Mcafee Heart Attack, A day after he was denied asylum in Guatemala and detained for entering the country illegally, fugitive software mogul John McAfee was rushed to a hospital Thursday after suffering heart attacks in jail, his lawyer says. Reuters quotes his lawyer as saying the the 67-year-old anti-virus pioneer suffered two mild heart attacks. Spanish-language Prensa Libra earlier said he was taken by ambulance to a Guatemala City hospital, accompanied by his 20-year-old girlfriend.ABC and NBC also tweeted the news: "Media zoo at Interpol Guatemala.
EMTs inside with an apparently sick McAfee." — Keith Morrison (@dateline_keith) "John McAfee being taken to hospital in Guatemala. Local press is crazy here, now in a high speed chase after Ambulance" — Matt Gutman (@mattgutmanABC) Gutman posted a photo of McAfee in the ambulance.According to the Associated Press, McAfee's lawyer, Karla Paz, says his request to remain in Guatemala has been denied. McAfee, who has been in hiding for more than three weeks, is wanted in Belize as "a person of interest" over the slaying of fellow American Gregory Faull. "He entered the country illegally and we are going to seek his expulsion for this crime," Interior Minister Mauricio Lopez Bonilla told Reuters.
In a post attributed to McAfee on his blog, the software mogul is urging supporters to email Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina and "beg him to allow the court system to proceed, to determine my status in Guatemala, and please support the political asylum that I am asking for." McAfee had been blogging from jail, using a computer he says was loaned to him by a warden. In a series of blog posts published Thursday, McAfee said a stay order was issued so a higher judge can review his case. "Everyone here is nice. And sympathetic," writes McAfee. "So far, my experience on the inside of this establishment has worn away a bit of my natural cynicism and added a measure of hope for humanity." McAfee's arrest ends one of the most bizarre international manhunts of the modern tech era.
Armed with only a Twitter account, dozens of cellphone accounts and a battery of tech journalist handlers, McAffee eluded Belize authorities for 23 days while posting blog entries that highlighted his days on the run. Guatemala government spokesman Francisco Cuevas told Reuters that he expected McAfee's expulsion to Belize to be completed early Thursday morning. "Basically, he has been granted extra time for a different judge to review the case," said Brian Fitzgerald, a spokesman for McAfee. "The U.S. Embassy cannot do much right now.
A bit of a waiting game for now." "He is asking for support so that he will not be sent back to Belize. I think he is a bit worried right now," Fitzgerald said. The murder and manhunt have polarized the beachfront community of Amergris Caye, where both men lived and had friends. "I think people are torn about it," said Tamara Sniffin, owner of The San Pedro Sun newspaper. "I don't get the feeling that people are convinced that he's guilty of murder. Everyone just wants him to answer the questions the cops have." She said residents have been frustrated with the lack of progress in the case.
They worry that if McAfee didn't commit the murder, the person who did may be living among them. "Is there still someone out there who is guilty?" she said. "We don't have many leads on it." National Belize Police spokesman Raphael Martinez said on Thursday that police do not have any suspects yet in the case. McAfee remains a "person of interest," he said. He is not a suspect, but police believe he could have some useful information about the case. "When he comes in, I think we'll get to the bottom of that," Martinez said. Just Tuesday, McAfee -- who founded the security-software giant bearing his name, only to drop out of the tech scene and pursue an eclectic variety of interests that included yoga and hang gliding -- said he would seek political asylum in Guatemala.
That nation is embroiled in a long-running territorial dispute with Belize. Eugene Kaspersky, himself a maverick in the security field, said it was unfair to equate the McAfee saga to recent travails at the company, which has lost a few key executives. Like others, Kaspersky said McAfee was out of the picture at his former company years ago. "He had some crazy ideas," says Mark Coker, who worked closely for John McAfee in the early 1990s. "But he was original, and foresaw things like cloud computing. It's all so strange."
EMTs inside with an apparently sick McAfee." — Keith Morrison (@dateline_keith) "John McAfee being taken to hospital in Guatemala. Local press is crazy here, now in a high speed chase after Ambulance" — Matt Gutman (@mattgutmanABC) Gutman posted a photo of McAfee in the ambulance.According to the Associated Press, McAfee's lawyer, Karla Paz, says his request to remain in Guatemala has been denied. McAfee, who has been in hiding for more than three weeks, is wanted in Belize as "a person of interest" over the slaying of fellow American Gregory Faull. "He entered the country illegally and we are going to seek his expulsion for this crime," Interior Minister Mauricio Lopez Bonilla told Reuters.
In a post attributed to McAfee on his blog, the software mogul is urging supporters to email Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina and "beg him to allow the court system to proceed, to determine my status in Guatemala, and please support the political asylum that I am asking for." McAfee had been blogging from jail, using a computer he says was loaned to him by a warden. In a series of blog posts published Thursday, McAfee said a stay order was issued so a higher judge can review his case. "Everyone here is nice. And sympathetic," writes McAfee. "So far, my experience on the inside of this establishment has worn away a bit of my natural cynicism and added a measure of hope for humanity." McAfee's arrest ends one of the most bizarre international manhunts of the modern tech era.
Armed with only a Twitter account, dozens of cellphone accounts and a battery of tech journalist handlers, McAffee eluded Belize authorities for 23 days while posting blog entries that highlighted his days on the run. Guatemala government spokesman Francisco Cuevas told Reuters that he expected McAfee's expulsion to Belize to be completed early Thursday morning. "Basically, he has been granted extra time for a different judge to review the case," said Brian Fitzgerald, a spokesman for McAfee. "The U.S. Embassy cannot do much right now.
A bit of a waiting game for now." "He is asking for support so that he will not be sent back to Belize. I think he is a bit worried right now," Fitzgerald said. The murder and manhunt have polarized the beachfront community of Amergris Caye, where both men lived and had friends. "I think people are torn about it," said Tamara Sniffin, owner of The San Pedro Sun newspaper. "I don't get the feeling that people are convinced that he's guilty of murder. Everyone just wants him to answer the questions the cops have." She said residents have been frustrated with the lack of progress in the case.
They worry that if McAfee didn't commit the murder, the person who did may be living among them. "Is there still someone out there who is guilty?" she said. "We don't have many leads on it." National Belize Police spokesman Raphael Martinez said on Thursday that police do not have any suspects yet in the case. McAfee remains a "person of interest," he said. He is not a suspect, but police believe he could have some useful information about the case. "When he comes in, I think we'll get to the bottom of that," Martinez said. Just Tuesday, McAfee -- who founded the security-software giant bearing his name, only to drop out of the tech scene and pursue an eclectic variety of interests that included yoga and hang gliding -- said he would seek political asylum in Guatemala.
That nation is embroiled in a long-running territorial dispute with Belize. Eugene Kaspersky, himself a maverick in the security field, said it was unfair to equate the McAfee saga to recent travails at the company, which has lost a few key executives. Like others, Kaspersky said McAfee was out of the picture at his former company years ago. "He had some crazy ideas," says Mark Coker, who worked closely for John McAfee in the early 1990s. "But he was original, and foresaw things like cloud computing. It's all so strange."
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