from a friend, in a comment to Lan's note...
I am on board with your thoughts. McAfee certainly knows more than he pretends and even his girlfriend Sam contradicted his alibi on the day of the murder. As the reporter noted McAfee is great at misdirection but when you take that away your are left with some disturbing realities. Overall the one writer from Wired had it right when he mentioned there was some element of truth in some of what he has said. But clearly the jungle and the environment "infected" him and something has gone very wrong with McAfee. The Apocalypse Now comparison was right on.
I don't know anybody that was in the piece but they seemed believable. I'd love to have an off-the-record with the one McAfee guard they interviewed. I was also intrigued by Miss Amy. As was noted she really grew up fast and seems well beyond her years.
http://insidedateline.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/17/16573288-antivirus-pioneer-john-mcafee-reveals-new-details-to-dateline-nbc
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/dateline/50515066/#50515024
Excellent, and I think fair and balanced, not to mention
in-depth, reporting.
Belize and the government come off pretty well in it.
Thanks for posting the link.
One interesting fact I hadn't heard before is that McAfee
rented Faull's house on North Ambergris to use as his lab
before he opened his own lab in Orange Walk District.
Apparently he trashed it totally before he moved out.
So that in addition to all the problems Greg had with
McAfee's dogs and thuggish security guards, McAfee
apparently knew Faull a lot better than he let on.
I know several of the people interviewed in the story,
and I totally believe what they say. McAfee is slick and
smart, but I don't believe half of what he says.
Although it sounds like McAfee is never going to have to
face a real investigation or trial, I'm more convinced
than ever that there's evidence that he or perhaps his
security guards had something to do with the death.
And that that McAfee himself is not so much paranoid as a
psychopath.
I am on board with your thoughts. McAfee
certainly knows more than he pretends and even his
girlfriend Sam contradicted his alibi on the day of the
murder. As the reporter noted McAfee is great at
misdirection but when you take that away your are left
with some disturbing realities. Overall the one writer
from Wired had it right when he mentioned there was some
element of truth in some of what he has said. But clearly
the jungle and the environment "infected" him and
something has gone very wrong with McAfee. The Apocalypse Now comparison was right on. I don't know anybody
that was in the piece but they seemed believable. I'd
love to have an off-the-record with the one McAfee guard
they interviewed. I was also intrigued by Miss Amy. As was
noted she really grew up fast and seems well beyond her
years.
Now that I've had time to view the footage
, I guess I have different standards of what constitutes
in-depth reportage. It wasmostly a recapitulation of
already-published information with one or two
semi-interesting bits information added, mainly the
assertion that Greg Faull admitted poisoning the dogs and
conflicting stories about alibis. Without the padding for
endless commercials, that story could have been told in
15 minutes. I don't know how you can say the government of
Belize comes off looking good when the perception is that
the investigation has stalled. I know police rightly want
to keep details out of the press until an arrest is made,
but usually there are ongoing press releases and other
assurances the investigation is proceeding. The silence is
deafening. It would be a tragedy if Greg Faull's murder
just disappears from view. It's a tragedy when any Belizean's murder just disappears from view.
Do you have reason to believe that Greg Faull's murder
will be dealt with any differently than any other
Belizean citizen?
The rate of conviction for serious crimes in Belize is
indeed a tragedy. Unfortunately, I don't see any relief
in sight.
And I agree with you. I also don't think the Belizean
Governement came off looking good.
On how Belize came off, obviously the Dateline piece wasn't
a PR video, but on the other hand ...
* Belize police, the San Pedro mayor, government officials
including the PM I thought generally came across as
intelligent, reasonable people doing their job, maybe not
perfectly but trying to be fair * There were some shots of
beautiful Belize scenery, the sea, rivers, bush, upscale
beach homes, etc. and not much, say, of rundown or scary
areas of Belize City or elsewhere
* A couple of times the statement was made (inaccurately,
of course) that one reason Faull moved to Belize was due to
its low crime rate, and that crimes against expats were
rare
The negative stuff IMO was mostly about McAfee -- scenes of
him with guns, young girls one-fifth his age and of his
security guards, of him babbling on at first about great
Belize was and then later ranting about how terrible it is.
I imagine how outsiders would react to the piece is more
about how they already feel about the Belize government and
about McAfee. If they believe McAfee is a sane, rational,
smart guy, more a victim than a victimizer, and that the
Belize government is corrupt and incompetent, then they're
going to feel the piece supported their view and that
Belize came off badly. If they feel McAfee's actions are at
least somewhat suspect, they may have more positive views
of Belize.
I don't think Greg Faull's murder will be
handled any differently than any other murder in Belize, nor
do I think it should. And that's all the tragedy. Every time
a murder goes unsolved or unprosecuted, it's a tragedy for
the victim, the family, the community, and the nation as a
whole.
I don't know what to think of John McAfee, except to
see that he is a very complicated character. He may be a
sane, smart, rational guy, a victim, a victimizer, a
scammer, and a loose cannon all at once. I agree some
officials come off as intelligent, reasonable people trying
to do their jobs, others not so much. In my view the GOB is
not so different from governments anywhere, especially the
US government at all levels. Are there hard-working
officials trying to do a good job? Yes there are. Are there
corrupt officials using their position solely for personal
gain? Well, unfortunately that's true too.
As to whether "Trouble in Paradise" is good
investigative journalism or not, kindly watch Edward R.
Murrow's "Harvest of Shame" or Walter Cronkite's series on
the Vietnam War and then tell me how it compares. I doubt
it'll hold up well.
AmbergrisCaye.com 
