The fugitive software pioneer John McAfee, on the run from authorities in Belize who want to question him about the death of a neighbour, has surfaced in Guatemala, where he has announced his intention to seek asylum.
In the latest development of an increasingly outlandish story, chronicled on his blog and in interviews, McAfee said he could now "speak freely" about corruption in Belize, and claimed he feared he would be killed if he turned himself in.
McAfee has been declared a "person of interest" in the death of Gregory Viant Faull, who was shot dead early last month on the Belizean island where they both lived. After weeks of speculation about his whereabouts, his presence in Guatemala was revealed by accident: journalists from the magazine Vice, who were with him, mistakenly failed to delete location metadata from a picture they uploaded to the internet.
Speaking in a restaurant near a hotel where he is staying in Guatemala City, McAfee claimed the Belizean government was persecuting him. Claiming he had sensitive information about official corruption, McAfee said: "I need a safe place where I can actually speak out. Now that I'm here, I can speak freely. I can speak openly."
The 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.
There are no restrictions on his travels, so it was unclear why McAfee believes he requires special status to remain in Guatemala.
The prime minister of Belize, Dean Barrow, has expressed doubts about McAfee's mental state, saying: "I don't want to be unkind to the gentleman but I believe he is extremely paranoid, even bonkers."
In a blogpost, McAfee said he would meet Guatemalan officials, and planned to hold a press conference. "I apologise for all of the misdirections over the past few days," he wrote. "It was not easy to exit Belize and required many supporters in many countries. I am in Guatemala and will be meeting with Guatemalan officials this morning."
McAfee's location was uncovered when a Twitter user spotted embedded location data on an iPhone photo accompanying a Vice article from Monday headlined: "We are with John McAfee right now, suckers."
As news of the technological mistake did the rounds online, McAfee went on the blog chronicling his life on the run to say he had doctored the photo to include false location data. The post has since been deleted, as have all posts written between 1 and 4 December. The deleted posts included claims that McAfee had been caught at the Mexico-Belize border.
McAfee made millions as founder of the antivirus software company that bears his name. He sold the company in 1994, and then invested in other tech ventures before retiring to Belize in 2008.
He was living on a beachside compound on a Belizean island when Faull was found dead with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head.
McAfee has expressed fears that he was the attacker's intended target, and reportedly buried himself in sand when police sought him for questioning in the case.
Vice has established itself as the most recent confidante of McAfee, who has also given interviews to US cable news outlets and talked often to Wired reporter Joshua Davis when he initially went on the run. Vice said it had been documenting McAfee's journey for the past several days. After mistakenly revealing McAfee's location, Vice posted a story on Tuesday night that included a now-broken link to McAfee's blog under the headline: "John McAfee Update: Quite Frankly We Don't Know What the Fuck Is Going On."
Vice Magazine's editor-in-chief Rocco Castoro posted his first dispatch on his experience with McAfee Tuesday and reported that the fugitive multimillionaire had hired Guatemalan lawyer Telésforo Guerra. The lawyer is the uncle of McAfee's 20-year-old Belizean girlfriend Sam Venegas and the former attorney general of Guatemala.
According to Castoro's report, Vice reporters crossed the border into Guatemala with McAfee and have been with him for five days. The reporters are keeping details about their time on the road with McAfee under wraps as they prepare to release a magazine piece and documentary about their time with the fugitive millionaire.
Castoro said: "I have been with John and Sam for the last five days, and very soon the world will be able to watch everything that happened along the way. It has been dangerous, amazing, touching, and many other adjectives that I cannot remember right now because I am so exhausted and blown away by it all."
