Antivirus software pioneer John McAfee died by suicide in a Spanish prison on Wednesday

QAnon believers quickly began suggesting conspiracy theories about his death

Just minutes after the news broke that

John McAfee died by apparent suicide in a Spanish prison

, QAnon conspiracy theorists baselessly suggested that the antivirus software pioneer died by other means.

Several top QAnon influencers on Telegram, some of whom have hundreds of thousands of followers on the far-right-favourite messaging platform, shared posts on Wednesday afternoon including the word “suicide” in quotes.

“Word on the street, only time will tell if this report was true or not,” an account with 61,000 subscribers shared on the app. Conspiracies alleging that McAfee had a “dead man’s switch”, or a device that activates when its owner dies, were also being shared online.

McAfee was imprisoned in Spain pending extradition on tax evasion charges before his death was reported on Wednesday.

A 2019 tweet from the antivirus software mogul’s verified Twitter account appeared to be emboldening some of these claims: “If I suicide myself, I didn’t,” the tweet 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.