You might already know John McAfee for the ubiquitous anti-virus software that bears his name. You may also know of his reputation as one of those millionaire-genius-but-completely-crazy types. You might also know about that whole accused-of-murdering-his-neighbor thing.
His reputation has preceded him this time as news has surfaced that McAfee lived with a harem of seven women while hiding out in Belize.
On his blog, he wrote out a brief introduction to the whole story. His tone sounded remarkably like Patrick Bateman of American Psycho — cool, calculated and utterly out of his mind. McAfee wrote that he lived with most of these women virtually full time to put in place a “socially engineered system.” We can only speculate as to what exactly that means, but we really hope he elaborates.
McAfee is notoriously paranoid, which is apparent even in the passage on his blog. “It was easier to keep tabs on someone’s actions if others were watching, or if a shared comaraderie [sic] encouraged the sharing of intimate secrets. All the girls told me the other girls’ secrets.” His favorites are obvious — Sam, whom he described as “like a chameleon,” and Amy, who is “less tolerant of human nature and people’s mistakes as Sam is.”
It’s unclear as to exactly what the “system” he tried to implement was to be for, and he was not explicit in what activities occurred at his Belizean home with the harem. He admitted openly to sharing his bed with all of the women at one point or another, and the pictures he provided lend a similar impression. He has separately referred to the harem as a “happy family,” which is simultaneously creepy and fascinating.
In a separate account (wherein he uses terms like “flesh peddler” … gross), McAfee described in more detail some of the details of the relationships between himself and the girls, and between the girls themselves. He mentions that at least one of the girls has brandished a knife at the others at least once, and threats of violence apparently came often. One girl in particular, Amber Smith, was said to have been an assassin. McAfee is known in some circles for his untruthfulness, so it’s unclear whether this (or many of these details, for that matter) are fact. McAfee has taken some heat for putting the girls in danger, even though he says that he’s working on getting visas to get them all out of the country.
McAfee is suspected of murdering his American neighbor in Belize. He’s guilty until proven innocent, but authorities found lots of (legal) weapons at his estate. McAfee said that he and the girls were accessing confidential government information, but again, the validity of this claim is unclear. Hopefully more details will be forthcoming.
What does this whole debacle make John McAfee? Flesh peddler? Murderer? Troubled genius? An eccentric with no grasp on reality? Call him what you will, this won’t be the last you hear of his story — he’s already signed away his life rights, and talks of a book and a movie detailing the events of his unconventional life are ongoing.