In blog McAfee denounces murder accusations

John McAfee. / Personal photo

Software company founder John McAfee denies he killed a neighbor in Belize but says he won't turn himself in for questioning because he fears a police anti-gang unit wants to kill him.

Belize police have said they want to question McAfee, who they describe as a "person of interest" in the slaying of fellow American Gregory Viant Faull. Faull, 52, was shot to death over the weekend on the Caribbean island where both men lived.

McAfee told The Associated Press in a telephone interview on Thursday that he is in hiding with a young woman somewhere in Belize. He says he is unarmed and has been changing locations frequently to stay one step ahead of police.

In recent days the software company founder has extended himself to various media, and has even launched his own blog, whoismcafee.com, in which he protests his innocence, attacks Belizean government officials and security forces, and slams journalists who have written critical pieces:

"With lots of time on my hands and very little to do with it, I've been reflecting on the recent detour my life has taken. How did I end up as a murder suspect on the lam?"

Chad Essley, an animator and graphic artist and director of the Portland, Ore.-based Cartoon Monkey, confirmed to CBS News that he set up and hosted the blog for MacAfee, whom he referred to as a friend, but said that McAfee is posting material himself.

In his blog posts McAfee affords special attention to journalist Jeff Wise, who has written about McAfee for National Geographic Explorer, Gizmodo and other outlets."Jeff has made a life work out of smearing my character," McAfee blogged, alluding to alleged indiscretions on the writer's part as a possible reason. "The net result of his stories, however, has made my life appear much darker than the mere 'eccentricity' that most people, including myself, ascribe to me."

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McAfee founder "person of interest" in neighbor death

Wise, who appeared on "CBS This Morning" last Tuesday, said when he first got to know McAfee, "He was just a larger than life, very charismatic character. Famous, wealthy. The world was really his oyster, and in the five years that I've known him, he's followed a downward trajectory.

"He has some dark aspects to his character, and in a sense, being able to do whatever you want can be a curse at times," said Wise, who added that the last time he met with McAfee he was concerned for his own safety.

Asked what he's capable of doing, Wise replied, "I don't really know what he's capable of doing. He's a very strange man. He's one of these people who the more I've gotten to know him, the harder it is for me to pin (him) down exactly."

• McAfee Inc. founder sought in Belize murder probe

McAfee, the creator of the McAfee antivirus program, has led a life of eccentricity since he sold his stake in the anti-virus software company that is named for him in the early 1990s and moved to Belize about three years ago to lower his taxes.

He told The New York Times in 2009 that he had lost all but $4 million of his $100 million fortune in the U.S. financial crisis. However, a story on the Gizmodo website quoted him as calling that claim "not very accurate at all."

Of his neighbor, McAfee told the AP that Faull was an "annoyance." He acknowledged he had differences with the dead man, but he denies killing Faull, who was found Sunday morning with a gunshot wound to his head inside his two-story home.

"I barely knew him, I barely spoke ten words to him in the last three years," McAfee said, speaking on a cellphone. "Certainly he was not my favorite person and I was not his."

"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 said.

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[kathleencarrera]

To learn the truth about John McAfee, please go to his official blog: www.whoismcafee.com. To learn more about the problems with crime, murder and corruption in Belize, please scroll to the links on this page: http://www.whoismcafee.com/30/#comments. John is one of the kindest, smartest, most brilliant and caring persons I ever met. With the damage Belize GSU has already caused him, it makes total sense why John would respond in the way he has. He has the right to protect himself from people who are ill intended toward him. Anyone criticizing and judging him, just needs to do their research, especially the media. Seek understanding, not judgment.

[kathleencarrera]

To learn the truth about John McAfee, please go to his official blog: www.whoismcafee.com. To learn more about the problems with crime, murder and corruption in Belize, please scroll to the links on this page: http://www.whoismcafee.com/30/#comments. John is one of the kindest, smartest, most brilliant and caring persons I ever met. With the damage Belize GSU has already caused him, it makes total sense why John would respond in the way he has. He has the right to protect himself from people who are ill intended toward him. Anyone criticizing and judging him, just needs to do their research, especially the media. Seek understanding, not judgment.

[jgisme]

I doubt if he cares, but he's going to get his girlfriend killed as well as himself.

Of course, were he to turn himself in, (or, when he's captured,) he's headed for the same fate.

And yes, I agree, I think he does have a kind of virus in his head...

[aouterbridge]

Mcafee has a serious virus but it is not in his computer, but in his head. Turn yourself in so you can get disinfected.

[hypnotoad72]

Why's he been in hiding?

If he's nothing to hide, why waste so much time, money, other peoples' money since the cops aren't doing their job as charity (since $0 puts as much food on their families, if you don't mind my borrowing and augmenting some lame politician's quote from a few years' back)...