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Interviews: McAfee Says House Fire Was No Accident
According to reports a bush fire burned down John McAfee's home in Belize on Thursday. The local fire department was unable to to contain the blaze and the the two main buildings were completely destroyed. Property Manager Noel Codd (who was not there at the time) estimated the value of the buildings at $250,000 each. Despite the reported cause of the fire, McAfee says that the destruction of his compound was no accident. We caught up with him to talk about why he thinks the fire was set and what he plans to do now. Read below to see what he had to say.
samzenpus: What have you been told about the fire and what do you think happened?
McAfee: Well, the investigators say that it was arson, in spite of the local police saying that it was a brush fire. People don't set brush fires in high winds, so this was the last of the properties. The government took everything away from me. I mean they've got so blatant that at the very end they were coming in, in broad daylight and carrying off, you know, millions of dollars worth of electronic gear and camera gear. And one time they took 300 stun guns that I was going to give to the police department, in broad daylight. But one property was not in my name, and that was the one at the river. And so, finally in one last desperate attempt to get at me, they just set fire to my two major buildings. It was at least a half a million dollars worth of buildings plus art work and invaluable items on the inside that all went up in smoke. But there it is.
samzenpus: Was anyone living there?
McAfee: Just a caretaker.
samzenpus: And he's okay?
McAfee: The caretaker was not there at the time.
samzenpus: This was your last property in Belize?
McAfee: That was my last property in Belize, went up in smoke. It's a very freeing sensation to have no burdensome taxes to pay or wages for upkeep and electricity and what have you. So they did me a favor.
samzenpus: Did anyone see anything suspicious or anyone hanging around?
McAfee: The police have actually arrested a couple of people. But if they're the ones who started the fire, they have nothing to do with it really. Just someone, you know, paid them $25 to "go and set that house on fire." The people responsible, I know who they are, and they're the same ones who've been responsible for taking all of my stuff since I was in Belize. And now there's nothing left for them to take. They must be pretty pissed off.
samzenpus: They haven't said anything to you directly or anything of course?
McAfee: No, of course not. And once I left the country, all attempts to do any formal charges simply disappeared because there was no way that they could do any formal charges. They had no evidence. They had nothing on me other than I refused to give a $2 million donation back in 2012. You know, so all they can do now is cause me a little bit of chaos and inconvenience, which I think they can cause me no more now.
McAfee: Well, the investigators say that it was arson, in spite of the local police saying that it was a brush fire. People don't set brush fires in high winds, so this was the last of the properties. The government took everything away from me. I mean they've got so blatant that at the very end they were coming in, in broad daylight and carrying off, you know, millions of dollars worth of electronic gear and camera gear. And one time they took 300 stun guns that I was going to give to the police department, in broad daylight. But one property was not in my name, and that was the one at the river. And so, finally in one last desperate attempt to get at me, they just set fire to my two major buildings. It was at least a half a million dollars worth of buildings plus art work and invaluable items on the inside that all went up in smoke. But there it is.
samzenpus: Was anyone living there?
McAfee: Just a caretaker.
samzenpus: And he's okay?
McAfee: The caretaker was not there at the time.
samzenpus: This was your last property in Belize?
McAfee: That was my last property in Belize, went up in smoke. It's a very freeing sensation to have no burdensome taxes to pay or wages for upkeep and electricity and what have you. So they did me a favor.
samzenpus: Did anyone see anything suspicious or anyone hanging around?
McAfee: The police have actually arrested a couple of people. But if they're the ones who started the fire, they have nothing to do with it really. Just someone, you know, paid them $25 to "go and set that house on fire." The people responsible, I know who they are, and they're the same ones who've been responsible for taking all of my stuff since I was in Belize. And now there's nothing left for them to take. They must be pretty pissed off.
samzenpus: They haven't said anything to you directly or anything of course?
McAfee: No, of course not. And once I left the country, all attempts to do any formal charges simply disappeared because there was no way that they could do any formal charges. They had no evidence. They had nothing on me other than I refused to give a $2 million donation back in 2012. You know, so all they can do now is cause me a little bit of chaos and inconvenience, which I think they can cause me no more now.
No, of course not. And once I left the country, all attempts to do any formal charges simply disappeared because there was no way that they could do any formal charges. They had no evidence. They had nothing on me other than I refused to give a $2 million donation back in 2012. You know, so all they can do now is cause me a little bit of chaos and inconvenience, which I think they can cause me no more now.
As I tried to ask during the first interview who are these people? What have you got to lose in naming them right now? Do they have power in the United States? What's holding you back?!
They can cause you no more chaos or inconvenience and yet you refuse to name them -- WHY? This could only be further evidence in your accusations! Do I have to buy your book to find out or something?
My work here is dung.
It seems /. has a particular relationship with mr MacAfee, that allows /. to get some kind of confessions directly from him, that you won't see anywhere else. Well, Torvald, Ballmer or Steve Jobs (from the Dead) would be better, but that's a start.
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
"Irrelevant?" I found his legal troubles far more interesting than any antivirus software. "Attention whore?" If you read news, even news for nerds, you will come across people who are trying to get attention. Actually, let me back up further. If you take part in the human world, you will encounter people who are seeking attention. This guy isn't particularly bad either. It seems that he actually has an interesting story beyond the usual attention whore "Oops, I had sex while a camera was pointed at me and now it's everywhere."
... That said, samzenpus and McAfee, don't get any ideas. Please do not release a sex tape involving John McAfee. Ever.