

John McAfee: The Government Wants to Kill Me   - techinsidr
http://www.securityweek.com/john-mcafee-government-wants-kill-me

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jacquesm
John McAfee certainly isn't a boring old man.

I don't know what to make of any of this. There is enough confusion and mis-
information that it is totally impossible to know what the truth is any more
but regardless of what the truth is I'm pretty sure that John McAfee isn't
going to die in some old folks home to be visited on Sundays by his children
that hope that granddad will kick the bucket soon so they can stop these
visits.

At his age most folks are thinking about which brand rollator will bring the
most value for their money. McAfee seems to be a star in his own totally weird
movie with sex (illegal?), drugs (some of it definitely illegal) and banana
republics thrown into the mix with abandon.

I'm happy I don't have to make the choice between the retirement home and John
McAfee's, but I'm fairly sure that a large number of people in retirement
homes would happily trade with him.

I'm not quite admiring him (definitely would not admire him if it turns out he
killed that guy and taking advantage of all these young girls is definitely
not ok) but I'm not saying he doesn't have his weird charm either. If he did
it I hope he gets caught and sentenced appropriately, if he didn't I hope he
manages to escape to safety somehow. The problem is that it is impossible to
know what to believe, and a large factor in that is McAfee himself. He's been
on the run in one form or another for years now so for him this is likely
business as usual.

~~~
sliverstorm
That's the ridiculous part, the whole story sounds so much like it was taken
right out of a movie I have no idea even where to _begin_ to tease out the
truth.

~~~
Ntrails
You start in the only sensible place, Belize. I hear it is nice this time of
year :)

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intenex
Having followed this since the raid earlier this year, I actually have no idea
whose side of the story I believe now. Some people portray him as a
Machiavellian psychopath (Jeff Wise), others think he just went paranoid nuts
from drug use, yet if I were only to hear John McAfee tell his own story I'm
fairly certain I would absolutely believe him.

He's clearly still in full command of his capacities at least as it comes to
elucidating his thoughts in words, and everything he says is reasonable enough
that I would believe it quite straightforwardly (as I did back when the raid
news first came out) if it weren't for the notion planted in my head now from
Wise's article that he's a scheming psychopath that's very charming and knows
just what to say to make people believe him.

Either way, this guy has a _crazy shit life_. If everything is true in Jeff's
article about his past and current life, I'd have to believe that he probably
is just a scheming possibly paranoid psychopath, though still a little
skeptical that he shot his neighbor to death. Fully plausible either way as I
see it however, wouldn't be surprised at either outcome.

Also, I definitely hear the words "kill him" and "that's what he fucking
needs" in that recording with all the background noise he sent out. Who knows
what it is though.

~~~
saraid216
I'm honestly sort of confused why we care what he's doing at all. There are
other accused murderers and other fugitives in the world. Why is McAfee a big
deal outside the fact that there's a well-known company with his name on it?

~~~
jacquesm
> the fact there's a well-known company with his name on it?

That's a good part of it, the guy has name recognition on par with most
household cleaning products.

Then there is the little detail that he actually is - or was - half decent
programmer and even in illegality he shows his entrepreneurial drive. It's the
same kind of fascination that got the tech press running around Hans Reiser
the way they did when Nina disappeared.

This is what drives tabloid sales, people love a good story and McAfee is
giving them just that.

I'm not even sure if the facts of the matter will be a decision point from
here on, the eyeballs industry probably hopes he will on the lam for a long
time so they can milk this for what it is worth. The worst that could happen
from their point of view is that he gets arrested or worse, that he really
does get killed (they may try to go for the conspiracy angle if that happens
to extend the time they can spin this).

It's a sad affair in many ways. McAfee used to be named right along Bill Gates
at some point and now you're just as likely to find him associated with Hans
Reiser (like in this comment for instance).

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pxlpshr
If I had a penny for every security guy who thought a government was out to
kill him, I'd be a rich man. Paranoid drives that industry. :) It's rare but
threats happen given the data and relationships a security officer of a public
firm will be exposed too.

More realistically, it sounds like John's eclectic lifestyle is rubbing people
wrong like it did in the States. It doesn't take a genius to do a google
search on your loud new immigrant and find a plethora of bad press, justice or
injustice. In a developing country like Belize (which shares a border with
Mexico), the corruption around you becomes very real when a community (or
powers that be) start to feel your presence is threatening. And Americans
REALLY don't go over smoothly when they think they are above the local law of
the land. Travel security 101.

 _A former business partner sold his company to Symantec. We more recently
built mobile security software and worked closely with local & federal govts
in US, and UK House of Lords. I also worked in international finance, security
of our Brazil and Mexico teams were something we thought about often._

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practicalJoker
"Numerous press reports point to an epic thread on Bluelight (the world’s
largest drug forum) posted by a user named Stuffmonger. [...] At one point
Stuffmonger mentions that he lives in Belize, in the jungle, beside a river.
Connections were made, and people began to believe that Stuffmonger was
actually myself, and that I was indeed doing the drugs that I was encouraging
others to create.

I am indeed that same Stuffmonger. I, however, do not do drugs [...]. I am,
however, a practical joker who does not mind investing months in a given
joking enterprise."

Repeat with me: He is a practical joker who does not mind investing months in
a given joking enterprise.

~~~
jrogers65
I appreciate that the following link is to material which some people here may
object to, but it's all legal as far as the law is concerned so grab some
popcorn and start reading:

[http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/threads/652661-John-McAfee-aka-
St...](http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/threads/652661-John-McAfee-aka-Stuffmonger-
wanted-for-Murder)

~~~
veidr
Thank you, that is a _great_ link. It makes this story much more interesting--
fascinating, even, assuming stuffmonger really is McAfee (as seems to be the
case).

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Sherrilbfx
This story just gets crazier by the minute.

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jofo25
>The media has portrayed me as paranoid

>I planted tiny POV video cameras and sound recorders on myself, some of my
dogs, all around my property, in my cars, on my boats, at the Studio 54 bar in
Orange Walk, on trees, in bushes, – everywhere I could...

Is it only me who thinks he's a teeny-tiny bit paranoid?

~~~
veidr
Well, what would _you_ do if the police executed a commando raid on your
property looking for a meth lab that wasn't there, and your pets were
slaughtered, but you really hadn't done anything to precipitate such events?

Given that context, it doesn't seem unreasonable.

Around the turn of the millennium, on my little software company's farm-like
compound in rural California, we had a couple incidents where we would find
one of our angora goats lying dead in front of the converted-barn office, with
its throat slashed open from ear to ear. I happened across the first one when
me and a buddy were out for a moonlight walk--after smoking a joint, no less--
and it was some creepy fucking shit. I invested in a whole bunch of wireless
night vision cameras after the second time that happened, and put them in
trees, on the roof, and in the bushes.

It turned out it wasn't any kind of weird cult ritual or insane meth-heads
living in the woods, as we had first thought; it was the German shepherd owned
by the Nazi skinheads up the road, slipping its chain at night and going out
on missions, apparently well-fed but still with the killing urge.

We didn't find out through the cameras; it was one morning when I ran outside
at 5:30 after being awakened by the plaintive cries of our biggest billy goat,
only to find him on his back with his neck clamped between the jaws of the dog
(named Psycho (of course)). Luckily for me, those skinheads had apparently
beaten a healthy fear of humans into the dog, so I was able to save Billy
Whiskers by throwing some rocks and shouting.

Still, given the circumstances, it doesn't seem too paranoid to have planted
all those cameras. If McAfee's story is true (which is admittedly pretty hard
to believe) then going on the run, carrying guns, and deploying all the
cameras and whatever else he can seems reasonable to me.

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pirateking
They need to do a Breaking Bad format show with John McAfee.

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mtgx
I haven't followed this, but if he really fears they want to kill him, can't
he flee the country? Or does he not want to do that?

~~~
fusiongyro
In one or the other interview since this started, the interviewer asked him
that very question and he responded rather incongruously that he loves Belize
and has no intention of leaving. That was the moment I started to lean towards
he's a little loopy.

There was also a rumor going around that he couldn't return to the US for tax
reasons, which is plausible but I think unsubstantiated.

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genuine
I feel bad for him. Even the rich have mental issues.

~~~
tsotha
How do you feel about the guy with the hole in the back of his head?

~~~
genuine
When insane people commit a crime they should be incarcerated. The victim
should have justice. But, it seems that McAfee started going downhill years
ago. Look how far he's gone. That could happen to anyone. He's just in the
news because he was rich and has a recognizable name. If even the rich can
have this happen to them, there is little hope that we can be truly effective
at stopping others from having the same happen to them.

~~~
Fargren
I do not believe the purpose of incarceration should ever be justice for the
victim, it should be safety for other potential victims (either from the
criminal, or from those who would see the crime go unpunished and decide they
can do the same). That's the reason why we should put mentally insane
criminals in mental institutions and not in jail, too; if everything works
well, that should shield the lowest chance of more people being hurt.

If you want justice for the victim, punishing the perpetrator is not the best
way to go about that. Making the criminal make reparations is a solution in
some cases (notably not in murder).

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crag
Who cares? Kill him; don't kill him.. just shut him up already.

