GOING VIRAL: John McAfee, wanted for questioning in Belize over the slaying of a neighbor, jumps into a taxi at Miami International Airport last night after arriving from Guatemala, where authorities put him on a plane. The eccentric software tycoon had chronicled his fugitive life on a Web site. (
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GUATEMALA CITY — John McAfee’s odyssey on the run opened a new chapter yesterday after Guatemala deported to the United States the former Silicon Valley entrepreneur wanted for questioning in Belize over the slaying of a fellow American.
McAfee, 67, had been held for a week in Guatemala, where he surfaced after evading police in Belize for nearly a month following the killing of American Gregory Faull, his neighbor on the Belizean island of Ambergris Caye.
McAfee has led the world media on a game of online hide-and-seek in Belize and Guatemala since he fled after Faull’s death, peppering the Internet with pithy quotes and colorful revelations about his life, at http://www.whoismcafee.com
“I’m happy to be going home,” McAfee told reporters shortly before his departure from the Guatemala City airport. He landed in Miami last night.
“I’ve been running through jungles and rivers and oceans and I think I need to rest for a while. And I’ve been in jail for seven days.”
Police in Belize want to quiz McAfee as a “person of interest” in the slaying, although the technology guru’s lawyers blocked an attempt by Guatemala to send him back there.
Authorities in Belize say he’s not a prime suspect in the investigation. McAfee has denied any role in Faull’s death.
Belize police spokesman Raphael Martinez said officials still want to question McAfee.
“He will be just under the goodwill of the United States of America,” said Martinez. “He is still a person of interest, but a US national has been killed and [McAfee] has been somewhat implicated in that murder. People want him to answer some questions.”
Guatemalan immigration authorities had been holding McAfee since his Dec. 5 arrest for allegedly illegally entering the country with his 20-year-old Belizean girlfriend.
The eccentric tech pioneer made his fortune from the anti-virus software company bearing his name. He sold his stake in the 1990s and moved to Belize several years ago.
Residents of Ambergris Caye, where McAfee has lived for about four years, said he and Faull, 52, had quarreled at times, including over McAfee’s dogs.
McAfee claims that Belize authorities will kill him if he turns himself in for questioning. He has said he was being persecuted by Belize’s ruling party for refusing to pay some $2 million in bribes.
Belize’s prime minister has rejected the allegations, calling McAfee paranoid and “bonkers.”
McAfee was previously charged in Belize with possession of illegal firearms, and police raided his property on suspicions that he was running a lab to produce illegal synthetic narcotics.
He said he has not taken drugs since 1983.