McAfee says he won't return to Belize

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MIAMI, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. Internet security pioneer John McAfee proclaimed his innocence and said he won't return to Belize to answer questions about the slaying of a neighbor.

"I will not go back to Belize," he told CNBC's Squawk Box Friday. "I had nothing to do with the murder of Gregory Faull." Faull was found dead on an island off Belize's coast last month.

McAfee said he would answer questions in a "neutral country."

He also repeated his claim that dozens of Belize police attacked his property in April and that demands for bribes were what prompted him to flee Belize after Faull's death.

McAfee fled when Belize authorities sought to question him in the death. He spent three weeks on the lam before emerging in Guatemala Dec. 3. As Guatemalan authorities debated deporting him to Belize or the United States, McAfee became ill and was taken to a hospital -- a condition he told ABC News he faked to give a judge more time to stay his deportation to Belize.

Since he returned to the United States Wednesday, McAfee has conducted impromptu news conferences on the steps of his hotel in Miami.

Whether McAfee remains free in the United States or is returned to Belize likely will depend on whether he becomes a "person sought for prosecution," as stated in the U.S.-Belize extradition treaty with the Central American nation, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

While he hasn't reached that status, Bill Hing, an immigration lawyer and law professor at the University of San Francisco, said, "This guy is definitely not out of the woods."

No warrants had been issued for his arrest.