Mcafee Says He Will Be Seeking Asylum in Guatemala
Man Denies Role In Slaying in Belize
GUATEMALA CITY — Software company founder John McAfee has surfaced in public for the first time in weeks, saying Tuesday that he plans to ask for asylum in Guatemala because he fears persecution in Belize.
McAfee spoke to The Associated Press in a restaurant near a highend hotel where he is staying in Guatemala City after sneaking out of neighboring Belize. Police in Belize have called him a person of interest in the November slaying of a fellow American expat but say there is no warrant for his arrest. Since there are no restrictions on his travels, it’s unclear why he would need any special status in order to stay in Guatemala.
McAfee says he is being persecuted by the Belizean government, and he has sensitive information about official corruption in that country. He has hired a well-known Guatemalan lawyer to assist him.
“I need a safe place where I can actually speak out,” McAfee said. “Now that I’m here I can speak freely. I can speak openly.”
Belizean police have denied they are persecuting McAfee or are motivated by corruption, saying they have simply been investigating a crime about which McAfee may have information.
McAfee is wanted for questioning in connection with the killing of Gregory Viant Faull, who was shot to death in early November on the Belize island where both men lived.
Faull’s home was a couple of houses down from the compound where McAfee kept several noisy dogs, armed guards and entertained a steady stream of young women brought in from the mainland. McAfee acknowledges that his dogs were bothersome and that Faull had complained about them, but denied killing Faull. Several of the dogs were poisoned shortly before Faull’s killing.
McAfee, the creator of the McAfee anti virus program, has led an eccentric life since he sold his stake in the anti-virus software company that is named after him in the early 1990s and moved to Belize about three years ago to lower his taxes.
McAfee owned a ranch in southwest New Mexico that was sold at auction in 2009, partly in response to diminished finances.