US crime Fugitive John McAfee vows to stay on the run
Software pioneer says he will fight allegations of involvement in death of Gregory Viant Faull 'as long as I'm still breathing'
Friday 16 November 2012 21.23 GMT
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2012/11/2211.jpg
John McAfee, the software pioneer who is on the run from the authorities in Belize, has denied killing his neighbour but ruled out handing himself in, because he believes the police would kill him.
In his latest interview with US media since going on the run, McAfee, the founder of the anti-virus company that bears his name, told CNBC that he would fight allegations of involvement in the death of Gregory Viant Faull "as long as I'm still breathing".
Faull, an American businessman, was found dead at his home in San Pedro last weekend with a gunshot wound to his head. Police in Belize have described McAfee as a "person of interest" in the crime. The two men are believed to have quarrelled regarding several dogs kept by McAfee at his home.
McAfee has said that four of his animals were poisoned late last week and that he now believes Belize government agents or police were responsible.
Speaking to CNBC on Friday, the American said that he had nothing to do with Faull's murder, but that he had gone on the run out of fear of his life. He claimed that if he turned himself in to the authorities he would be taken to police cells. "This is where [people] frequently disappear," he said, speaking from an undisclosed location.
Asked if he truly believed he would be killed by Belize authorities, he replied: "Absolutely I do."
"Things do not operate here as they do in the States. We are living in a near dictatorship where the legal system is subservient to the cabinet."
McAfee said that he lived in fear of Belize's notorious Gang Suppression Unit (GSU), an arm of the police that has been accused of abuses.
The conversation with CNBC was the latest contact McAfee has had with American journalists since going on the run. Earlier in the week, he told the Associated Press: "The GSU will do what the GSU does, beat me soundly until I confess to a multitude of sins, including I guess the murder of Jimmy Hoffa, and then just execute me."
He also claimed that he "barely knew" Faull, the owner of a Florida-based construction business. "He was a heavy drinker and an annoyance. But the world is full of annoyances. If we killed all of our annoyances, there would be nobody left," said McAfee, 67.
The British-born computer programmer built up a personal fortune as the founder of McAfee anti-virus software. He moved to Belize in 2008. But it is believed that his wealth has dwindled in recent years. There has also been concern over McAfee's mental health. In the interview with CNBC, he brushed off reports that he had played Russian roulette with a loaded gun. "My point was life isn't exactly what you see," he said.
Responding to some of the fugitive's claims earlier in the week, Belize's prime minister, Dean Barrow, said: "I don't want to be unkind to the gentleman, but I believe he is extremely paranoid, even bonkers."
Fugitive John McAfee vows to stay on the run from Belize police | World news | guardian.co.uk
John McAfee blog taunts police as he continues to evade capture
I'm an antivirus celebrity and I'm outta here
By John E Dunn | Techworld | Published: 12:34, 19 November 2012
John McAfee blog taunts police as he continues to evade capture - Techworld.com
The search for John McAfee by Belize police has taken a bizarre turn with the news that the antivirus founder has apparently started a blog in which he details his skill at evading capture.
A week ago McAfee, 67, went on the run in Belize after his neighbour, US citizen Gregory Viant Faull, was found dead from a bullet wound to the head.
McAfee’s involvement – or non-involvement – in the death remains a matter of conjecture but his decision to hide from the authorities and eccentric statements and behaviour have turned events in a cat and mouse affair increasingly fuelled by sensation.
https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif
The authenticity of The Hinterland blog can’t be confirmed, but in it an author claiming to be McAfee and with a detailed knowledge of the case claims to have disguised himself in order to return undetected to his Belize house last weekend, fooling even journalists.
So good was his cover that “on my second day, while peddling small wooden carvings, I nearly sold a dolphin carving to an Associated Press reporter standing at the edge of my dock. He was pulled away from my enticement by an urgent phone call,” the author reports in one oddly comic aside.
The author reports watching police search his residence as well as digging up the graves of four of his dogs, which McAfee previously claimed had been poisoned as part of a vendetta against him.
The author then goes on to reveal what he believes are inconsistencies in the police’s version of Faull’s murder, before making an appeal for the release of his employees arrested last week by police.
“If I am captured, this blog will continue. I have pre-written enough material to keep this blog alive for at least a year,” promises the most recent entry, dated 19 November.
Currently, the official position is that McAfee is wanted for questioning in connection with Faull’s murder with the Prime Minister of Belize Dean Barrow publically calling for his to hand himself in.
Judging by the events of the last week a stand-off that would be considered extraordinary in countries such as the US or the UK will continue for some days or weeks to come.
“Autonomous and self-serving, the press does what it does best – sensationalize. And my character and the recent events of my life have been sensationalized to the max,” said the blog in an earlier comment on news coverage.
Since arriving in Belize in 2008, McAfee seems to have become steadily less popular with the authorities. Earlier this year, he was arrested by police on alleged firearms and drugs offences.
McAfee’s direct connection with the security company bearing his name ended in the 1990s.
