John McAfee's Belize Home Burns To Ground

Velcroman1 writes "The former island home of anti-virus software pioneer John McAfee burned down Thursday afternoon under circumstance he told FoxNews.com were 'suspicious.' It's an odd choice of words from a man whom the Belize police found suspicious, following the November 2012 murder of American expatriate Gregory Faull, a well-liked builder from Florida who was shot at his home in San Pedro Town on the island of Ambergris Caye. 'I believe that there are a select few with great power in Belize that will go to great lengths to harm me,' McAfee said. 'This fire was not just a strange coincidence.'" Watch for more from McAfee soon.

Comments

what mcafee is good for:

[circletimessquare]

the potential for some conspiratards to see themselves as they talk about "the government"

because it's all the same paranoid bullshit

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[Anonymous Coward]

McAfee might be paranoid for no reason.

However, governments are well known for their targeting certain groups and individuals for persecution or extortion so a bit of paranoia can be a good thing.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[fustakrakich]

Oh please, quit yer yapping. The story is good for page hits and advertizing dollars. And I'm sure that burning down the house was a good move, from a certain POV.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

BBC did a viddy on this in 1992.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AUvrPvV-KQo

Just paranoid, bullshit? Sponsored by the CIA and British intelligence, NATO operatives - under the false-front, operating as a "Marxist Terror Gang" kidnapped and murdered the Prime Minister of Italy in 1978.

This was just a single instance of organized para-national political violence including strings of European bombings and assassinations, beginning in the 1940's and continuing at least into the 1990's.

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gladio

Then, after the cold war, there are no longer "Marxist Terror Gangs". They all just gave up and went home, I guess. Now, there are "Muslim Terror Gangs". Amazing.

PS. Don't look too closely at the Balkans.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[maugle]

Then, after the cold war, there are no longer "Marxist Terror Gangs". They all just gave up and went home, I guess.

They're still around, just not in Europe anymore: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_India_(Maoist)

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[O('_')O_Bush]

Clearly, you've never spent much time out of the U.S. If you've never been pulled over by police in a hispanic country for being white, and threatened with jail time for no crime if you didn't bribe them away, you can't talk about conspiracies or paranoia.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[CohibaVancouver]

If you've never been pulled over by police in a hispanic country for being white, and threatened with jail time for no crime if you didn't bribe them away, you can't talk about conspiracies or paranoia.

I'm afraid this kind of talk isn't permitted on Slashdot.

It doesn't matter how much of a corrupt, despotic, oppressive hell-hole free of the rule of law you're talking about, according the rules of Slashdot the USA is ALWAYS worse than any other region or nation on the planet. ALWAYS. Once you understand that, browsing Slashdot will be much easier.

And no, I'm not American and I don't live in the USA.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[AK Marc]

Roadside bribery isn't a conspiracy. And there are many countries where the government employees are so underpaid that they get a sizeable portion of their take-home pay from abusing their position. In the US, we call them Congress.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[Anonymous Coward]

But Belize is run by white people

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[Anonymous Coward]

sung to the tune of "Tequila":
- ta da da-da da duh da daa
- ta da da-da da duh duh
"Mordida!"
- ta da da-da da duh da

etc, you get the point.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[St.Creed]

Puhlease... try to keep your "information" out of this. We're trying to run a fact-free discussion here!

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[gl4ss]

the potential for some conspiratards to see themselves as they talk about "the government"

because it's all the same paranoid bullshit

if they really had anything on him for the murder, they would ask usa to extradite and the usa would extradite. if there's a tell that the accusations are phony it's that they're unable to prove them without beating him up(yay gitmo!).

it's an interesting story about 3rd world politics and gangland rules by local cops in 3rd world countries, that has little to do with conspiracy theories - but much more about why doing legit business in some countries is pretty hard since you can't just look the local mob(police) rules up from a book. part of those rules is that the establishment(local coppers, mob, whoever) has to keep the natives from getting any funny ideas that they wouldn't need to bribe. if his property was torched on purpose to intimidate someone, it was done to intimidate the locals to not ask questions "hey, what about that murder? what was that all about?" rather than to screw with mcafee, since he is already far out of their radar.

bad thing is of course that building codes, zoning rules and openly planning city/society development go straight out of the window in areas governed like that. it's kinda stupid since if they just acted by the books they could get a lot of foreign investment and people to come - which is why some countries attract pensioners etc easier: because there they don't have to deal with the bullshit.

it's a common phenomena that usually happens just about everywhere if public officials have low official pay, so low that stinging money out of favelas even makes sense - and officers have so low pay as well that they ask the lower level coppers for part of the bribes - exactly like a mob racket with protection money that flows up the organization. over the russian border here it's the same thing, so much that people are instructed to not carry their actual passports around when going sightseeing so that they don't have to bribe police, random soldiers or whoever happens to take it without reason. it's also the reason why many russian logistic centers are situated on this side of the border: because on the other side you never know what's going to happen, the local governor might just give the land contracted to your logistics center to someone else who paid him personally rather than the city... it's really sad because it hampers trade and makes living for the law abiding normal people pretty complicated - would be a lot simpler to just increase taxes and have better, more honest coppers and officials(since the bribing amounts to an extra tax anyways).

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[O('_')O_Bush]

If you read the last Q&A with McAfee, he describes what essentially amounts to a 30k$ roadside bribe, followed by a whole bunch of bullshit and charges filed by vengeful local policemen that didn't get the money they wanted.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[Luckyo]

This nutcase basically had close contacts with local gangs to supply his drug addiction. Then in drunken frenzy he killed his neighbor which didn't get cleaned up by his gang friends and got in trouble with the local law on the level he couldn't fix with money.

Next you'll start calling drug smugglers on Afghanistan-Iran border "political prisoners".

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[Jiro]

This is untrue. Belize is a former British colony and as such is in some ways a lot more like the ex-British Carribbean islands than it is like Latin America. However,m the population of those islands and Belize is mostly black. You can easily go to Wikipedia and find a picture of the prime minister of Belize. He's black. A white person would certainly be very visible to any local thugs and would not be considered a member of the ruling class.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[cheater512]

How does the house burning fit in to that?

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow you have proof for this claim do you?

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[Narcocide]

Yea, he might be more paranoid for no reason, but I think we can all agree that whether that is the case or not, paranoid people are WAY more fun to fuck with.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[Anonymous Coward]

why is this insightful? it should be under funny..

There are a lot of people that are arrogant within the US, and the only thing they can vision is the US, when it comes to becoming the worst or greatest country.

But to say McAfee is being singled out because he is American, or White is laughable. There is no doubt that things such as ""Clearly, you've never spent much time out of the U.S. If you've never been pulled over by police in a hispanic country for being white, and threatened with jail time for no crime if you didn't bribe them away, you can't talk about conspiracies or paranoia"" happen. Usually to poor or middle class whites, in a foreign country.. How many rich white people also live in the area and do not get hounded?

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[sjames]

In the U.S. we have a different procedure. You get pulled over and the drug dog barks on command creating 'probable cause'. Then your stuff gets 'forfeited' and they graciously decide not to charge you for the drugs that were never there.

feel better now?

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[quenda]

If people criticise the US, it is because we still expect a higher standard from the US than from the "corrupt, despotic, oppressive hell-hole", not because the US is worse. Nobody expects rule of law in central Asia, but we still get upset when American 3-letter agencies or others can ignore the law with no consequences. Is that unfair? "But mom, China did it first!" is no excuse.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[Xest]

"Then, after the cold war, there are no longer "Marxist Terror Gangs". They all just gave up and went home, I guess. Now, there are "Muslim Terror Gangs". Amazing."

To be fair a lot of terror gangs gave up and went home and I think it'd be hard to suggest some of them were run by the security services. Some of the Palestinian organisations, some of the Japanese groups and so forth for example. There were far more terror groups in the 60s, 70s, and 80s than there were afterwards

I think it's a combination of the fact that policies not to negotiate with terrorists, combined with successful anti-terror operations that left the terrorists red faced (in more ways than one) combined with increase global stability (which let's face it, did happen after the cold war) coupled with greater global prosperity as a result decreased the impact of it.

In fact, you can see a pretty strong parallel between the decrease of poverty in places where these groups were from a decrease in prominence and existence of such groups so I'd frankly wager that it's more about that than anything.

I think the security services are given way too much credit. Given the sorts of absurd fuckups they're often responsible for I'm not really sure they have the competence to carry out the sort of conspiracies you suggest.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[Luckyo]

Pissed off gang members don't burn down houses or practice other methods of vengeance against those who essentially told them to fuck off and pretended to be clean in US?

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[Luckyo]

You seem to be mistaking me for a prosecutor.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[Anonymous Coward]

All lies and not true, Jeremiah. What say you?

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[Anonymous Coward]

They might search your vehicle in response to that but no seizure of property will occur unless they actually find drugs, and alot of them at that. Alot of my friends were busted for pot growing up and none to my knowledge had anything seized. The closest I have seen to a seizure was a 1 month impoundment of a car for street racing. boo hoo

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[Anonymous Coward]

You seem to be acting like one.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[X0563511]

Just remember, it's not paranoia if they are actually out to get you.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[X0563511]

Don't kid yourself, the absurd fuckups are the low hanging fruit you hear about.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[X0563511]

I think sjames (or someone he/she knows) had a bad experience and has decided every cop is like that.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[X0563511]

A 30k$ roadside bribe? That's a pretty stupid policeman. That's "shoot me" territory. He should be happy he got away with not getting what he wanted.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[slashmydots]

McAfee might be paranoid for no reason.

However, governments are well known for their targeting certain groups and individuals for persecution or extortion so a bit of paranoia can be a good thing.

Yes, killing your neighbor does make the government go after you in almost all countries.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[Luckyo]

Then you should stop taking whatever psychidelic chemicals you're taking. Or go to a court and take a look at how actual prosecutors act.

Re:what mcafee is good for:

[sjames]

You should read up on some other places in the U.S. where it happens frequently. For one thing, since you said growing up, I'm going to guess they just didn't have the sort of property a cop might covet.

You should google civil forfieture and read a few of the hits, you might be surprised.

Watch for more from McAfee soon.

[Anonymous Coward]

How about no?

Re:Watch for more from McAfee soon.

[lxs]

Come on! I'm making popcorn.

Re:Watch for more from McAfee soon.

[93 Escort Wagon]

How about no?

I was gonna go with "not if I can help it"; but the sentiment's the same.

Re:Watch for more from McAfee soon.

[hairyfeet]

Watch me get hate for even saying it but I'm tired of so many making him out to be a hero when all he is is a junkie that skipped out on a murder charge.

I mean lets just look at what we know to be facts, FACT 1- he bragged about doing a highly dangerous drug in large quantities (bath salts) that is known to cause paranoia, violence, and feelings of persecution. FACT 2- He also bragged about his rather large gun collection and was known to often carry guns on his person, FACT 3- The ONLY person that they reported having any beef with the deceased was McAfee, with them getting into several heated arguments about all the shit going on at his compound...now if YOU were running the police, who would be YOUR prime suspect in this case?

We are talking about a guy that is a proven and known liar, who in his Q&A with Slashdot talked about how he had been "clean and sober for 15 years" when his own blogs from 6 months before the incident were filled with his rantings about how bath salts gave him massive boners that allowed him to keep up with the 16 year olds he was banging at the compound. We are also talking about a guy that paid others to dress and act like him when the cops were looking for a suspect in a murder case that was known to have firearms and thus could have easily gotten one of them killed...this is NOT a nice guy folks, its really not.

People seem to forget there is a family that now mourns and the only real suspect the police had obstructed an investigation and skipped town. Would anybody be cheering this guy if the man he was accused of killing was on US soil at the time? would anybody be cheering if it was the opposite and a man in the USA had been murdered and he skipped to Belize?

When you break it down the sad and ugly truth is a lot of the arguments for this guy end up coming down to racism and nationalism, like any crime that happens in South America "doesn't count" because they can't be trusted to run even a single murder investigation and they MUST be corrupt, which if that were true being rich would have given him MORE of an advantage as he could have just bought them off. The whole thing just stinks and with pricks like this running around and people cheering this sociopath you can see where the phrase "Ugly American" comes from, I just wish more people had as much feeling for the dead guy as they show for this douchebag.

Yeah, its not a coincidence

[davmoo]

I'd be willing to bet that McAfee had it burnt down himself to add to his story and keep his name in the press.

Re:Yeah, its not a coincidence

[kasperd]

We can be almost certain, it was no coincidence. But at this point any statements about who was behind it is nothing more than speculation. Perhaps we'll never know for sure.

Re: Yeah, its not a coincidence

[DigiShaman]

If you're going to make meth, it's advised to not use the "shake-n-bake" process as It's been known to burn down buildings. Just sayin.

Re:Yeah, its not a coincidence

[venicebeach]

And to destroy evidence.

Re:Yeah, its not a coincidence

[ArchieBunker]

So what is the benefit to keeping his name in the press?

Re:Yeah, its not a coincidence

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, yes - he does come across as a complete asshole. What does he actually do, again? He was involved in one of the worst virus checkers ever, then pretended he was on the run from the police. For most people, that's it. Maybe he needs to get his own TV show or something.

Re:Yeah, its not a coincidence

[BasilBrush]

He likes it.

Re:Yeah, its not a coincidence

[houghi]

1) Do something
2) Keep your name in the press
3) ???
4) Profit

Re:Yeah, its not a coincidence

[hcs_$reboot]

He's certainly not likely to go back to Belize soon anyway...

Re:Yeah, its not a coincidence

[Anonymous Coward]

So as to maintain some buzz when the movie gets released, duh. How Conde Nast Plans to Turn John McAfee's Bizarre Tale Into Hollywood Gold

Re:Yeah, its not a coincidence

[Beardo the Bearded]

Nah, I've been to Belize. There's no government (i.e. no fire department and no building codes) to speak of, so pretty much any house fire is going to be a "burn to the ground" situation.

To be quite frank, I'm surprised more people there don't die turning on the lights.

Re:Yeah, its not a coincidence

[Jonah Hex]

I'm waiting for McAfee - The Motion Picture in order to find out who done it! - HEX

Re:Yeah, its not a coincidence

[Anonymous Coward]

...because without Government people can't build proper homes?

Isn't that like saying the Government is the only entity that can build roads?

Re:Yeah, its not a coincidence

[Anonymous Coward]

Its cheaper to build anything without the hassle of building codes, it isn't safer. Imagine wiring without electrical boxes; if there's a short it isn't grounded and its right next to wood . . .

Re:Yeah, its not a coincidence

[kasperd]

There's no government (i.e. no fire department and no building codes) to speak of, so pretty much any house fire is going to be a "burn to the ground" situation.

But that doesn't influence the probability of the fire starting in the first place. It isn't due to the fire department, that most people don't experience their house burning to the ground. Rather it is because a house being on fire doesn't happen that often. (For some reason this reminds me of a story involving a staple gun and 500kg of fireworks).

Re:Yeah, its not a coincidence

[Anonymous Coward]

If you had much experience with new construction homes in the U.S., you'd know that even with long and detailed building codes, people often build things that barely qualify as proper homes.

Re:Yeah, its not a coincidence

[Anonymous Coward]

It is much, MUCH cheaper to build non-government regulated, non-proper homes than government regulated proper homes to the point that its economically unrealistic to build government regulated proper homes despite the safety advantages.

Theres a reason why private firefighting services never caught on.

Re:Yeah, its not a coincidence

[Anonymous Coward]

This reminds me of a different story titled "Fahrenheit 451".

Houses in that novel didn't burn down that often either. The important note of the book wasn't the rate of house fires, but the reason for them.

Re:Yeah, its not a coincidence

[Anonymous Coward]

Building codes aren't the same thing as building practices. The work I do on my house is as good as or better than the code requirements because I follow best practices. Some of the work the previous owners did was inspected by the officials, but was downright dangerous (some of the electrical connections have smoked, before I ripped that junk out). I sometimes use the industrial practices even though it's a residential space when they make more sense. I've defied the code where it was downright stupid and subsequently the code was revised in my favor.
We're caught up in a nasty bind where some of the code makes sense, and some of it is absurd. Experience and thoughtfulness go a long way, as does knowing how things work. Getting a code inspector to look at your work can sometimes bring that advice, and sometimes bring capricious bullshit at the point of a gun. It's best to avoid those guys and get your own independent adviser whenever possible.

Never rely 100% on your anti-virus software

[Anonymous Coward]

John McAfee of all people should know that you should never rely 100% on your anti-virus software.

He should have installed a firewall ...

Re:Never rely 100% on your anti-virus software

[JustOK]

The firewall CAUSED the problem. He should have crowdsourced "IP"

Re:Never rely 100% on your anti-virus software

[danomac]

Oh, he had a firewall and it malfunctioned... he didn't have enough holes poked in it.

Re:Never rely 100% on your anti-virus software

[centipedes.in.my.vag]

No. He should have just rewritten his HOSTS file.

Re:Never rely 100% on your anti-virus software

[Anonymous Coward]

In this case, the walls of the house have become Firewall!!! Just saying...

burned to the ground?

[Anonymous Coward]

Could it burn to the sky?

I put on my robe and wizard hat.

[MRe_nl]

'I believe that there are a select few with great power in Belize that will go to great lengths to harm me', McAfee said. 'This fire was not just a strange coincidence'.
'Somebody's cast a high level Firewall'.

Probably robbery.

[ruir]

I would not be surprised if the "suspicious" fire isnt just a cover up for the theft of the insides of the home. It is a standard procedure, even body officials do it all the time in 3rd countries like for instance a "fire" in the arms deposits to cover up traffic of weapons. meh

His home was basically a giant meth lab

[Anonymous Coward]

They blow up and catch fire all the time.

Re: His home was basically a giant meth lab

[FuzzNugget]

I'm pretty sure the order in which those two things occur is the other way around ;)

Yu0 f4il it

[Anonymous Coward]

And she ran Same worthless by simple fucking achieve any of the Vary foR Different Can connect to with any sort

The real question is:

[eyenot]

Is he gonna hurt somebody?

Re:The real question is:

[Anonymous Coward]

You mean somebody else besides the guy he is alleged to have shot in Belize?

Strange...

[hcs_$reboot]

Checked again: though my system says Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS, I still see "McAfee" everywhere...

Re:Strange...

[VortexCortex]

He's up in ur Interwebs, trollin' all da gubbermints!

I can't Belize it!

[Anonymous Coward]

McAfee's "security products" don't work?

Attention

[Anonymous Coward]

Stop giving it to him

Whoops

[Anonymous Coward]

Looks like he forgot to enable his firewall! He should have at least uses APK's HOSTS file for some protection!

Suspicious

[Anonymous Coward]

select few with great power in Belize that will go to great lengths to harm me

That, or it's another crazy chick. You know, the kind that would try to kill you.

Message recieved...

[Anonymous Coward]

"stay the fuck out of belize and keep your mouth shut john"

Altho a SMS would have been easier...

Compound Location

[Frosty Piss]

His compound is located here:

http://goo.gl/maps/EwSc3

The collection of blue roofed buildings witha pool and a dock are his place, as seen in a number of photographs in the press.

Re:Compound Location

[cheesybagel]

With that many trees near to the house there is little wonder that the fire burned it all down.

Re:Compound Location

[smugfunt]

The fire was at McAfee's compound near Orange Walk on the mainland, not his house on Ambergris Caye (contrary to Fox's lazy assumption).

This time of year it's very dry, especially up north. Bush fires are not uncommon. The caretaker claimed it was a bush fire that took out the buildings. It's plausible, though it doesn't say much for his caretaking skills.

Why does John Mcafee live in Belize?

[Anonymous Coward]

Didn't he start out in America? Whats wrong with America?

Re:Why does John Mcafee live in Belize?

[Anonymous Coward]

Answering that would probably nuke the /. database servers.

Re:Why does John Mcafee live in Belize?

[Anonymous Coward]

He doesn't live in Belize anymore, he's back in the US. He moved to Belize for three reasons:

• Avoid paying US taxes
• A million dollars goes a lot farther in Belize than it does in the US
• He needed somewhere to experiment with drugs and sex in a more tolerant environment than the US

Unfortunately he didn't pay enough bribes and thus began the whole scandal.

Re:Why does John Mcafee live in Belize?

[Anonymous Coward]

Wait he only got a million dollars? I remember when Mcafee was an up and coming name. Forget how shit they were it was a brand people recognized. He must have gotten more than a million out of selling the business.

Re:Why does John Mcafee live in Belize?

[Anonymous Coward]

Seems you're new to this whole "reading".
The million was just an example to illustrate that the same amount of money can buy more in a backwater nation like Belize than in an industrial nation like the US.

Re:Why does John Mcafee live in Belize?

[Anonymous Coward]

a million is a house in the more expensive parts of america.

a million in belize will buy you a whole functioning plantation, where all you need to do is manage the day to day to make lots of money (imagine that in el presidente's voice)

Soap opera!

[cplusplus]

This is the first soap opera that I've ever followed. This guy's life is so weird and his ramblings are so amusing that I find myself looking forward to each new episode. Wait, this is real? :-)

Re:Soap opera!

[Anonymous Coward]

Depends on what substances you're taking.

Re:Soap opera!

[Razed By TV]

The guy had a body double with the same name as him. It is not a stretch, in my mind, for him to arrange the burning of his house for any reason. And to claim to be the victim afterwards.

Re:Soap opera!

[Thud457]

This is the first soap opera that I've ever followed.

I think the term you're thinking of is telenovela.

The plot is ridiculously implausible and the characters are cardboard cartoon cut-outs. I heard Univision passed on the pilot.

Oh please

[gelfling]

The man lived in the middle of the jungle in a third world nation. Of course it burned down. No doubt 50 squatters were living there when it did.

Re:Oh please

[unimacs]

From what I understand he had two places in Belize. On located in the mainland off of the New river (which I saw) and the other on Ambergris Caye which I probably was within a couple miles of. I think it was the latter which burned down. It was on a quiet part of an island otherwise filled with tourists and American expatriates. It's not as remote as you're thinking it is. The place I grew up in the states probably had a worse road and was located next to a smaller town.

Who the fuck cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously, does anybody give a shit about McAfee's little world?

Re:Who the fuck cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

People who hold stock in the company that bears his name probably care.

Perhaps this is an ingenious scheme by Mr McAfee!

1) tarnish your own name with crazy behavior
2) ??? (ask your former company for X million dollars, in return for a promise to never speak to the press again)
3) Profit!

Re:Who the fuck cares?

[DerekLyons]

It's Slashdot and the tech world's version of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

Re:Who the fuck cares?

[wolfman_jake]

Intel owns his former company. They are probably just wishing that they had re-branded after buying it...

Re:Who the fuck cares?

[cffrost]

It's Slashdot and the tech world's version of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

Yes, although Slashdot and the tech world's version of Keeping Up with the Kardashians should be Keeping Up with the Cardassians.

Why is it odd?

[SuperKendall]

It's an odd choice of words from a man whom the Belize police found suspicious

Police try to frame MCaffe, he escapes.

Next best thing - burn down his house.

I failed to see why this does not greatly support his narrative of what happened. He's not even there to burn it down himself...

I mean, lets say a corrupt government was after you. Why do you think it unlikely they would burn down your house after you crossed them?

Re:Why is it odd?

[Xest]

Why would they burn down your luxury mansion rather than just seize it and make it their own?

Does McAfee really care about a house he'll probably never be able to return to or recoup anything from being burned down?

Re:Why is it odd?

[ultranova]

Police try to frame MCaffe, he escapes.

Proof? Because the competing narrative - police very reasonably includes McAfee in the list of suspects, and he's a paranoid nut from all the bath salts he's been doing, and possibly guilty, so he escapes - is actually simpler. It doesn't require us to assume corruption, government conspiracies, unknown assailants, or any other factoids we don't already know; it fits right in with all known facts.

Next best thing - burn down his house.

As opposed to simply seizing it as a criminal asset and selling it to the highest bidder, therefore depriving McAfee of it and lining their pockets?

I failed to see why this does not greatly support his narrative of what happened. He's not even there to burn it down himself...

Because houses occasionally catch fire even without any intervention from anyone, and even if they didn't, the murder victim presumably had friends who are not likely to like Mr. McAfee very much.

I mean, lets say a corrupt government was after you. Why do you think it unlikely they would burn down your house after you crossed them?

Even if any hypothethical corruption in Belizean government had anything to do with it being after McAfee, as opposed to simply doing its job and trying to round up a murder suspect, why would they destroy their own property?

Re:Why is it odd?

[SuperKendall]

Proof? Because the competing narrative - police very reasonably includes McAfee in the list of suspects, and he's a paranoid nut from all the bath salts he's been doing, and possibly guilty, so he escapes - is actually simpler.

It was before the fire. The fire is more complex in your version, less in the one where the police are framing McAffee and getting back at him any way they can.

Otherwsie you have to concoct some story about how he paid a guy to go set a fire on his own property, for some dubious end...

I'm not saying one story or the other is true. Just the fire makes it more likely his story is true than before.

P.S. Just because you are paranoid does not mean they are not out to get you. Also I would suggest he has substantially greater experience with third world law enforcement than you do in your first world high horse.

Because houses occasionally catch fire even without any intervention from anyone

Unoccupied houses? You are the one skirting the realm of fantasy.

as opposed to simply doing its job and trying to round up a murder suspect

You'd know if he was actually a murder suspect as steps would be taken to extradite him.

why would they destroy their own property?

???? It's not police property.

Re:Why is it odd?

[SuperKendall]

Why would they burn down your luxury mansion rather than just seize it and make it their own?

Pretty obviously because they can't legally seize it, easier just to set fire to it... at which point they can condemn and seize the property. You just are so naive...

Re:Why is it odd?

[Xest]

So they can have someone murdered and frame a guy for it, they can have a house burnt down, but they can't figure out how to legally seize the property?

You're not the sharpest tool in the box are you?

Why

[QuietLagoon]

Why in the world is everyone so fascinated about this little tiny person?

Re:Why

[Anonymous Coward]

Because he is slightly less tiny than you.

I feel like a pussy

[Anonymous Coward]

As someone who's raced sportbikes semi-professionally and tried most "extreme" sports, I'm no stranger to life on the edge. However, reading this mans exploits makes me feel like a shut-in spineless pussy.

Hats off to you John, for someone with as much brains as you, they're no match for your balls!

Yeah, call me suprised.

[Anonymous Coward]

'I believe that there are a select few with great power in Belize that will go to great lengths to harm me,'

I can quite understand their desire.

McAffee is a grade-A dunderheaded prick.

Yeah, from a conspiracy nut.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Police try to frame MCaffe"

According to McCaffee.

Who's fried his brains with shit and moved there because despite having had the benefit of a first world society, did not want to pay back for it.

Hell, he probably screwed over a local gang and that's why his house burnt down.

Re:Yeah, from a conspiracy nut.

[Anonymous Coward]

You're an idiot. Never dealt with people bigger than yourself obviously.

Re:Yeah, from a conspiracy nut.

[Anonymous Coward]

The "local gang" in this case is the police in Belize.

Re:Yeah, from a conspiracy nut.

[SuperKendall]

Never dealt with people bigger than yourself obviously.

So you are claiming that in the history of dealing with corrupt governments, people have not been killed and property not destroyed?

I'll let the reader decide which one of us is the idiot.

Belize is the libertarian paradise

[litehacksaur111]

Perhaps John McAfee should do us all a favor and stay in his libertarian paradise with no fire department and police force to protect him.

Re:Belize is the libertarian paradise

[Anonymous Coward]

Not quite true...

http://www.paradisehunter.com/CountryInformation/Belize/Living-There/Emergency-Services

Not like he was ever going back there

[Anonymous Coward]

Pity he didn't have time to sell however. Ah well, the insurance should be a nice pay day.

JM: International Man of Mystery

[Rob_Bryerton]

SETTING: SOMEWHERE OFF THE COAST OF BELIZE

After stowing away on a SEAL training flight, John exited the aircraft at 50,000 feet. His H.A.L.O. insertion going to plan, he landed 50 nautical miles in the blue waters off the coast of Belize. As luck would have it, there was a submarine, a Russian boomer, on the surface, which John quickly boarded. After killing the captain with his own sidearm, John took command of the sub. Setting course for his island lair, the Russian sub was intercepted by an American fast attack sub with Alec Baldwin on board coaching the crew.

Several "Crazy Ivan's" later, the US sub dodging Russian torpedoes all the while, the Russian sub was struck by its own torpedo, fatally damaging the vessel. By this time, the majority of the crew had committed suicide, opting for that fate rather than listen to John regale them with his witty anecdotes of his worldly exploits. As the sub was sinking, John managed to escape to the surface using a deep water escape gadget, which, as the inventor, he owns the patent on.

Armed only with his trusty knife, he fought off several Great White sharks, and met up with a pod of Pacific spotted dolphins who, recognizing him, agreed to help him reach his island stronghold. Knowing both the CIA and members of the former KGB were closing on his location, John set about arming the charges he had built into the foundation of his house and laboratory.

Laughing maniacally, John set off the charges as he slowly walked away from his compound, huge explosions in the background. This ensuring nobody would ever get the secrets of his special formula female Viagra created with his own blend of freebase MDPV and rare jungle herbs.

CUE BOND MUSIC, FADE TO BLACK...

Re:JM: International Man of Mystery

[Anonymous Coward]

I dunno.. I just can't picture JM as a bond.. or even a Bourne.. more like a vulgar and excessively paranoid Johnny English. Still loads of entertainment though.

What is slashdot's obsession

[Anonymous Coward]

With this drugged out loser?

Re:What is slashdot's obsession

[Drakonblayde]

He's the village idiot. Yeah, he's batshit insane, but this is our village, and he's our idiot.

Insurance

[Anonymous Coward]

Burn it down and then claim insurance. Much easier than trying to sell your house when the gov is after you in that country. McAfee is a smart guy.

Amazon's one-click

[hoboroadie]

I wish that mis-modding was a little less unavoidable.

Re:Amazon's one-click

[sjames]

I guess the truth hurts sometimes.

Re:Amazon's one-click

[Anonymous Coward]

I tried to mod you insightful, but the Android touchscreen hit flamebait and I had to comment to undo it.
It now appears that effort was futile. -hoboroadie

Re:Amazon's one-click

[sjames]

That's the thing with touchscreens. Sure more handy than a mouse when you're not sitting at desk, but it's esy to make pointing errors.

As for the mod, I appreciate your effort. It's sort of amusing how if anyone sees my post and it's moderation, it does seem to refute it's parent.

maybe he did it?

[ucity]

my first thought is he is unable to sell it at ridiculous price and tired of upkeep and high taxes so he torches it to collect insurance.

Random Fires Everywhere

[ehiris]

On my recent trip to Belize I noticed the first thing while landing that there were random small fires everywhere. The place across the hotel from where we stayed had a fire one day in their yard for hours making a lot of smoke. The fire department came with their engine to put it out because it apparently had gotten a little out of control.

I asked a local what was up with all the fires and he said it's due to spontaneous combustion from the "heat" but I know exactly what it is, people burning their trash!

As for the jungle house, one of his houses was right by river where you take the boat to Lamanai. Not sure if it's that one that burned down but there is a lot of tourist traffic around it and the guides were joking that it's half off. I guess it's just land cost now...

Two minor issues...

[DiEx-15]

...that make me seriously doubt that this was a fire deliberately set by Belize officials:

1) Fox News. 'Nuff said.
2) John McAfee. Unintelligent, paranoid moonbat ramblings from somebody who could have murdered another person and did what could be best described as a Beer Run from the authorities but replace the word "Beer" with "Coke and Heroin" and replace "Run" with "Higher than a fucking kite"...

Yeah... Totally trustworthy person worth my trust.

Infinite minor issues

[SinisterRainbow]

Sure, governments are all corrupt. Sure, McAfee isn't the world's greatest human. Sure, no one here can possibly deduce what is truth and what is fiction. But sure, many here will offer their feeling-based opinion.

well-liked by whom?

[Anonymous Coward]

who is this builder well-liked by, ... his mum?

True!

[Anonymous Coward]

For example.

what?

[Anonymous Coward]

I bet they were trying to install a... firewall. :-)

Wonder if it was one of his teenagers

[Anonymous Coward]

Was it that psycho chick mentioned in the Wired magazine article?