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Update: John McAfee in Guatemala, Pleads Asylum

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McAfee ArrestJohn McAfee-- antivirus company founder, alleged fraudster, murder suspect, man on the run-- now lies in police custody due to illegal entry in Guatemala after Vice Magazine revealed his location by accident.

"Now that I'm here I can speak freely. I can speak openly," McAfee tells reporters in Guatemala City before claiming he will expose corruption within Belize's government.

Belize president Dean Barrow however does not mince his words, saying "I don't want to be unkind to the gentleman, but I believe he is extremely paranoid, even bonkers."

Just when you thought the John McAfee saga could not get any stranger, guess what? It just did.

A quick recap-- following the shooting of his neighbour on the Belizean island of Ambergis Caye McAfee ran for it, leaving the country for supposedly safer shores.

Mcafee ViceToo bad the metadata on a very recent photo revealed his current location.

On 3 December 2012, after a length of radio silence, McAfee posted a blog post saying "I am currently safe... We are not in Belize, but not quite in out of the woods yet."

Joining McAfee was Vice Magazine, with an announcement claiming "We Are With John McAfee Right Now, Suckers." The magazine said it is making an "absolutely epic" documentary on the stranger-than-fiction story. But that is not the interesting part! No, what is interesting is the photo the story includes, one of McAfee and Vice editor-in-chief Rocco Castoro.

The metadata embedded in the photo reveals not only how it was taken with an iPhone 4S, but also where it was taken-- Guatemala, at Parque Nacional Rio Dulce. Near Ranchon Mary restaurant. By the pool.

McAfee map

Mind, McAfee claimed the he was actually not in Guatemala. In a second blog he says he actually "manipulated the xif data on the image" in order to hide his tracks. Sounds clever, right?

Vice also removed the GPS coordinates from the photo in question soon afterwards.

Too bad McAfee's claim was later revealed to be a lie.

In an even more bizarre twist, earlier last week news broke out on how McAfee was detained at the Belize-Mexico border-- but the McAfee blog says that actually a "double" (holding a North Korean passport under McAfee's name!) as part of an elaborate escape plan.

For those not in the know, John McAfee is on the run from Belizean authorities following the murder of his neighbour, American expatriate Gregory Faull. McAfee was long at odds with the local authorities, and was even accused of possessing unlicensed weapons and methamphetamine production back in May 2012.

Now McAfee and his lawyer plead for political asylum, even if the Guatemalan government might just ship him back to Belize for further questioning on the murder. After all, the spokesman for Guatemala's president told reporters "any citizen of any country must be expelled if they enter Guatemala illegally. This is what has occurred at this time. Because of this, he is in the custody of immigration, so they can conclude the administrative process, and then he will be expelled from the country."

Is McAfee's treck into the heart of darkness truly reaching an end? We might might glean further insight in the tale not only from the forthcoming the Vice documentary, but also a comic book, a collaboration between cartoonist Chad Essley and McAfee himself. Curious and... curiouser?

Go McAfee's Hasty, Secret Exit from Belize Ends in Guatemalan Detention (CNN)

Go We Are With John McAfee Right Now, Suckers (Vice Magazine)

Go John McAfee Blog

Go Wanted: McAfee Founder