McAfee founder wanted in connection with murder probe

John McAfee on the run in Belize following shooting of next-door neighbour

Anti-virus doyen John McAfee is wanted in connection with the murder of a neighbour in his assumed home of Belize.

Police say McAfee, who founded his eponymously named firm in 1989 before selling it for a reported $100m in 1992, is the prime suspect in the murder of American expatriate Gregory Faull, gadget news site Gizmodo reported yesterday.

Faull was found by police on Sunday morning at his home with a gunshot wound in his head and a single luger shell nearby.

McAfee, who was known to be at odds with next-door neighbour Faull, is currently on the run.

The 68-year old, who retired to Belize in 2008, was known to lead a fast and colourful life, as explored in some depth in this Gizmodo article.

McAfee has since protested his innocence, claiming in an interview with Wired that he knew nothing about the shooting and detailing how he was forced to hide in the sand to evade capture from the police on Sunday afternoon.

He suggested Faull's murder may have been a case of mistaken identity.

"I thought maybe they were coming for me," he told the website. "They mistook him for me. They got the wrong house. He's dead. They killed him. It spooked me out."

Not all reports claim McAfee is the prime suspect or even a suspect in the shooting.

"He is a person of interest at this time," Marco Vidal, head of Belize's police Gang Suppression Unit, was quoted as saying in a Reuters article. "It goes a bit beyond that, not just being a neighbour."