7 News Belize

McAfee On The Run; Police Say He's "Prime Suspect" In Murder Of US Citizen
posted (November 12, 2012)
Tonight, Belize is making major international headlines because the controversial US and British citizen John McAfee is wanted for questioning in connection with a murder.

It happened north of San Pedro sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning. The victim is McAfee's neighbor - and as we found out, they weren't friendly neighbors.

Here's more in our lead story:...

Jules Vasquez reporting
This is the home in the Mata Chica Area of Northern Ambergris Caye where 52 year old American Gregory Viant Faull lived.

When the maid got there yesterday morning at 7:20, she found him dead:

Raphael Martinez - Police Press officer "On Sunday 11th November 2012 - San Pedro police visited the residence of 52 year old Gregory Viant Faull of 5 .75 miles north of San Pedro Town. His housekeeper of Boca Del Rio area of San Pedro reported that at 7:20 am she arrived at Mr. Faull's home where she found him in a motionless state lying in a pool of blood. The police were called and the scene was processed - where one 9 mm expended shell was recovered. The body has an apparent gunshot wound to the back of the head."

This footage captured by the San Pedro Sun yesterday shows police processing the scene at around 11:00 am.

It's a big house, but the 52 year old Florida resident lived alone here - six miles north of San Pedro Town. He had last been seen alive around 10:00 the night before.

There were no signs of forced entry but police report that a laptop computer and I-Phone were missing. His body was brought by police boat to Belize City at 12:30 yesterday for transport to the morgue.

The blood swilled around in the boat - and the stories swirl about what may have happened in the house. Police say they have a number of leads:

Raphael Martinez - Police Press officer
"I just spoke to the investigating officer and there are several leads that the police are actually following. We don't want to rule out any possibility at this point at this early stage in the investigation. I can assure you that the police are following all the leads they can at this point."

One of those leads points to Faull's neighbor John McAfee. Faull had disputes with him and had made a formal complaint to the town council last week.

Daniel Guerrero, Mayor of San Pedro
"He brought a letter. He never spoke to me, I never saw him that day. He brought a letter I recall, he was complaining about some vicious dogs that Mr. John McAfee had there. The dogs were loose and they were chasing people, attacking people, residence and tourists and that was one of his complaints. The second complain that I recall was the security that he had - they were trespassing going into private property."

McAfee is known to keep an arsenal of firearms and a small army of security guards. When the GSU raided his Orange Walk Compound in May, they found over a dozen licensed guns.

An article written by an American journalist in Gizmodo last week reported that the intensely paranoid McAfee walked around his San Pedro property with a holstered pistol.

And as recently as Thursday of last week - he was seen posing off with the Mayor and the town police after making a large donation of security equipment.

But, now, police say they can't find McAfee on San Pedro. GSU Commander Mark Vidal says he is a "prime suspect" in the murder. Police searched his compound but did not find McAfee.

So where is McAfee and did he play any role in Faull's murder? It's a lead that police will have to thoroughly exhaust because - the fact is - this is more than just a murder investigation, this is a trial for the tourism industry with onset the all-important high season just two weeks away:

Raphael Martinez - Police Press officer
"It does have a bearing on an economic situation of our country and as I always mention I do hope that the can get together to help us the police solve these criminal activities that has been happening."

It is important to note that those McAfee dogs Faull had been complaining about turned up dead on Friday. That and other extraordinary revelations came at newstime. Joshua Davis from WIRED Magazine who is doing an extended feature on McAfee in its January issue has spoken with him since the murder.

His interview with McAfee after the murder is posted on WIRED.COM and he gave us a preview.

It says, quote,

"As Belizean police combed the property of expat antivirus pioneer John McAfee Sunday afternoon, McAfee was closer than they could have known. He'd seen them coming, and says he hid burying himself in the sand with a cardboard box over his head so he could breathe. "It was extraordinarily uncomfortable," he says. "But they will kill me if they find me." The article continues,

"Convinced that he'll be killed if he's taken into custody for questioning, the millionaire antivirus pioneer has gone into hiding somewhere in the Central American nation....starting at 10:30 this morning, Belize time, he has been calling to tell me his side of the story.

Asked what he knows about the shooting, McAfee said, "Nothing other than I heard he had been shot." In fact, McAfee added, he's worried that whoever shot Faull may have actually been gunning for him. "I thought maybe they were coming for me. They mistook him for me. They got the wrong house," he said. "He's dead. They killed him. It spooked me out."

The article continues, "If McAfee is involved, it may trace back to the half-dozen dogs (he) keeps at his beachside compound. Faull…had been complaining about the. According to McAfee, the dogs were poisoned on Friday night.

"The coast guard dropped off a contingent of black-suited thugs at 10:30 tonight at the dock next door," McAfee wrote Davis in an e-mail Friday night. "They dispersed on the beach. A half hour later all of my dogs had been poisoned. Mellow, Lucky, Dipsy, and Guerrero have already died."

Davis asked McAfee specifically about the possibility that Faull poisoned the dogs. McAfee dismissed the possibility (saying quote) "They're still dog lovers," he said. "And I talked to them this morning. No one here would ever poison the dogs."

He spoke specifically about Faull. "This is not something he would ever do," McAfee said. "I mean, he's an angry sort of guy but he would never hurt a dog."

Again, those excerpts from an article at WIRED.COM which is now posted at:

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/11/threatlevel_1112_mcafee/

On the U.S Faull was arrested by the Seminole County Sheriff's office and charged with aggravated battery.

Home | Archives | Downloads/Podcasts | Advertise | Contact Us

7 News Belize