Anti-virus pioneer John McAfee reportedly wanted for murder in Belize

He's alleged to have killed a U.S. man in San Pedro town

 

By Jaikumar Vijayan

November 12, 2012 04:40 PM ET

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Computerworld - 

Anti-virus pioneer John McAfee is reportedly wanted for murder in Belize after allegedly gunning down a U.S. citizen in San Pedro Town on Sunday.

According to Gizmodo, McAfee is the prime suspect in the shooting death of Gregory Faull, an American expatriate who was identified in the report as a well-liked builder who was originally from California.

Apparently, McAfee and Faull had been at odds for several weeks prior Sunday's fatal shooting, according to Gizmodo. Just a few days before the shooting, Faull had filed a complaint accusing McAfee of firing guns and behaving in a "roguish" manner. A dispute over dogs may have led to the shooting.

Faull was found dead with a gunshot wound to his head early Sunday morning by his housekeeper who then alerted police. Gizmodo quoted Belize police's Gang Suppression Unit head Marco Vidal as saying that McAfee was the suspect in the killing. Police are now looking for McAfee.

Belize police did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It was not possible to independently verify details of the incident.

McAfee established McAfee Inc. in 1987, but has had little association in recent years with the company, which is now a subsidiary of Intel. He moved to Belize a few years ago, and set up a drug manufacturing company called Quorum Ex.

In a lengthy feature last week, Gizmodo described McAfee's increasingly erratic behavior over the past few years. The article, based on several interviews with McAfee, describes how he went from being a wealthy entrepreneur to a recluse suspected of various illegal activities in Belize.

On April 30, Belize police raided McAfee's home on suspicion that he was running a meth lab. Though they found close to $20,000 in cash, several shotguns and pistols and hundreds of bullets, the lab itself turned out to be involved in manufacturing an herbal antibacterial compound. The guns were licensed.

In a report last week, 7 News Belize.com described a "lavish donation" that McAfee made recently to police in San Pedro after previously allegedly belittling the country's law enforcement to international media.

According to 7 News Belize, McAfee donated more than three-dozen stun guns, several SWAT batons, nearly 50 heavy-duty handcuffs, hand-held metal detectors, a small, motorized boat and several other items.

Jaikumar Vijayan covers data security and privacy issues, financial services security and e-voting for Computerworld. Follow Jaikumar on Twitter at  @jaivijayan or subscribe to Jaikumar's RSS feed . His e-mail address is jvijayan@computerworld.com.

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