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Software pioneer McAfee rushed from custody to hospital

Posted at 6:05 PM, Dec 06, 2012
and last updated 2012-12-06 18:05:52-05

(CNN) — Software pioneer John McAfee was being transported to a Guatemala City hospital in an ambulance Thursday after his attorney reported he had convulsions.

McAfee had been in a Guatemalan police hospital Thursday, just hours after officials rejected his bid for asylum.

Attorney Karla Paz said McAfee, 67, was earlier being treated for cardiovascular problems.

Earlier Thursday, Guatemala rejected McAfee’s request for asylum, setting up his impending deportation to Belize, where police want to talk with him about a neighbor’s shooting death.

There was no basis for the asylum request, and so it was denied, presidential spokesman Francisco Cuevas said Thursday.

If McAfee is deported, investigators plan to take him in for questioning upon his return, Belize police spokesman Rafael Martinez said.

Belize authorities have said they want to talk to McAfee about the November 11 shooting of his neighbor, American businessman Gregory Faull. Under Belize law McAfee can be held for 48 hours without charges, Martinez said.

Guatemalan authorities took McAfee into custody Wednesday on accusations of entering the country illegally.

After weeks in hiding, the 67-year-old Internet security pioneer emerged publicly Tuesday in Guatemala’s capital, hundreds of miles from the Caribbean island in Belize where his next-door neighbor was found dead.

McAfee had requested asylum in Guatemala, arguing that he left Belize to escape police persecution.

McAfee founded his namesake computer security software in 1987, initially running it out of his home in California. He sold his stake in McAfee Associates in 1994 and moved to Belize in 2008.

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