drug-addled eccentric was a carefully constructed persona that he used for his own purposes. She is highly critical of media portrayals that she claims were biased and factually inaccurate.
On Documentaries
- Gringo: The Dangerous Life of John McAfee: Janice describes this film as "absolute horse crap" and "absolute trash." She alleges that the producers, specifically Nanette Bernstein, paid sources to invent sensational stories. As evidence, she refers to a Western Union receipt showing a $3,000 payment from Bernstein to Edward McCoy, who claimed in the documentary that John paid him by check to murder Gregory Faull. John had told his local contacts in Belize, "if telling them that you saw me eating babies will get them to pay you more money you you tell them that."
- Running with the Devil: While she found this documentary more stylistically entertaining, she criticized it for presenting a "singular story of this crazy mad man" and for omitting crucial footage, such as their entire stay in Cuba, which would have provided more context to their flight.
On John McAfee's Persona and Drug Use
- Calculated Image: Janice asserts John played a role for the public. She cites the viral 2012 video "How to Uninstall McAfee," in which he parodied the negative press surrounding him. The "cocaine" in the video was cornstarch, and the scene was filled with actors.
- Limited Drug Use: Contrary to his public image, she describes him as "super square" during their time together. She states he did not use cocaine or meth. Their drug use was limited to one instance of taking ecstasy at Dracula's Castle in Transylvania, along with alcohol and, in later years, marijuana. He used a stimulant from China which he claimed was a natural remedy to avoid a heart bypass surgery.
Key Quotes
- On John's Death: "They put his body back into the cell and they take the picture... why would you not remove what's around his neck before trying to save his life?"
- On His Character: "He was a fighter till the end, you know, and I believe that that he definitely fought what however it was that they were able to get him in that position."
- On the Gringo Documentary: "If you're having to pay people to say what you want them to say I mean how trustworthy can you be, you know, when the actual story of John is fascinating on its own."
- On Retaliating Against Belizean Officials: "[He] gift[ed] computers laptops to secretaries girlfriends boyfriends of people who were like high up high up in the government... and on these laptops it had key logging information... spyware on it."
- On John's Threat to Her Pimp: "The next thing I hear John say is that 'Okay well if you come here you will leave here in a body bag.' And then John's like 'Well no it's not a threat, I'm just telling you what's going to happen if you decide to come here.'"
- On His Paranoia: "He's watching very closely people that are walking by people that are driving by and so I picked up on that immediately because that's something that I would have to do you know being a working girl."
- On His Tweet Before His Death: The famous tweet stating he would not kill himself was dictated by John from prison for Janice to post on his account. "He would dictate to me the tweet and then I would put it up there and he'd tell me when what time to put it out."
