Billionaire and anti-virus software developer John McAfee is wanted by the Belize authorities for questioning concerning the death of his neighbor, 52-year-old American expatriate Gregory Viant Faull.
Faull was found dead in his home north of San Pedro, a town on the island of Ambergris Caye, on Nov. 10, 2012, according to authorities. He sustained a gunshot wound to the head.
It appears that McAfee is a lead suspect in the case or at least a “person of interest.”
Though, the 67-year-old has flatly denied any wrongdoing.
“I did not kill him. Good Lord. I just cannot conceive of myself doing anything like that,” McAfee said in a phone interview with Wired.com.
Claiming that his life is in danger, that a Belize paramilitary group called the Gang Suppression Unit will kill him if they get the chance, McAfee is now on the run, taking refuge in Central America’s dense jungles, popping up on occasion from undisclosed locations only to communicate with the media.
“To put myself in their hands, I think is lunacy, I really do. What one can expect is the GSU will do what the GSU does, beat me soundly until I confess to a multitude of sins including the murder of Jimmy Hoffa and then just simply execute me,” McAfee told Wired.com.
The central question seems to be whether McAfee is homicidal or just slightly unhinged.
While there’s no question that McAfee is a “complex” individual, one who’s lived a very dynamic life filled with bizarre exploits (he’s dabbled in drug development, started a national association of lesbian bikers, invented an extreme sport called aerotrekking, engaged in polyamory, among other pursuits) it doesn’t necessarily indicate that he’s a killer.
Still, the police want answers.
“We want to encourage him to come in,” Raphael Martinez, spokesman for Belize’s Ministry of National Security, told the AP. “If he feels threatened, we need to tell him, ‘Get someone to go along with you, but come in. Let’s solve this crime and you can free yourself.’ ”
Thus far, no motive for the crime has been established, Martinez said.
McAfee has talked publicly about his frosty relationship with Faull.
“Certainly he was not my favorite person and I was not his,” McAfee told Wired.com.
“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,” McAfee added.
Will McAfee eventually turn himself in? Or will he go down swinging, like he signaled he would do if he was cornered?
One thing’s for sure, the longer he waits, the more volatile the situation is likely to get.