McAfee petitions anew to avoid deportation in murder probe

Asks to be granted migrant status, which could but him some time

I / Guatemala City December 10, 2012, 8:34 IST

US anti-virus software pioneer John McAfee filed another legal motion as he seeks to avoid deportation to Belize for questioning over his neighbour's murder, his lawyer has said.

McAfee asked to be granted migrant status, attorney Telesforo Guerra said yesterday. This will essentially buy him a bit of time.

Right now McAfee can file no additional legal motions -- his request for asylum was denied -- because he entered the country illegally.

But if he gets migrant status, he can file more motions. But they might be moot because of the asylum denial.

Authorities in Belize want to question McAfee about the death of 52-year-old Florida expat Gregory Faull, who was found by his housekeeper with a 9-mm bullet in his head, lying in a pool of his own blood.

McAfee, 67, insists he had nothing to do with the killing on the palm-fringed island of Ambergris Caye, where they both lived.

His lawyer has said McAfee was targeted by Belizean police and was a "victim of persecution and harassment."

No charges have been laid against McAfee, who was embroiled in a bitter neighbourly dispute with the deceased and has so far only been declared a "person of interest" in the case. He spent several weeks in hiding to avoid police questioning.

Guerra explained McAfee is also scheduled for a medical evaluation today, after he was transported to the hospital last week over an apparent heart scare.

Doctors later released him after determining he was suffering from anxiety and high blood pressure and was in stable condition, migration director Freddy Viana said.