2 years after John McAfee’s death, widow Janice is broke and needs answers – Cointelegraph Magazine
Janice McAfee, the widow of technology manager John McAfee, is still grieving. She worked “odd jobs to support herself,” had exhausted her funds, and still had no idea what had happened to her husband.
Since her husband, John McAfee, the cryptocurrency guru and anti-virus pioneer, died in a Barcelona prison more than two years ago, she has remained in an undisclosed location in Spain, only being evacuated from nowhere through the kindness of friends. Rescued from a state of home and return.
She can’t move on because she still doesn’t know what happened to her husband, although a Catalan court ruled in September that John McAfee died by suicide, effectively closing the case.
In an exclusive interview with Zoom Magazine, she explained her current situation.
“For more than two years, I not only had to deal with the tragedy of John’s death, but it was also difficult to move on because the authorities refused to release the autopsy results of his death. I tried and tried, but they wouldn’t let me see it.
“There was an opportunity for an independent autopsy but it would cost 30,000 euros and I didn’t have the money to pay for it. I just wanted to see his body with my own eyes and know that this really happened.”
“I don’t have the money myself to make the decision to find out what’s going on which is difficult, but I hope doing this interview will give people a chance to find out what’s going on. I still have people contacting me and they still can’t believe him Already dead,” she said.
The film was shot at John’s 75th birthday party in Spain. I was filming behind the camera but was so excited to put it down and dance!
He looked very handsome that night. That smile, how I miss that smile.
Today we celebrate you John David❤🕊 pic.twitter.com/MDgvbd4tgY
— Janice McPhee (@theemrsmcafee) September 18, 2023
What happened to John McAfee’s $100 million fortune?
Although John was worth more than $100 million after resigning from anti-virus company McAfee in 1994 and selling his stock, his official wealth was estimated to have dwindled to $4 million at the time of his death, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
In 2019, he claimed he had no money and was unable to pay a $25 million court settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit.However, he was arrested the following year on U.S. tax evasion charges, with authorities claiming that he and his colleagues team Already earned $11 million Promote cryptocurrency. From jail, he told his 1 million Twitter followers that he did not have any hidden cryptocurrencies. “I have nothing. But I have no regrets.”
According to Janice, her husband had no will and no inheritance, so no money, and because of the U.S. judgment against him, it was unlikely that any financial inheritance would be passed on to her.
There are stories that there are secret caches and documents there, but Janice was deliberately kept in the dark by her husband (about the so-called “secret treasure”) so that she would not be in danger. She still has many unanswered questions about John’s untimely death.
“I don’t think he thought things would end the way they did, and I don’t either. I don’t know if he committed suicide; I don’t know if he committed suicide.” We spoke every day since he was imprisoned near Barcelona. I don’t know how he got hung up. ”
“I don’t know if it was a rope or a shoelace. The jail report said he was still alive when they found him; he had a pulse and was breathing when they found him. The pulse was weak, but a pulse was a pulse.”
Janice couldn’t believe that when he was found in his cell with a ligature or shoelaces wrapped around his neck, the doctors there appeared to try to perform CPR on him without first untying it.
“I went to school to be a certified nursing assistant, and I knew how to do CPR. Even in the movies, that’s the first thing you do: clear your airway.”
“If someone has something around their neck, that’s the last thing you want to do. The first thing is to remove the obstruction, but as you can see from the prison film, that doesn’t happen. I don’t know if that’s negligence or stupidity; it’s just that It feels sinister. But now I’m just guessing and I don’t want to do it.”
Janice McAfee is scared after John’s death
After her husband passed away, Janice feared for her safety. Although John told her that authorities were only after him, not her, she still worried that she would be targeted by someone else.
“John always assured me that he wouldn’t tell me anything that would put me in danger; that was a comfort. He released 31 terabytes of information that he apparently had that he never shared with me, I don’t know where that information is or if it actually exists.”
I collected files on government corruption. This was the first time I gave names and details. I’ll start with a corrupt CIA agent and two Bahamian officials. Came today. If I were arrested or disappeared, over 31 terabytes of criminal data would be released to the media.
— John McPhee (@officialmcafee) June 9, 2019
“But I feel safe now. I have nothing to hide and I don’t even know exactly how he died, let alone what he had. If there was an independent autopsy, I could get some peace. There is a chance that It can be done, but the cost is very high.”
I first met Janice and John at a blockchain conference in Malta in 2018. Like the crypto world at the time, it was chaotic out there, but chaos was good.
I interviewed him on stage and it wasn’t my best moment, or maybe it was. There was something about being with him that affected me and made me act more carefree on stage. Maybe that’s all he can be, a Svengali.
John had been drinking whiskey off to the side of the stage, but he was sober and clear-headed. Janice stayed with him, protecting him from the thousands of people who wanted to talk to him.
She reminded me of when I interviewed Kim Kardashian in Armenia—calm, collected, almost zen-like in her presence. I immediately liked Janice and trusted her.
Later, after the onstage interview, I was approached by a husband-and-wife photography team who were working on a cryptocurrency documentary that was almost finished, but wanted to have a word with John. Can I help?
I wasn’t sure, but texted Janice and she said it was okay; John obviously liked me. I was invited to the penthouse suite and convinced the armed guard outside the room to let me vouch for the person I was with. Again, this is not something I do every day.
John smiled as soon as he saw me. ‘It’s you again, oh my god!’ But he was gracious to the husband-and-wife team and invited me to join him on a private yacht in Valletta Harbor that evening.
What happened on the private yacht stayed there, but we became friends there, mostly because I was the only one who “didn’t smoke,” according to John. More invitations would follow—especially one to an island off North Carolina while he remained incognito and on the run.
We stayed in touch, and I conducted several interviews with him while running the podcast during the pandemic. When I contacted Janet on Twitter/X to ask if she would be interested in doing the first interview, she said John considered me a friend and would be happy to do so.
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Janice McPhee still wants to recover John McPhee’s body
That’s the backstory to this interview, but more importantly the journey from now on. Janice was determined to honor John’s last wish, which was for his body to be cremated if he died.
“His body is still in the morgue of the prison where he died. I don’t know why they decided to keep his body. They didn’t need it. Two years ago, I had the money to do an independent autopsy; a year ago, I had the money, but Now I don’t have any.”
Also read: “Oh my God, I’ve seen it!” — Coldie’s Snoop Dogg, Vitalik and McAfee NFT: NFT Creator
“I support myself by doing odd jobs here and there; that is not important. What is important is what I can do for John. I am not a victim – John is a victim – and I need the autopsy report, not to continue fighting with the Spanish authorities. The struggle, but to understand what happened to him.”
I would like to share my thoughts on the judge’s rejection of my appeal last year to have John’s autopsy report released.
20 months was a long time to wait, but at least I had made a decision and I could finally begin the long journey forward. pic.twitter.com/24kikiU9pV
— Janice McPhee (@theemrsmcafee) October 5, 2023
I told Janice that people thought John had run out of time and was at the end of the road. The U.S. issued an extradition order just hours before his death, and life in a U.S. prison will surely be difficult for him.
The US authorities don’t like those who thumb their noses at them, and he is an example of that. In some ways, wouldn’t his apparent suicide be entirely justified by a proud man?
“We never talked about this. Ever. While he did tell me he wanted to be cremated, it was because he knew someone was trying to kill him, but that’s not the point.”
“I don’t want to be on one side or the other. Just tell me what the body is saying. I’m not looking for justice – there’s no such thing on earth anymore. I just want John’s wish to come true.”
Janice is a U.S. citizen, but she was understandably in no hurry to return to the United States when she didn’t know her status.
John McAfee Netflix Documentary
A Netflix documentary titled Walking with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee The movie released last year portrayed her and John as fugitives, but Janice doesn’t think that represents the true story.
This is more a story about journalists themselves trying to sensationalize a public figure but failing to do so. They focus when the focus should have been on the true story of why McPhee was willing to become a so-called fugitive…or why Janice stayed with him.
This piece was composed by me 5 years ago.
Now, nearly 5 months after being incarcerated, its notes reflect my isolation from the people I love and the society I am trying to change.
If you want to hear my heart through music, come and listen. pic.twitter.com/IJc6gMyciX
— John McPhee (@officialmcafee) February 17, 2021
“People forget quickly, and I understand why, because the world moves very fast today. I just hope he is remembered correctly, which is the least he deserves.”
Janice wanted closure. She wanted to cremate her husband, remember him with love, and figure out what to do next.
I hope she gets her wish. Everyone deserves a chance to move on, and Janice McAfee more than many others.
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Monty Mumford
Monty Munford writes regularly for the BBC, The Economist and City AM, and is a technology columnist for Forbes and The Telegraph. He also runs a growth and visibility consultancy and has attended over 200 events and conferences, interviewing Tim Draper, the late John McAfee, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Steve Wozniak, Kim Kardashian, Guns N’ Roses and many more .
Follow the author @montymonford
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