--- title: "John McAfee Faked His Death and Is Still Alive, Ex-Girlfriend Claims" description: "Remember when John McAfee died last summer? According to one of his exes, that didn't really happen, and he's still alive today." date: "2022-08-24" modified: "2022-08-24" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/john-mcafee-faked-death-ex" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "death" - "documentaries" - "john mcafee" - "security" --- # John McAfee Faked His Death and Is Still Alive, Ex-Girlfriend Claims ![Remember when John McAfee died last summer? According to one of his exes, that didn't really happen, and he's still alive today.]() *\Image: Jose GOITIA/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images\* Remember when John McAfee [died last summer]() in an apparent suicide? According to a dubious claim by one of his exes, it was all an elaborate hoax. In a new Netflix documentary titled "[Running With the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee]()," McAfee's Belizean ex Samantha Herrera claims that the fugitive tech entrepreneur called her after his reports of his death by suicide in June 2021 and asked her to run away with him. "I don’t know if I should say," Herrera told the cameras, "but two weeks ago, after his death, I got a call from Texas: 'It’s me, John. I paid off people to pretend that I am dead, but I am not dead.'" "'There are only three persons in this world that know I’m still alive,'" Herrera claims that McAfee told her. Let's be clear: in one way or another, this is almost certainly shenanigans. It's possible that Herrera is the victim of a hoax herself, that she's making stuff up for publicity, or some other strange explanation. But it's very, very unlikely that McAfee is still alive. The claims are notable, though, because Herrera does have something akin to credibility given that the pair were together in her native Belize in 2012 when McAfee's neighbor, Gregory Faull, [was murdered execution-style]() after fighting with the antivirus pioneer over his dogs. She then went on the lam with him when authorities began seeking him for questioning in the Florida-born Faull's murder, though [McAfee claims in the documentary footage]() that he was really running from the Belizean prime minister, who'd put a $150,000 bounty on his head. "His side of the story is that they’re after him because he didn’t pay off the government," Herrara said in the documentary. "They wanted to hurt him, to get rid of him." Herrara not only got her big-time lawyer relative Telésforo Guerra to defend her infamous American boyfriend, the [*New York Post* notes]() in a summary of the documentary, but helped McAfee flee the country and was at his side when he had a heart attack while hiding out in Guatemala City. When the pair relocated to the United States, however, McAfee broke things off with her, marrying a woman named Janice Dyson — who, it should be noted, [believes he was murdered]() and did not commit suicide. In an [interview with *Esquire*](), documentary director Charlie Russell said he can't make heads or tails of Herrera's claim that McAfee called her after he reportedly had died. "I don’t know what I think and I don’t think she does," Russell said. "She says it, then she looks at the camera, and I can’t work out whether she thinks it’s real or not." And sure, the whole story sounds too outrageous to be believed — but then again, so did the rest of the antivirus entrepreneur's drug-fueled fugitive life. **READ MORE:** [“What if He’s Still out There?”: John McAfee Documentary Director on That Call From Beyond the Grave]() \[*Esquire*\] **More death-faking:** [*Chimpanzee Star of "Buddy" Found Alive After His Owner Allegedly Faked His Death*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()