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Calif murder case leads to possible germ war link Sunday, 30 April 2000 15:52 (ET)

Calif murder case leads to possible germ war link

LOS ANGELES, April 30 (UPI) - The intensive search of an Orange County medical researcher's home following the attempted murder of his partner, and his own subsequent suicide, appears to have hit pay dirt with the discovery of germs that may be linked to a biological warfare program run by the South African military.

Law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times that samples of cholera and salmonella germs have been found at the home of Dr. Larry C. Ford, who killed himself shortly after an unsuccessful attempt on the life of his business partner earlier this year.

Orange County authorities and federal agents descended on the Ford home in Irvine on March 1 in a full-scale search of the house and yard for hazardous materials. About 200 neighbors were evacuated as searchers unearthed buried canisters packed with guns and explosives, and hauled off dozens of jars of unidentified substances.

The precautions taken by the searchers led to speculation that investigators had expected to also find toxic materials.

The sources also said Ford had maintained some ties to the biological weapons program run by the South African military during the apartheid days, although the extent of the relationship is not yet known.

Cholera and salmonella have been used in research into potential germ warfare weapons. Salmonella can cause food poisoning while cholera, a highly contagious intestinal disease, can cause severe cases of diarrhea and is a consistent threat to refugee camps and other places where sanitation is limited.

The Times said that germs appeared to be old, but that some were still alive and sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for testing.

FBI officials were not available Sunday for comment on the investigation.

"Plague Wars," a new book on the history of biological warfare written by journalists Tom Mangold and Jeff Goldberg, says that South Africa's white government ran a low-key, but efficient biological warfare program during the 1970s against black rebel forces in neighboring Rhodesia. Cholera and other pathogens were used to contaminate water supplies around rebel camps.

Goldberg told United Press International on Sunday that prior to 1992, the head of the South African program, Dr. Wouter Basson, actively courted researchers around the world on the pretense of seeking help with defenses against biological attack when he was actually developing offensive weapons to use against South Africa's enemies.

"If Dr. Ford was working with Dr. Basson prior to 1992, that would require further serious investigation," Goldberg said. "There are not very many people in the United States who have live cholera germs stored in their refrigerators."

The Times said a former South African Defense Force surgeon general has confirmed that Ford was an "informal consultant" on defensive biological warfare matters.

A spokesman for Ford's pharmaceutical company, Biofem Inc., told the Times that the firm was not working with either of the germs, and that none of the company's laboratory materials should have been stored at Ford's home.

"Whatever he had at his home was just his," company lawyer Raymond Lee said, adding that Biofem was working on a new female contraceptive.

Ford was a partner in the venture with CEO James Patrick Riley, who was shot in the face by a masked gunman in the company's parking lot Feb. 28. Riley survived the brazen daylight attack, and a witness turned the license number of the getaway vehicle over to police. The vehicle was quickly traced to Dino D'Saachs, an Altadena businessman.

The extent of the link between D'Saachs and Ford is unclear, but investigators found evidence in D'Saach's home that he had been following Riley for some time.

Ford's attorney said at the time that Ford had once treated D'Saachs for an illness. Ford killed himself March 2 after a long meeting with his attorney at which time he said he feared he was going to be arrested. -- Copyright 2000 by United Press International. All rights reserved. --