McAfee Antivirus - John McAfee wanted for murder...

[WolfeMacleod]

Whoa.

Exclusive: John McAfee Wanted for Murder (Updated)

Exclusive: John McAfee Wanted for Murder (Updated)
Jeff Wise

Antivirus pioneer John McAfee is on the run from murder charges, Belize police say. According to Marco Vidal, head of the national police force's Gang Suppression Unit, McAfee is a prime suspect in the murder of American expatriate Gregory Faull, who was gunned down Saturday night at his home in San Pedro Town on the island of Ambergris Caye.

Details remain sketchy so far, but residents say that Faull was a well-liked builder who hailed originally from California Florida. The two men had been at odds for some time. Last Wednesday, Faull filed a formal complaint against McAfee with the mayor's office, asserting that McAfee had fired off guns and exhibited "roguish behavior." Their final disagreement apparently involved dogs.

UPDATE: Here is the 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.

As we reported last week, McAfee has become increasingly estranged from his fellow expatriates in recent years. His behavior has become increasingly erratic, and by his own admission he had begun associating with some of the most notorious gangsters in Belize.

Since our piece ran on last week, several readers have come forward with additional information that sheds light on the change in McAfee's behavior. In July of 2010, shortly before Allison Adonizio pulled the plug on their quorum-sensing project and fled the country, McAfee began posting on a drug-focused Russian-hosted message board called Bluelight about his attempts to purify the psychoactive compounds colloquially known as "bath salts."

Writing under the name "stuffmonger," a handle he has used on other online message boards, McAfee posted more than 200 times over the next nine months about his ongoing quest to purify psychoactive drugs from compounds commercially available over the internet. "I'm a huge fan of MDPV," he wrote. "I think it's the finest drug ever conceived, not just for the indescribable hypersexuality, but also for the smooth euphoria and mild comedown."

Elsewhere, he described his pursuit of "super perv powder" and warned about the dangers of handling the freebase version of the drug: "I had visual and auditory hallucinations and the worst paranoia of my life." He recommended that the most effective way to take a dose is via rectal insertion, a procedure known as "plugging," writing: "Measure your dose, apply a small amount of saliva to just the tip of your middle finger, press it against the dose, insert. Doesn't really hurt as much as it sounds. We're in an arena (drugs/libido) that I navigate as well as anyone on the planet here. If you take my advice about this (may sound gross to some of you perhaps), you will be well rewarded."

Exclusive: John McAfee Wanted for Murder (Updated)

Just before posting for the last time on April 1, 2011 (a date that for McAfee may well have been freighted with intentional significance) January 4, 2011, Stuffmonger identified himself as "John" and described his work pursuing quorum-sensing compounds and posted photos of his property in Orange Walk. In signing off, he explained that "the on-line world is more of a distraction than the self induced effects of the many experiments I've done using my own body over the past year or so, and I have work to do."

MDPV, which was recently banned in the US but remains legal in Belize, belongs to a class of drugs called cathinones, a natural source of which is the East African plant khat. Users report that it is a powerfully mind-altering substance. In the comments section to my last Gizmodo piece, reader fiveseven15 writes: "mdpv is serious ****. would explain his paranoia and erraticness. i've been thru that. i played with mdpv for about two weeks, then started seeing shadow people in the corner of my eye, and what amphetamine heads call 'tree-cops'... its essentially really, REALLY f-ed up meth."

On his website, addiction specialist Paul Earley warns about the dangers of MDPV: "Our experience clearly warns of the psychiatric and medical dangers of this drug. We have cared for multiple patients who have abused MDPV; they report intense and unpleasant visual hallucinations after a short binge. The drug feels non-toxic with its first use, but following a moderate binge users suffer mild to moderate paranoia… in about 10% of individuals who use higher doses, we have observed a sustained psychotic state with intense anxiety lasting 3 to 7 days."

McAfee's intensive use of psychosis-inducing hallucinogens would go a long way toward explaining his growing estrangement from his friends and from the community around him. If he was producing large quantities of these chemicals, as implied on Bluelight, that would also shed light on his decision to associate with some of Belize's most hardened drug-gang members.

McAfee's purported interest in extracting medicine from jungle plants provided him a wholesome justification for building a well-equipped chemistry lab in a remote corner of Belize. The specific properties of the drugs he was attempting to isolate also fit in well with what those closest to him have reported: that he is an enthusiastic amateur pharmacologist with a longstanding interest in drugs that induce sexual behavior in women. Indeed, former friends of McAfee have said he could be extremely persistent and devious in trying to coerce women who rebuff his advances to have sex with him.

One other aspect of Stuffmonger's postings gibe with McAfee's general MO: his compulsion for making outrageous or simply erroneous assertions, even attached to subjects about which he is being generally sincere. Along with photographs of his lab near Orange Walk, for instance, he posted a picture of a decrepit thatched-roof hut and described it as original home in Belize. He seemed similarly to have embellished his descriptions of his feats of chemical prowess on the Bluelight discussion board, and this ultimately aroused the suspicions of his fellow posters. "Stuffmonger's claims were discredited," a senior moderator later wrote, "and he vanished."

[genrex]

You don't see crime reporting like that anymore. In an article strewn with wild, lurid, and sensational accusations, the word "alleged" is not used at all. Not a single "alleged" in the entire article.

[sammyg2]

I read some interesting stories a few years ago regarding mack-a-FEE and some of his buddies in the anti-virus biddness.

it started out as a couple 'puter geeks in college. One of em sent a command through their intranet and crashed his buddy's puter as a prank.
His buddy retaliated. The next thing you know they were writing code to protect themselves from each other.
They saw an opportunity, but the only problem was it was a a product that didn't have a market. So they CREATED viruses and the virus scare in order to sell their products.

The guys who got rich off of anti-virus software actually created the computer virus so they would have something to protect us from.

If mack-a-FEE rots in a prison cell I won't shed a tear.

Edit: did some more research and found a completely opposite story, so the accuracy of that original story is questionable. Will check into it deeper.

[lane912]

I hate his bloated product-

[speeder]

He's a really strange guy, from what I can gather. Haven't used his product, (or anyone else's like it), for about a decade, though.

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by speeder

Haven't used his product, (or anyone else's like it), for about a decade, though.

Same here. Brand new laptop's came pre-loaded with the Mc AV and were the first things removed.

[widebody911]

And Adobe tries to add that crap to their downloads, too

[sammyg2]

I like avast (its free) except it keeps trying to load my machine with (the evil search engine that shall not be named) chrome.

Doan like that. Old evil program is bad, new evil is worse.

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

I read some interesting stories a few years ago regarding mack-a-FEE and some of his buddies in the anti-virus biddness.

it started out as a couple 'puter geeks in college. One of em sent a command through their intranet and crashed his buddy's puter as a prank.
His buddy retaliated. The next thing you know they were writing code to protect themselves from each other.
They saw an opportunity, but the only problem was it was a a product that didn't have a market. So they CREATED viruses and the virus scare in order to sell their products.

The guys who got rich off of anti-virus software actually created the computer virus so they would have something to protect us from.

If mack-a-FEE rots in a prison cell I won't shed a tear.

Originally Posted by sammyg2

I like avast (its free) except it keeps trying to load my machine with (the evil search engine that shall not be named) chrome.

Doan like that. Old evil program is bad, new evil is worse.

Interesting beginnings. But the twist these days are the freebies like AGV or as you mentioned Avast. They wouldn't waste their time or offer it for free if working the dark side. However they do push to buy the full version.

Been using the Avast too (free vers.) for years on the home boxes and without issue. I was advised to try it by someone who is in IT security for an un-named mega insurance co.. He uses it in his household (obviously not in his work environment) and mentioned they wouldn't risk offering a bad freebie if it was. I run the free MS Defender too.

To rid of that evil search engine trying to load itself, unfortunately you need to uninstall the AV completely, then do a fresh install. But during the install, look closely at the small fine print and de-select the box offering chrome. You also have to re-register but funny enough takes bogoo email (not that it would matter much).

[RedBaron]

Their enterprise software is surprisingly good. The minimum system requirements are for a Pentium iii, so it flies on my modern i7 laptop. Also, what happened to the saying "innocent until proven guilty"?

[lane912]

Originally Posted by RedBaron

, what happened to the saying "innocent until proven guilty"?

it's not happening in America......

[Bill Douglas]

Well, maybe Mr. GREGORY VIANT FAULL didn't pay his annual subsciption fees....

[lowyder993s]

Dude be trippin' BALLS!!!

The Crazy Secret Journal of John McAfee, Volume 1: The Girl Assassin

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by lowyder993s

Dude be trippin' BALLS!!!

The Crazy Secret Journal of John McAfee, Volume 1: The Girl Assassin

Wow, all kinds of wrong happening twixt his ears ......

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Read up on Hans Reiser. Another winner in the tech world.

Kinda sad, too, because ReiserFS was my FS of choice for a while.

[David]

I've been to Belize a few times and found the police to be rather laid back and the crime rate low. If McAfee was afraid of the police he probably brought it on himself.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by RedBaron

Also, what happened to the saying "innocent until proven guilty"?

Dead American=blame McAfee?
Snubbing the local policia/gov didn't bring him any legal favors as well.

Maybe his own body may never be found.
Who knows how this will play out.

The murder looked to be a criminal hit, and when McAfee abandoned corporate American life to live like a commune-king in the jungle, he found out he was the subject instead. He surrounded himself with all kinds of shady leaches who only purpose was to milk their sugar daddy dry. The drug thing may be true and part of that thought process.
He wanted adventure...and got it.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by David

I've been to Belize a few times and found the police to be rather laid back and the crime rate low. If McAfee was afraid of the police he probably brought it on himself.

You are being kind... they are for the most part pretty worthless. You have to pound them on the head to get any real reaction...

[URY914]

The Belize CSI equipment case only includes a large magnifying glass.

[lane912]

Originally Posted by URY914

The Belize CSI equipment case only includes a large magnifying glass.

and one rubber glove-