Anti-virus software pioneer and murder suspect John McAfee has been brought to book in Guatemala after weeks on the run from police in Belize.
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McAfee is the lead suspect in the murder of his neighbour Gregory Faull. The American retiree was found floating in his pool with a gun shot wound to the back of his head.
The software billionaire has since been on the run, claiming to have hidden in sand with a box over his head while police searched his property on the island of Ambergris Caye off the coast of Belize. At the time he said there was absolutely no chance he would leave Belize, although he believed that he would be tortured and killed if caught.
It now appears however that did indeed leave the country and entered the Guatemala, where police arrested him for entering the country illegally. Earlier this week, McAfee broke cover, expressing the hope that he would be granted political asylum in the Central American state. After crossing the border, the 67-year-old McAfee booked into a five-star hotel, before being arrested.
“Belize does not have a good track record of providing safety when they ask to question you. I felt much more secure crossing the border”, he said.
According to Reuters, ministers in the Guatemalan government have expressed the desire that McAfee be deported from the country as soon as possible.
FLASH: Guatemala to seek expulsion of software guru John McAfee from country due to illegal entry – interior minister
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) December 6, 2012
It’s unclear whether McAfee would be deported to Belize or to the USA, where he still holds citizenship.
In the meantime, McAfee has apparently been given access to a computer and has started blogging from prison:
I am in jail in Guatemala. Vastly superior to Belize jails. I asked for a computer and one magically appeared. The coffee is also excellent.
Only time will tell what will happen. No one has a crystal ball. However, I would be truly shocked if I did not conduct the press conference tomorrow as I had originally planned.
Stay tuned.
I believe, by the way, that blogging from a jail cell might be a groundbreaking activity. Let’s see if it catches on.
John
The arrest is the culmination of three weeks on the run for McAfee, during which he boasted about evading police through the use of various disguises. Interestingly his own blog claimed that he had been caught at one stage.
A photo showing the software billionaire reportedly pinpointed his location to Guatemala at another point, using metadata. McAfee claimed however that he had deliberately faked the information.
