MIAMI: John McAfee arrived in Miami on Wednesday night after Guatemala deported the computer software pioneer who is wanted for questioning in Belize over the murder of a fellow American, according to fellow passengers on the American Airlines flight.
McAfee, 67, was escorted from the plane by airport security officers, passengers said. He had been held for a week in Guatemala, where he surfaced after evading police in Belize for nearly a month following the killing of American Gregory Faull, his neighbor on the Caribbean island of Ambergris Caye.
Police in Belize want to quiz McAfee as a "person of interest" in Faull's death, although the technology guru's lawyers blocked an attempt by Guatemala to send him back there.
Authorities in Belize say he is not a prime suspect in the investigation. McAfee has denied any role in Faull's killing.
A Reuters witness saw McAfee's plane bound for Miami leaving Guatemala City just before 3:40pm (2140 GMT). The flight arrived in Miami soon after 7pm (0000 GMT Thursday).
The goateed McAfee has led the world's media on a game of online hide-and-seek in Belize and Guatemala since he fled after Faull's death, peppering the internet with pithy quotes and colorful revelations about his unpredictable life.
"I'm happy to be going home," McAfee, dressed in a black suit, told reporters shortly before his departure from Guatemala City airport on Wednesday afternoon. "I've been running through jungles and rivers and oceans and I think I need to rest for a while. And I've been in jail for seven days."
Guatemala's immigration authorities had been holding McAfee since he was arrested last Wednesday for illegally entering the country with his 20-year-old Belizean girlfriend.
The eccentric tech pioneer, who made his fortune from the anti-virus software bearing his name, has been chronicling life on the run in a blog, www.whoismcafee.com.
He said he had no immediate plans after reaching Florida.
"I'm just going to hang in Miami for a while. I like Miami," he told Reuters by telephone just before his plane left. "There is a great sushi place there and I really like sushi."
