John McAfee wants to 'live comfortably' in the US

BACALAR, Mexico (KABC) -- Software company pioneer John McAfee says he wants to return to the United States for a normal life out of the spotlight.

"I simply would like to live comfortably day by day, fish, swim, enjoy my declining years," McAfee said.

The 67-year-old antivirus guru made the comments while addressing questions from the press during a live-stream Internet broadcast from the Guatemalan detention center.

McAfee is currently fighting a government order he return to Belize after he was arrested by police in Guatemala Wednesday. The practical joker fled Belize and snuck in Guatemala through a rural, unguarded spot along the border.

In the Internet broadcast, the software guru says he suffered two minor heart attacks while in detainment in Guatemala.

"I did not eat for two days, I drank very little liquids, and for the first time in many years I've been smoking almost non-stop," he said. "I stood up, passed out hit my head on the wall."

Doctors said McAfee, who has been accused of abusing bath salts, was suffering from anxiety and hypertension. McAfee believes corrupt Belizean authorities are persecuting him and want to kill him.

Belizean police say there is no warrant for McAfee's arrest. Authorities, however, want to question him in relation to the murder of his 52-year-old neighbor, identified as Gregory Faull. The American expatriate was found shot to death in November on Ambergris Caye, an island off Belize's Caribbean coast. Sources claimed McAfee and Faull had been at odds for some time and had often feuded over McAfee's dogs.

McAfee who reiterated his innocence in the murder during the Internet broadcast believes otherwise and said that returning to the US was his only hope.

"I believed then and I believe even stronger now that the intent to question me has nothing to do with Mr. Faull's murder," McAfee said. "I cannot ever return to Belize. There is no hope for my life. If I am returned, bad things will clearly happen to me."

The eccentric mogul has been blogging negatively about Belize since evading government authorities and has even gained media attention. Vice Magazine led to McAfee's arrest in Guatemala after the software pioneer let them post a picture of him with the geolocation metadata still attached at a Guatemalan resort.

After his formal Guatemalan political asylum request was denied on Thursday, McAfee's attorney filed three separate legal appeals against deportation which may allow his client to stay in the Central American country.

The American computer programmer and founder of McAfee, Inc. has led an eccentric life since he sold his stake in the anti-virus company in the early 1990s. He moved to Belize three years ago to lower his taxes.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Get more World News »

homicide investigation, murder, world news

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•