John McAfee, the founder of McAfee Antivirus, is wanted for questioning in connection with the murder of a man in Belize. According to various reports, he is the prime suspect in the murder.

Wired reports that he is in hiding somewhere in the country, that he has been calling to give his side of the story, and that he claims to be innocent. Joshua Davis reports:

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, in an exclusive interview with Wired. “But they will kill me if they find me.”

McAfee, 67, is the prime suspect in a murder discovered Sunday morning in Belize. 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, where he moved in 2008 to retire.

According to the report, McAfee said the only thing he knew about the shooting murder of his neighbor Gregory Faull, is that he heard he had been shot. McAfee claims that he thought maybe the killers(s) were coming after him, and mistook his neighbor for himself. He’s quoted as saying, “He’s dead. They killed him. It spooked me out.”

McAfee claims that his dogs (which Faull had complained about previously) had been poisoned on Friday night, but he blames Belizean authorities for their death.

Gizmodo broke the news that McAfee is wanted for murder on Monday, sharing the following official police statement:

MURDER
On Sunday the 11th November, 2012 at 8:00am acting upon information received, San Pedro Police visited 5 ¾ miles North of San Pedro Town where they saw 52 year old U.S National Mr. GREGORY VIANT FAULL, of the said address, lying face up in a pool of blood with an apparent gunshot wound on the upper rear part of his head apparently dead. Initial investigation revealed that on the said date at 7:20am LUARA TUN, 39years, Belizean Housekeeper of Boca Del Rio Area, San Pedro Town went to the house of Mr. Faull to do her daily chores when she saw him laying inside of the hall motionless, Faull was last seen alive around 10:00pm on 10.11.12 and he lived alone. No signs of forced entry was seen, A (1) laptop computer brand and serial number unknown and (1) I-Phone was discovered missing. The body was found in the hall of the upper flat of the house. A single luger brand 9 mm expended shells was found at the first stairs leading up to the upper flat of the building. The body of Faull was taken to KHMH Morgue where it awaits a Post Mortem Examination. Police have not established a motive so far but are following several leads.

More background on the story here.

Image: ABC News