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Re:John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail after court approv... by colechristensen on Wednesday June 23, 2021 @05:16PM (#27610493)
Unhinged folks can be murdered by state actors outside the law too...

This is one of those situations which may well just be impossible to unravel in a satisfactory way.

In fact, if you're clever and in intelligence, a good way to cover your tracks and generally be nefarious is to provide a reason for your desired outcome to happen. In other words, do what you can to encourage the unhinged tendencies of your target so that they might actually do it themselves or at least it will seem more plausible that they did.

Re:John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail after court approv... by pydry on Thursday June 24, 2021 @07:37AM (#27616186)
As a thought experiment I have wondered before what I would do if I suspected the government might want to suicide me.

It's depressing to think that I'd have to have perfect mental health and the appearance of perfect mental health to arise suspicion otherwise my suicide would be written off. This is, of course, literally impossible.

Even assuming I did, almost anything bad that happened to me prior to the murder (losing a loved one, going to prison, being unable to go home, being arrested, stories of how you mistreated your cat) could be used to push for the idea of it being a suicide on mental health grounds. If Snowden were offed tomorrow, for example, there would be a veritable chorus of believed people declaring him mentally unwell whether or not there was any clinical evidence for it.

Any additional "craziness" from my past (& most people have some) adds fuel to the fire. Any evidence that you considered suicide in the past then you're practically a write off.

The fact that even foreshadowing it by saying "I would never commit suicide" would be used as evidence that I'm crazy (because "normal" people don't do that) is truly depressing. I thought this would work but it appears it's too easily dismissed as somethihg only a kook would do because Occam's razor.

Assuming the other evidence can be dealt with quietly (videotape, autopsy, etc), state sanctioned murder of dissidents and whistleblowers this way seems fairly easy. Moreover, if you're a whistleblower or dissident with real mental health issues or god forbid have attempted it before a staged suicide is a very logical way of dealing with you. The public is primed to write it off without a second thought.

Re:John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail after court approv... by colordrops on Thursday June 24, 2021 @09:16PM (#27626050)
Narratives are generated out of thin air. The person could have been perfect and they still could make them look like a suicidal lunatic. Any additional help from past circumstances is lubricant, but not necessary.
Re:John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail after court approv... by birthday on Thursday June 24, 2021 @01:52PM (#27621402)
Well said. The guy litteraly got a TATTOO to make the point. He honestly didn't kill himself. Especially not without even tweeting one last time.

If he did, I'm sure his wife will know and will confirm this soon.

Re:John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail after court approv... by CRConrad on Friday June 25, 2021 @06:37AM (#27629050)
> Unhinged folks can be murdered by state actors outside the law too...

Yeah, but the thing is the state usually doesn't need to whack them.

Like here: Why would the US have had McAfee killed; what would be gained from it that couldn't just as well be gained from letting him rot in jail, be it in Spain or the US?

And please don't try the old "to silence him / suppress the Secret Truths he knew!". A) The null hypothesis is that there are no such "Secret Truths"; and B) if anything, this "suspicious" death lends more weight, not less, to his deluded ravings. (As witnessed by much of this comment thread.)