Entertainment
Who was John McAfee and what happened to him?-Meghna Amin-Entertainment – Metro
New Netflix documentary follows John McAfee, filmed while he was on the run.
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Netflix’s newest documentary follows the wild story of a man on the run from murder.
But this isn’t just any ordinary person.
Running With The Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee will follow the man behind one of the most successful pieces of computer software of all time, McAfee Anti-Virus, after he fled when police sought him for questioning about the murder of his neighbour – and he took a film crew with him.
With clips showing McAfee on the run, viewers witness what really happened as he became increasingly paranoid and detached from reality.
From showing him trying on wigs to go under disguise, to interviews with his ex-girlfriend and widow, the documentary uncovers what it was really like while he was on the run.
But who was John McAfee?
The antivirus inventor, who was born in the UK, moved to the US as a child, and, at age 15, his father committed suicide – although in the documentary, this is explored with rumours of whether John actually killed his allegedly abusive father.
There’s more behind the man created the renowned anti-virus software (Picture: REUTERS)
After college, McAfee jumped around between companies – one of which he was fired from when they found him snorting cocaine at his desk.
Eventually, in the 1980s he had the idea to start a company to fight computer viruses, and in 1987 founded the antivirus computer protection software we now know today.
However, McAfee resigned in 1994, sold his stake in the company, and began to make public appearances and pursue a few different projects.
What happened to John McAfee?
The Netflix documentary follows McAfee on the run and fleeing Belize police aftr being suspected of murdering of his neighbour, over a row about dogs.
The documentary follows McAfee on the run, with cameramen (Picture: REUTERS)
At the time, he said that he thought he would be tortured or killed if he was found by the police, so decided to flee Belize.
He was later arrested in Guatemala for illegally entering the country, and was eventually released and deported to the United States in 2012.
While back in the States, McAfee decided to try and run for president – not once, but twice, in 2016 and again in 2020.
Around the same time, he anounnced that he thought taxes were illegal, and in 2019 claimed that he hadn’t filed with the IRS since 2010, shortly before he went on the run again.
The documentary features clips of McAfee while he was on the run (Picture: Netflix)
He escaped on a ‘Freedom Boat’ around the Caribbean and dodged a $25million wrongful death lawsuit judgement in the murder of his American neighbor in Belize. McAfee was never charged in Gregory Viant Faull’s murder.
The year later, McAfee was arrested in Norway… wearing a thong as a face mask.
The then 75-year-old said authorities were not happy he had chosen a thong as a face covering to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and claimed he got into a ‘tussle’ with officers and was ‘roughed up’ by them.
Just two months later on October 5, 2020, McAfee was arrested in Spain at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice for tax evasion.
McAfee was found dead in a Spanish jail cell in June 2021 (Picture: FRED DUFOUR/AFP via Getty Images)
McAfee avoided paying taxes on his income from 2014 to 2018, federal investigators said. The tax-related criminal charges carried a sentence of up to 30 years in prison.
Then in March 2021, McAfee was hit with a separate indictment in Manhattan federal court for an alleged cryptocurrencies scheme he pushed on social media.
He had been heavily involved with cryptocurrency and posted regularly on social media about Bitcoin, even claiming to know the identity of the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, of which little is known.
McAfee’s wife demanded a ‘thorough investigation’ of his death, saying her husband did not appear suicidal (Picture: AP Photo/Joan Mateu)
Being held in prison in Spain since his arrest, McAfee was found dead in a Spanish jail cell in June 2021, with police investigating his death, which occurred just hours after reports that McAfee would be extradited from Spain to the US to face federal charges, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais.
‘Everything points to suicide,’ El Pais stated and cited Spanish justice department officials. Another newspaper in Spain, El Mundo, also reported McAfee’s death by the same manner.
Meanwhile his widow, Janice McAfee, has demanded a ‘thorough investigation’ of his death, saying her husband did not appear suicidal when they last spoke.
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Janice, 38, said: ‘His last words to me were “I love you and I will call you in the evening.”’
She added that they spoke earlier on the day he was found dead and that he made no indication he wanted to take his own life.
‘Those words are not words of somebody who is suicidal’, Janice added.
Police are investigating his death.
Running With The Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee hits Netflix on August 24.
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