Maureen O'Gara

After being denied asylum in Guatemala, where he fled to escape Belize police seeking to question him about a murder, John McAfee, 67, the eccentric founder of the antivirus firm named after him, was rushed by ambulance to a hospital Thursday from the immigration detention center where he was being held ahead of deportation.

He reportedly suffered two mild heart attacks but was also not supposed to be responding to nurses after he was found by one of his lawyers or an AP reporter (accounts vary) – dressed in a suit – not his usual attire – on the floor of his cell unable to move or speak.

He previously told the AP he had chest pains overnight.

He was carried out on a stretcher wrapped in a blanket with his eyes shut.

A government doctor said that McAfee’s heart rhythm and blood pressure were normal and that he appeared to be suffering from stress.

His lawyers were reportedly trying to prevent his return to Belize.

He claims his life is in danger if he’s turned over to Belize police and has been on the run since his house was searched and his staff arrested. He has posted a $25,000 reward in connection with the shooting death of his neighbor, a fellow ex-pat.

A spokesman for the Belize government said, “There is more that we know about the investigation, but that remains part of the police work.”

McAfee claimed that Guatemala understood that Belize might be out to kill him. “Instead of going, ‘You're crazy,’ they go, ‘Yeah, of course they are,’” he said. “It’s like, finally, I understand people who understand the system here.”

An admittedly heavy drug user, McAfee claims he hasn’t taken anything since 1983. “I took drugs constantly, 24 hours of the day, I took them for years and years. I was the worst drug abuser on the planet,” McAfee said. “Then I finally went to Alcoholics Anonymous, and that was the end of it.”