Very charismatic super intelligent man. He was no Saint, but he was an advocate for freedom, and that deserve all my respect. He didn't killed himself, he was murdered by the deep state, he knew they were going after him.

The tweet, posted in November 2019, said: "Getting subtle messages from U.S. officials saying, in effect: 'We're coming for you McAfee! We're going to kill yourself'. I got a tattoo today just in case. If I suicide myself, I didn't. I was whackd. Check my right arm." It included a photo of a tattoo that said "$WHACKD." Almost a year later, in October, McAfee was arrested and detained in Barcelona.

Getting subtle messages from U.S. officials saying, in effect: "We're coming for you McAfee! We're going to kill yourself". I got a tattoo today just in case. If I suicide myself, I didn't. I was whackd. Check my right arm.$WHACKD available only on https://t.co/HdSEYi9krq:) pic.twitter.com/rJ0Vi2Hpjj

— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) November 30, 2019

At the time of the tweet, McAfee was evading US tax authorities. He did not explain what "subtle messages" meant or provide any evidence of his extraordinary claim that he was a marked man. Villalba told Reuters on Thursday that McAfee's death was a surprise. "At no point had he shown any special worry or clue that could let us think this could have happened," he said. On June 15, McAfee argued against being sent back to the US, saying extradition would likely mean spending the rest of his life in prison. Around the same time as the tweet, McAfee joined in the unfounded speculation - particularly among supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory - that the death of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in August 2019 was not a suicide. US authorities have officially ruled Epstein's death a suicide.

US whistleblower Edward Snowden has warned Wikileaks founder Julian Assange after antivirus mogul John McAfee died by apparent suicide in a Barcelona prison following news that he was being extradited to the United States on tax evasion charges. Edward Snowden, the former NSA consultant and data privacy advocate, has tweeted that Julian Assange "could be next".