Software tycoon John McAfee appears in public for first time after weeks on the run ...

The Daily Mail Online ^ | December 4, 2012 | DAILY MAIL REPORTER and ASSOCIATED PRESS

[Uncle Chip]

After weeks on the run, anti-virus software founder John McAfee has gone public in Guatemala, where he plans to ask for asylum because he fears persecution in Belize.

McAfee made two public appearances on Tuesday in Guatemala City, where he fielded questions from reporters and proclaimed his innocence in the November murder of a neighbor.

McAfee spoke to The Associated Press in a restaurant near a high-end hotel where he is staying in Guatemala City after sneaking out of neighboring Belize.

There, the 67-year-old millionaire was pictured kissing his 20-year-old girlfriend Sam Vanegas.

He is also in the company of high-powered attorney Telésforo Guerra, a former Guatemalan attorney general and an uncle of Vanegas.

Also present at the hotel were Rocco Castoro, the editor-in-chief of New York's Vice magazine, and photographer/videographer Robert King, who snapped a few candid photos of McAfee as he dined with Guerra.

Castoro wrote: '[McAfee] retained the services of Mr. Guerra. He has agreed to help John untangle the web of confusion and - according to John - corruption that has taken over his life in Belize since April.'

Castoro and King have been traveling with McAfee for the last five days, and are filming a documentary that will accompany a magazine article about McAfee's time on the run.

[Timber Rattler]

So what was he doing in Belize in the first place?

[jsanders2001]

That place is a money-laundering friendly country and has lots of tourism. It attracts a lot of the super wealthy for both reasons.

[jsanders2001]

That place is a money-laundering friendly country and has lots of tourism. It attracts a lot of the super wealthy for both reasons.

[Georgia Girl 2]

“So what was he doing in Belize in the first place?”

Avoiding US taxes.