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Stringer / Reuters
Computer security industry pioneer John McAfee is seen speaking in San Pedro, Belize, on Thursday. McAfee told a Wired magazine reporter that he has gone into hiding in Belize because he believes authorities there are trying to frame him in the death of neighbor Gregory Faull.
BELIZE CITY - Computer security industry pioneer John McAfee says he has gone into hiding in Belize because he believes authorities there are trying to frame him in the slaying of a neighbor, a crime he says he did not commit, according to Wired magazine.
Belize police are searching for McAfee as "a person of interest" in a murder investigation.
"You can say I'm paranoid about it, but they will kill me, there is no question. They've been trying to get me for months. They want to silence me," Wired quoted McAfee as saying on its website. "I am not well liked by the prime minister. I am just a thorn in everybody's side."
The magazine reported that McAfee, 67, contacted one of its reporters by telephone after his neighbor Gregory Faull, was found dead on Sunday in a pool of blood. The 52-year-old American was apparently shot in the head.
Police say McAfee had a history of conflict with Faull.
According to Wired, Faull and other neighbors had been complaining about a half-dozen dogs that McAfee kept at his beachside compound. Wired reported that McAfee sent an email to a reporter Friday night saying his dogs had been poisoned that night and alleging that Belize authorities were responsible.
The reporter said that he spoke to McAfee on Saturday morning and McAfee said he didn’t believe any of his neighbors would poison his dogs. Wired quoted McAfee speaking of Faull: “This is not something he would ever do. I mean, he’s an angry sort of guy but he would never hurt a dog.”
Faull was found dead on Sunday with a gunshot wound to the back of his head.
McAfee, who amassed a fortune by building the anti-virus company that bears his name, has homes and businesses in the Central American country. Police say he has lived for at least two years, but Wired said he moved there in 2008.
It was not the first time McAfee, who has tattoos, a goatee and moustache, and a penchant for guns, has drawn police attention.
His premises were raided earlier this year after he was accused of holding firearms, though most were found to be licensed. The final outcome of the case is pending.
He was also suspected of running a lab to make the synthetic drug crystal meth.
Stringer / Reuters
American businessman Gregory Faull, seen in August, was found dead at his homee in Belize.
"He was suspected (of making crystal meth) but he was not convicted nor was he charged. He was only suspected," said Belize police spokesman Raphael Martinez.
McAfee also owns a security company in Belize as well as several properties and an ecological enterprise.
Reuters has been unable to reach McAfee, who police want to question.
"It would be quite nice for him to come in and answer some of the questions that could lead to the closure of this case," Martinez said. "He is not wanted for murder, but he is wanted for questioning as a person of interest."
The Belize police department has reached out to counterparts in neighboring Mexico and Guatemala, asking them to detain McAfee if he leaves Belize overland.
McAfee was one of Silicon Valley's first entrepreneurs to amass a fortune by building a business off the Internet.
The former Lockheed systems consultant started McAfee Associates in 1989, initially distributing anti-virus software as "shareware" on Internet bulletin boards.
He took the company public in 1992 and left two years later following accusations that he had hyped the arrival of a virus known as Michelangelo, which turned out to be a dud, to scare computer users into buying his company's products.
McAfee currently has no relationship with the software company, which has since been sold to Intel Corp.
NBC News staff and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
What a nutcase. He said in the phone interview with the reporter that when Belizean police came to his house to question him about the murder he went in his backyard, dug himself totally into some sand, and put a cardboard box over his head until they left hours later.
Pretty unusual behavior for a guy who claims he didn't murder his neighbor, methinks he doth protest too much. And seriously, this whole murder was a conspiracy by authorities, and they've had it in for him yet he chose to stay there? He'll be caught soon, and we'll see how his story mutates over time.
Never read that in this account, where did you see it.
2833 clark: CNN has the additional information posted on their website.
He's just afraid he won't get his 30-day trial.
I don't understand why a guy who make millions would kill someone. I can see where he gets his paranoia "accused of making meth???" I wont take sides, this could go either way....
I don't believe he did it. This is contrived BS by the corrupt police officials in Belize. There is a long history of the crooked cops there trying to shake McAfee down.
Belize is probably the most sane, well run country in all of Central America. I think that McAfee likely committed the crime given that he has been known to use bath salts. Another news report said that McAfee claimed that his neighbor was erroneously murdered by someone trying to kill McAffee. Well, that simply isn't believable. If someone is going to kill someone in a small island community they're not going to make a mistake and kill the wrong person. Unfortunately, this likely appears to be a case of a drug-addicted American who committed murder.
Harry he was investigated on guns and found to be mostly legal, was investigated for meth, no charges ,now wanted in a murder sounds a little suspicious to me.
If he is innocent, why run and hide?
Because in this day and age, once you're caught its guilty until proven innocent, so the best you can do is prolong the inevitable and hope that you MIGHT be able to gather enough evidence to counter the bogus charges against you when/if you ever stand trial and even then if a gov'mint wants you, they will have you no matter what!
Because in those countries you often are guilty before being proven innocent, and often police have been known to torture people for years because they do not have Constitutions and Bills of Rights that prohibit cuel and unusual punishment. For instance, in Guatemala, the punishment for DUI is death on the spot. No trial; no jail time. The police just yank you out of your automobile and shoot you on the street. I think it is a wonderful punishment but some people are afraid of stuff like that.
I used to have McAfee virus protection on my computer. What does their full protection cost? Something like $70 a year? When their software didn't protect my computer and it got a virus and their software couldn't remove it - they charged me another $100 to have a tech get rid of it. BURN THE THIEF!!!
I lived in Belize for two years and it is anything but well run, actually one of the most mismanaged countries I have ever been in, a total mess, dont believe the tourist press releases, you would just shake your head in amazement at what these govt. officials would do, the police were some of the most corrupt I had been around, I would believe McAfee before ANY Belizean govt. official.
I now live in Mexico and it is a paradise compared to Belize.
Alot of projection there, Harry. By the way, Belize is not an island.
I agree Belize has the best police department in Latin America and he is acting particularly strange for a man with nothing to hide. I live in Guatemala, across the bay from Belize, and have found Belize police to be a reasonable and competent group. This killing resembles hundreds of gangland assassinations that take place in this part of the world every year, although machetes are usually preferred over pistols.
Whether he is guilty or not, it sounds to me like McAfee has been doing too much powder. It is a simple matter of knowing the trails to get to Guatemala or Mexico from Belize, even easier in a small launch. For a price, new papers are easy to acquire. He can escape this problem for the moment but it will ultimately catch up with him. Hope he gets himself straight and tries to clean this mess up. Talking with the Belize police would be a good start but quien sabe what a strung out speed freak will do?
To the commenter who said Mexican police are cleaner than those in Belize. I want some of your cool-aid. Belize police do not generally engage in kidnapping, murder for hire, pitched battles between multiple police forces or killing American border guards. Mexican police do.
You just swallow everything you read in the media, don't you? Hook, line 'n sinker.
Who cares? I'll answer that one for you. No one, that's who...
He sounds an awful lot like a paranoid schizophrenic. I'm not a shrink, but worried that the government is out to get you is a textbook symptom.
Yeah..... don't look now, but that describes a large segment of the population here, ya know.
You know, just because I'm clinically paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me.
Sounds like another chapter of a Phil Spector novel. Fame, fortune, and bizarre behavior. It concerns me not.
Paranoia will distroy'ya, as the song goes.
Bath salts? Meth? Some people handle wealth poorly.
LOL. Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean you're wrong. Crazy people with lots of money. Time will tell how this turns out.
Hmm: Get's his wealth in US market.
Lives , where??? Guess where his money is????
Another reason , besides false positives , not to buy his product.
Scar--He does not have a product, it's now Intel. As far as his innocence in the murder, who can know for sure? I don't think that I would like to be arrested in a central or south American country. Article mentions that McAfee has a goatee, tattoos and a moustache. Wow, that clinches it, guilty as charged.
McAfee began his notoriety by being dishonest, he seems to be ending it with an escalated event. Let the natives boil him in a pot for all I care.
police say he lived for at least 2 years. was he dead the other 65?
Lol. I picked up on that too.
Exclusive photos of McAfee clandestine drug lab in Belize
MCAFEE: JEKYLL & HYDE LAB
hollywoodredline.blogspot.com
They both look like criminals. Then why would McCafee (great product BTW) kill his own dogs? I believe if his dogs were killed, then he had reasonable suspicion to defend himself from Faull because sooner or later it was going to be his dog-friendly self poisoned. Therefore it is a more plausible outcome that someone misconstrued their relationship, and found it easy to not only murder the dogs... but Faull as well and McCaffee along but obviously McCafee because of the situation wasn't around to be killed. I would run to a dog-friendly nation and one that protects against corrupted governments!
If your neighbor kills your dogs and you have that kind of money. You can leave and go anywhere.
If he was poor, you'd have a valid point about the dogs being reason to act in self defense if the police didn't get his neighbor for killing the dogs.
Unless he was a VERY poor money manager, but then why is he in Belize if he can't manage money. He must have cash to move now, why not then?
If I had that kind of money and my neighbor kills my animals, my neighbor ends up in a wheelchair for life.
Apparently you have something in common.
his virus program sucks. Avast for the win!
Eset is King, check out there site under ESET vs. Competition
Yep. He did it. No one talks like that about police during a routine murder investigation unless they did it.
The police aren't going to kill you. They are going to arrest and interrogate, and maybe gather evidence.
He's off his rocker.
i know this paranoid nut case did it,
Once again MSNBC just makes @!$%# up..youre not really on the run if everyone knows where you are ...example on trillion why no one watches listens to or reads or believes anything they have to offer
....said the slow one after having read.
Belize, just like most other Central American countries is just another big drug warehouse for the cartel's with a nice reef, and it's close proximity to Guatemala insures plenty of firearms in both the police and the cartel's hands. Plus your guilty until proven inocent anywhere down here. Not the good old US of A. If I were Mr. McAfee a plane to anywhere would be a better choice. Unfortunatly big bucks does not always mean the brightest candle in the box.
Police and civilians in Central America treat their dogs and other animals like shi#. It's not surprising at all he claims the cops poisoned his dogs, and with rampant corruption getting a cop to plug anyone except the Prime Minister is on the table for just about any price, even a nice pair of sneakers. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor and he should just walk away if permitted. If they don't like him there there's plenty of other places that want his money and not much else.
If ur going to poison the neighbor's annoying dogs, at least make sure he's not a nut job.
and the truly crazy part... Intel bought McAfee
:)
Obviously they know quality and leadership when they see it.
Belize?
It is reassuring to find out that a Master of the Universe llike McAfee is nothing more than a paranoid schizophrenic in the late stages of drug addiction.
I was always convinced that one half of the the McAfee employees generated anti-virus software and the other half generated viruses. The perfect business model if ever there was one.
You would think someone with a security firm would have a security camera system from hell. Every incident with his neighbor recorded and documented. Well, keep on truckin McAfee. Maybe your living Karma right now for ripping us off on your software. Yeah, we know you created viruses in one department and counter measures in another. Good luck with that.
Yep....you would think that the Pentagon with all it's cameras would have a little more video footage too....
Sure looks like he's been a suspect of many crimes, but it doesn't mean he is guilty of killing his neighbor. Police are going to have to come up with some real evidence before they accuse this wealthy man of any crime. Especially since he can afford the best lawyers out there!
Sounds fishy to me!
I can't speak as to his innocence, but being an american resident of another country I can say with 100% certainty that false accusations of this nature are very easily set up and quite commonplace. Not that they happen daily, mind, but if you piss off the wrong person with connections to government, you may as well leave the country because they WILL get you on something.