by JASMINE ELSHAMY Staff Writer
John McAfee, founder of the McAfee security software on the run from a murder case in Guatemala where he went to “seek asylum”, was arrested on December 4.
According to Fox News, The arrest came a day after the software company founder surfaced in public for the first time in weeks. He told the Associated Press he sneaked into Guatemala because he fears persecution in Belize.
Police in Belize have called him a person of interest in the November slaying of his neighbor, a fellow American ex-pat (a person who is voluntarily absent from home or country), but say there is no warrant for his arrest.
McAfee claims he spent the night of his neighbor Gregory Faull’s death with his girlfriend Sam, and apparently half a dozen witnesses can confirm that. He also says he had no access to a 9mm, the weapon used in Faull’s death.
McAfee was supposed to have been deported soon, where authorities wanted to question him about the shooting death of Faull, who was reportedly found prostrate on the floor of his room and unresponsive. Now, a judge could stay the ruling, if it is determined that McAfee’s life is threatened by being in Belizean custody, as McAfee has claimed in the past several weeks.
“It is so insane to me that the guy who keeps my computer from getting viruses is convicted of being a person of interest in a murder crime. It’s like someone saying Bill Gates tried to kidnap a kitten, really random,” says sophomore Dylan Pellagrino.
McAfee was returned to his immigration detention cell on December 6 after being in the hospital in Guatemala City. He had complained of chest pains, raising concerns he might be having a heart attack, but that did not end up being the case, with the hospital officials not finding it necessary to keep him overnight.
He has filed three appeals to stay in the country, where he feels safe. McAfee’s request for political asylum has already been rejected by the Guatemalan government, and after this he filed an appeal of the asylum decision and petitions to stay in the country indefinitely, as well as another that ensures his physical integrity, his attorney told the media.
“If Guatemala is a place where this man feels comfortable, then he should be able to stay somewhere where he feels his life is not at extreme risk,” says sophomore Yazmyne Abbot. “He hasn’t even pleaded guilty, so if he got killed and ended up being innocent, it would be a true shame.”