McAfee stays one step ahead of Belize police

Undated photograph showing the house where US citizen Gregory Viant Faull(52) was murdered in Ambergris Caye, Belize between the night of November 10th and Sunday November 11th. Police raided John McAfee mansion on Ambergris Caye, an island off the northeastern coast of Belize, late Sunday to question him about the murder. AFP/San Pedro Sun/HO

BELIZE CITY — Anti-virus software pioneer John McAfee said Tuesday that he was moving every four hours to avoid Belizean police who want to question him about the murder of his neighbor, a fellow American.

Belizean police said they want to question McAfee, 67, about the murder of Florida native Gregory Faull, who was found dead in a pool of blood at his home by his housekeeper Sunday.

McAfee, founder of the eponymous anti-virus company, told CNBC television that he had been “accused of something I didn’t do.”

He said he was staying on the move out of fear for his own safety, worried that police want to “shake him down” and extort money from him.

A police report said that Faull, 52, was shot in the back of the head. There were no signs of a break-in, and a laptop and cell phone were missing.

“We are looking for McAfee to interrogate him,” police spokesman Raphael Martinez said. He emphasized that McAfee was “not suspected of murder.”

Martinez added that the three people who worked for McAfee are under interrogation.

Police raided McAfee’s mansion on Ambergris Caye, an island off the northeastern coast of Belize, late Sunday to question the millionaire about the murder.

Earlier in the year, police searched McAfee’s mansion looking for weapons and drugs, and detained him for several hours. The software millionaire however claimed he was arrested because he refused to make a donation to a local politician’s campaign.

McAfee, who made millions when he sold his anti-virus software company in the early 1990s, has been living in Belize for the past four years.

Wired Magazine said McAfee had been hiding on his property during the police raid, burying himself in the sand with a cardboard box over his head so he could breathe.

“It was extraordinarily uncomfortable,” McAfee told the magazine. “But they will kill me if they find me.”

Asked about the shooting of his neighbor, McAfee said he knew “nothing” other than he had been shot. He even said he was worried that Faull’s killers had actually been looking for him.

“Under no circumstances am I going to willingly talk to the police in this country,” McAfee added. “You can say I’m paranoid about it but they will kill me, there is no question. They’ve been trying to get me for months. They want to silence me. I am not well liked by the prime minister. I am just a thorn in everybody’s side.”