In a too-strange-to-be-true twist on an already bizarre crime story, fugitive tech millionaire John McAfee today revealed where he'd been hiding over the last six days: in his own compound. McAfee, wanted by police in connection with the murder of his neighbor Gregory Faull over the weekend, said in a phone interview that he had never really been on the run at all. He'd just been hiding out at home. The calls were coming from inside the house!
"I am," he said in a telephone interview Friday afternoon, "where I am most of the time. I am certainly inside my compound."
The revelation came at the end of a week of intense international media attention which began when I broke the story on Gizmodo.com Monday. McAfee, who has bragged about the delight he takes in hoaxing the press, had managed to control the coverage of his story by doling out a carefully measured flow of misinformation to an eager press corps, many of whom were camped right outside his house as he spoke to them from within one of the numerous outbuildings on the property, unaware of his presence within.
The truth of McAfee's location did not come as a shock to some of his neighbors. "If I had to guess, I'd say he's in his house," one of his neighbors told me on Wednesday, adding: "He's such a media whore, he's probably loving it."
McAfee bought the property after his arrival in Belize in 2008, and proceeded to build a number of outbuildings. Apparently they contained at least one difficult-to-detect shelter or safe room, because local police reportedly searched the property after Faull's murder without managing to find him. A source who lived on McAfee's compound in Colorado told me that he had built a shelter on that property, too.
McAfee's property on the coastal island of Ambergris Caye is less than 50 miles from Mexico, and it would be a fairly straightforward matter to travel by boat across the border. But McAfee's behavior made it clear that he hadn't gone far. Almost as soon as the story broke, he began an intensive series of communications with Wired magazine reporter Joshua Davis, who published McAfee's often outlandish claims without qualification. Within days he was conducting phone interviews with other news outlets as well, and posting on internet message boards. The uninterrupted communication suggested that he was not in transit. (Today he debuted a blog.) The uninterrupted flow of communication suggested that he was not, say, riding a mule through a Central American swamp.
Ambergris Caye is a long, thin island, with the population spread out along about 10 miles of beachfront. Much of that distance is traversed by only a single rutted dirt track. It would have been difficult for McAfee to travel along it without being noticed, and even harder to travel within the community by boat. What's more, McAfee's increasingly erratic behavior has left him feared and loathed by his fellow expatriates; he is no Robin Hood who could melt effortlessly into the citizenry. For a man who has boasted of taking large quantities of psychosis- and paranoia-inducing "bath salts," the comforts of home no doubt seemed preferable to a peripatetic existence. At least one girlfriend remained on the property during the week, and news reports described employees continuing to show up for work.
At time of writing, it is not clear what, if anything, Belize authorities will do now that they know McAfee's location. The reporters to whom McAfee disclosed his location, Brian Sullivan and Robert Frank of CNBC, did not press him to reveal further details of how he managed to hide out in his own home.
At one point, anchor Brian Sullivan asked McAfee is he's prepared to die.
We've included some of the best excerpts from the official transcript as well as the video below:
Here McAfee talks about how he's fearful of his life if he goes in for questioning. He also explains what the live five days have been like hiding out on his compound.
FRANK: BUT JOHN, WHY NOT, IF YOU HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS MURDER, WHY NOT JUST TURN YOURSELF IN? HAVE A LAWYER, YOU CAN GET YOUR OWN SECURITY GUYS. THE POLICE HAVE TOLD ME YOU CAN GO IN WITH SECURITY GUYS, YOU CAN GO IN WITH CAMERAS. IF YOU ARE FEARING FOR YOUR SAFETY, WHY NOT JUST GO IN AND TELL THEM WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT THIS MURDER?
MCAFEE: BECAUSE IT IS FINE TO GO IN WITH SECURITY. IT IS FINE TO GO IN WITH CAMERAS BUT WHEN I AM DETAINED YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO GO INTO THE JAIL CELL WITH ME. AND THIS IS WHERE PEOPLE ARE FREQUENTLY-- THEY JUST SIMPLY DISAPPEAR. THEY CHOKE ON THEIR OWN VOMIT OR HANG THEMSELVES OR ARE BEATEN TO DEATH BY FELLOW PRISONERS. IF YOU FOUND ANY RESEARCH ON BELIZE AND THE LEGAL AND POLICE SYSTEM YOU WOULD HAVE DISCOVERED THIS FACT YOURSELF.
FRANK: DO YOU REALLY THINK THEY WOULD KILL YOU?
MCAFEE: ABSOLUTELY, I DO, SIR.
SULLIVAN: JOHN, IT IS BRIAN SULLIVAN, WHAT HAVE THE LAST FIVE DAYS BEEN LIKE?
MCAFEE: THEY’VE BEEN OK. YOU KNOW, I DON’T HAVE A LOT OF FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT. THE FOOD IS NOT THE BEST. I HAVE NO TELEVISION, I WOULD LIKE A TELEVISION.
McAfee then defends himself for having photos of him shirtless with his tattoos exposed holding guns.
FRANK: JOHN, YOU’RE AN UNUSUAL GUY. YOU KNOW, WE SEE PICTURES OF YOU WITH A LOT OF GUNS, THE SPIKEY HAIR, THE TATTOOS. A LOT MADE RECENTLY ABOUT THE YOUNG GIRLFRIENDS YOU’VE HAD THERE. YOU KNOW, A REPORT NOW THAT YOU’VE EVEN PLAYED RUSSIAN ROULETTE WITH A BULLET. IS THAT REPORT TRUE.
MCAFEE: OK, WELL FIRST OF ALL, LET’S ADDRESS THE PHOTOS. WHEN WIRED MAGAZINE SENT THE PHOTOGRAPHER DOWN, YOU’VE BEEN IN THE PRESS LONG ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT WHEN A PHOTOGRAPHER SAYS WELL LET’S TAKE YOUR SHIRT OFF, WHY DON’T HOLD THE SHOTGUN, WELL YOU SIMPLY DO IT, YOU HAVE NO CLUE WHAT’S HAPPENING. THAT’S WHAT I DID. DO YOU THINK I RUN AROUND SHIRTLESS CARRYING A SHOTGUN ON MY PROPERTY? THAT’S UTTERLY ABSURD. AS FOR THE RUSSIAN ROULETTE, ABSOLUTELY. BUT IT WAS NOT TRUE RUSSIAN ROULETTE, IF YOU READ THE STORY, PUT A BULLET IN THE CHAMBER, PUT IT TO MY HEAD, CLICKED IT DOZENS OF TIMES, WALKED OUTSIDE FIRED INTO THE SAND, THE BULLET FIRED. MY POINT WAS, LIFE IS NOT EXACTLY WHAT YOU SEE.
However, this is probably the most intense question an anchor has ever asked a guest on a show...
SULLIVAN: HOW FAR ARE YOU WILLING TO GO WITH THIS JOHN?
MCAFEE: ALL THE WAY, SIR.
SULLIVAN: WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
MCAFEE: I WILL CONTINUE TO FIGHT THIS UNTIL I AM—AS LONG AS I’M STILL BREATHING.
SULLIVAN:ARE YOU PREPARED TO DIE?
MCAFEE: WELL OBVIOUSLY THAT’S WHAT I THINK WILL HAPPEN IF I AM DETAINED AND THAT IS CERTAINLY A POSSIBILITY.
McAfee losing credibility on the international scene
John McAfee
Gregory Faull was murdered and found dead at his house in San Pedro on Sunday morning. But the story is no longer about Faull's murder; the focus is now Faull's neighbor, John McAfee, the anti-virus founder who is wanted for questioning. A News Five team remains in San Pedro covering the story, which has been picked up by most international news networks since the beginning of the week. Today, anticipation built up because McAfee was reportedly to come out of hiding. That has not happened, but News Five's Jose Sanchez went back today to McAfee's house in north San Pedro following the trail of the dogs that were killed. Here is his report.
Jose Sanchez
Jose Sanchez
"I'm standing at the entrance of John McAfee's house. It is about five and three-quarter miles north of Ambergris Caye in the area known as the Mata Grande. There are three buildings in his compound. At the front you can see that the light si still on. Yesterday, News Five met two young ladies who had keys to the building who were staying at the house. They identified themselves by their aliases, Tiffany and Ana. Tiffany said that they were receiving death-threats because of their relationship with McAfee. She also said that McAfee was with them on the night in which the murder of Gregory Faull occurred; providing the millionaire with an alibi."
Via Phone: Tiffany, McAfee's Girlfriend File: November 15th, 2012]
"I left him in the room of the other girl. I haven't seen him hurt anything in his life. From the time I've been with him, I never seen him hurt a man. So is he capable of doing something like this? I guess maybe the person that killed Mister Gregory, maybe they wanted to kill John; instead they got that guy. Like they said the house is near to us. I don't know."
Duane Moody
"Tiffany I'm understanding that there have been reports that Mister McAfee and Mister Faull were not the best of friends. Can you attest to any of that?"
Via Phone: Tiffany
"Well as far as I've seen, they have never had an argument. One time while I was there-that was like four months ago-and complained about the dogs barking. When I came back on Monday, the police was at the house doing an investigation. I went to the house when I came back from Belize and one of the girl was there cleaning and she said that the police were there. I came out and talked to them and they said they are doing an investigation about a murder."
Manuel Heredia
Manuel Heredia, Minister of Tourism
"What we are trying to do is to make sure that they realize that it's an isolated issue and that San Pedro still remains one of the safest places in the country; I believe in the region. And that tourists have nothing to fear; very minimal things have happened to tourists which is not common in other destinations. So it is not something that really I believe that tourists will be afraid not to come. On the other side, I think at the end of the day, it will turn out to be something positive after the international media realizes that San Pedro where this thing happens is such a wonderful place with many things to offer like the rest of Belize. And at the end of the day, I think that the amount of coverage that Belize and in particular San Pedro will be getting with this will be incredible; free of cost."
Jose Sanchez
"Do you believe that the people in U.S, your audience, the millions who watch CNN are listening to what he is saying? What are their impressions from what you are gathering?"
Martin Savidge
Martin Savidge, CNN
"Well I think to put it mildly, many people would listen to John McAfee and the things that he has said and believe that this is a man who somehow is trouble and perhaps some might even say he sounds a bit crazy. The allegations he makes as far as the government here trying to frame him or that the government would kill him if he was taken into custody, I don't believe it is believed by hardly anybody; at least those that I talk to back home. Which again adds to the story: why would a man say such things? What drives him to have this kind of paranoia? And that's what's raised the level of the story in people's minds. What is really going on? I don't think in anyways it negatively impacts Belize because most people are looking at this and say it is an isolated incident, it is a very strange story; but it doesn't seem to be reflective of failure on the part of law enforcement or on some sort of social problem here in Belize. The tragic death of Greg Faull was a murder and that remains to be solved. The involvement of John McAfee, if there is any direct involvement, remains to be seen."
Jose Sanchez
"I'm coming up to the back of McAfee's yard. There are five dogs that are still alive and they appear to be well-fed-someone is taking care of these dogs-however, there is allegedly no one on the property. The yard seems well taken care of and if you take a little look at the main house in the front, you can see the backdoor is wide open. There are too many signs that there is someone moving about on the property, but yet the place is quiet. I'm standing behind John McAfee's residence. Several of his dogs were killed and the area behind his house where you see this big hole right here is where the dogs were buried. A forensic team came out couple days ago and exhumed the dogs. We believe that they are going to do a toxicology report to see if they were poisoned. The gloves here on the ground are believed to have been used by the forensic team and hole still remains. You can still smell the stench of some rotting animal. John McAfee has still not surfaced as yet. There are still reports that he has made contact with someone from Wired Magazine. But while those reports are ongoing, the police are still doing door to door knocks of friends that he has on the island. Reporting for News Five, Jose Sanchez."
News Five understands that the reason why the stench still permeated the air at the site is because only the dogs' heads were taken by the forensics team and the bodies were left behind.
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