arizona police special response team srt guide

8/14/2019 Arizona Police Special Response Team SRT Guide

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SPECIAL RESPONSE

April 18, 2002

A Telecourse Production of the Arizona Peace Officer Standards & Training Board


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Table of Contents

Student Reference Guide Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i

Duplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iiAZ POST Board Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iiiTelecourse Advisory Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv-v

Program Outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-22

Performance Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

High Risk Stops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8

Pre-stop Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4

Removal of Suspect(s) from Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6

6Clearing the Suspect Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8

Emotionally Disturbed Persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-10

Dispatched Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Information about Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Humanistic Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Dont Rush to Judgement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Dont Personalize Subjects Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Potential Suicide By Cop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Be Creative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Officer Down Rescue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-12

Good Officer Safety Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Tactical Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Backup/cover Officers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Coordination of Rescue Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Cover Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Teamwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Active Shooter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-15

Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Traditional S.W.A.T. vs. Active Shooter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Concept and Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-15

Historical Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Weapons of Mass Destruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-22

Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Preparing for a WMD Incident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Four Phases of a WMD Incident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Law Enforcement Roles in a WMD Incident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-22

Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-68

Appendix A Ten Deadly Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Appendix B The Medicine Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-33

Appendix C Responder Awareness: Domestic Preparedness Training

Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction . . . . . . . . . . . 34-67


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PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES

After viewing this program and/or reviewing this reference guide, students will beable to:

* Identify and select procedures for high risk stops including pre-stop

procedures, removal of the suspect from the vehicle and clearing the

suspect vehicle

* Identify and utilize techniques to increase effectiveness in dealing with

emotionally disturbed persons

* Identify and utilize good officer safety tactics in conducting officer downrescues

* Identify the concepts and procedures involved in active shooter situations

and select appropriate tactics

* Identify the four phases of a Weapons of Mass Destruction incident and be

able to prepare and respond appropriately to an incident


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HIGH RISK STOPS

I. High Risk Stops

A. Pre-stop Procedures

1. Three components of Pre-Stop Procedures

a. Read the scene

(1) Officer should know the reason for the stop.

(2) Officer should continue observation of the

suspect vehicle and its occupants.

b. Communication

(1) Contact with radio is essential.

(2) Using individual departmental guidelines, officer

should initiate emergency radio procedures.

(3) Initial information received should be confirmed.

(4) Coordinate with responding backup units.

(5) Control the suspect(s) using appropriate force

and tactics.

(6) Wait for backup unit(s).

c. Make a plan

(1) Assess observations.

(2) Consider the environmental condition of the stop.

(3) Determine site selection.

(4) Determine equipment at hand.

(5) Identify escape routes of both officer(s) and the

suspect(s).


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2. If a traffic stop becomes a High Risk Stop:

a. Control the suspect(s) using appropriate force and

tactics.

b. Wait for backup unit(s).

3. It is recommended that one officer should not make High Risk

Stop without backup unit(s).

a. Until backup unit(s) arrive:

(1) Maintain observation.

(2) Continue to communicate.

(3) If forced to be in the kill zone, maintain cover

(the kill zone is the geographical area that a

suspect can control with hostile fire).

(4) If forced to make a high risk stop by alone, an

officer should follow agency procedures and/or

use of force guidelines.

4. Primary officer(s) responsibilities

a. Primary officer is designated at the scene by the

circumstances present.

b. Primary officer is responsible for overall control of the

scene.

c. Primary officer coordinates backup unit(s).

d. Primary officer verbally controls clearing of the suspect

vehicle.

5. Backup officer(s) responsibilities

a. The backup officer(s) main function is to support and

assist the primary officer as directed.

b. Covering the suspect vehicle.


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c. Securing and searching the suspect(s).

d. Physically clearing vehicle.

e. Gathering intelligence reference officer safety of vehicle.

f. Perimeter security needs are easier for the backup

officer(s) to assess and should be handled as personnel

resources allow.

6. If the suspect(s) initiates and uncontrollable attack

a. Use the appropriate force and tactics, which may include

a tactical retreat.

b. Take up a safe position of observation.

c. Continue to wait for backup unit(s).

7. If the suspect(s) initiates the stop

a. Use appropriate force and tactics, which may include a

tactical retreat.

b. A tactical retreat is a technique that enables the officer

to safely escape the kill zone, either in a vehicle or onfoot.

B. Removal of suspect(s) from the vehicle

1. Tactical considerations

a. During this phase of a high risk stop, it is extremely

important that the suspect(s) clearly hear and

understand the officers verbal commands.

b. Initially, the suspect(s) should be verbally controlled.

c. The driver should be told to remove the keys and place

them on the roof of the suspect vehicle.

(1) At night, have suspect turn dome/interior light ON.

(2) Consider having last visible suspect open trunk,

close trunk and leave keys in hole.


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d. The suspect(s) should be removed from the vehicle one

at a time and the officer will have the suspect(s) turn

completely around to check for weapons.

e. When conducting a High Risk Stop with children in the

suspect vehicle:

(1) Options are:

(a) Verbally bring back with adults.

(b) Leave in vehicle.

(c) Verbally bring back separately from adults.

f. If a suspect flees, dont pursue and dont break cover

(1) Make sure suspect does not flank position.

(2) Consider tactical retreat.

(3) Communicate and coordinate with backup

officer(s).

g. CONFIRM SUSPECT INFORMATION, IF APPROPRIATE,

RE-EVALUATE AND DE-ESCALATE WHILE MAINTAININGA TACTICAL ADVANTAGE.

h. If weapon is discovered, the officer may have a suspect

discard the weapon using appropriate tactical

techniques or the officer may elect to have the suspect

walk back with the weapon in the position it was

discovered and be disarmed by the officer, again using

appropriate tactical techniques.

i. The suspect is verbally directed back to the officer.

(1) Subject is ordered to drop to his/her knees one

knee at a time.

(2) If subject can, have him/her cross his/her ankles

or point his/her toes outward.


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(3) Have subject put his/her hands out to their side

like an airplane and then back toward primary

officers voice with palms up.

(4) After suspect is in this position, keep eyes on the

subject and:

(a) Holster weapon.

(b) Load cuffs.

(c) Break cover.

(d) Cuff suspect.

(5) Tactical handcuffing, contact and cuff technique

is implemented, maintaining good balance.

j. The suspect is stood up, guided back to the rear of the

patrol vehicle, patted down in accordance with

departmental policy, interviewed reference officer safety

issues and secured in the patrol vehicle.

(1) If probable cause to arrest exists, suspect(s) are

then thoroughly searched in accordance with

departmental policies.

k. After all visible suspect(s) are removed, issue a verbalchallenge to the vehicle.

l. If suspect(s) refuses to exit, treat as a barricade

suspect.

m. In the event of a shooting:

(1) Use appropriate force and tactics following

departmental guidelines.

(2) Re-assess and make a plan.

(3) Maintain control.

C. Clearing the suspect vehicle

1. This is one of the most difficult areas in terms of safety, as the

officer usually has less cover and more exposure to suspect(s)

hiding in vehicle.


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2. Options in clearing the suspect vehicle

a. Flanking maneuver

(1) The officer should use appropriate tactical

considerations when clearing/approaching

suspect vehicle.

(2) The last visible suspect to be removed may be

ordered to open all doors on either the right or left

side of the vehicle.

(3) The trunk is opened slowly by the last visible

suspect, then closed, leaving keys in key hole.

(4) The designated clearing officer approaches the

vehicle in a crouched position. Then the officer

uses slice the pie/pop and peak method tocheck the passenger compartment.

(5) Any additional occupants observed will be

removed as previously discussed; however, no

commands will be given until the clearing officer

has returned to a position of cover or the

suspect(s) may be controlled by the clearing

officer.

b. Direct approach

(1) If there is no response to the verbal challenge, the

designated clearing officer may move slowly

forward in a crouched position to the rear fender

area (preferably right side).

(2) If suspect(s) appear, move to cover repeat

removal.

(3) If either the trunk is open or there is movement in

the vehicle, the clearing officer should quickly

retreat to a position of cover.

(4) If the trunk is secure and no movement is

detected, the clearing officer will move in the

crouched position to right rear and right front

windows for a quick peek, by using the slice the

pie / pop and peek method, with his/her

weapon at the ready position.


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(5) Any additional occupants observed will be

removed as previously discussed; however, no

commands will be given until the clearing officer

has returned to a position of cover or the

suspect(s) may be controlled by the clearing

officer.

3. Clearing the trunk

a. The trunk needs to be cleared after the interior is

cleared.

b. Use appropriate officer safety tactics. Avoid noise,

cross fire, etc.

(1) Officer same side

(2) Officer opposite side

4. Points of concern

a. Officers may use a mirror to aid in looking into a suspect

vehicle.

b. Proper flashlight techniques should be used.

c. Proper weapons control by ALL officers is essential.

d. Proper vehicle search techniques must be used.

e. Consider using a distraction when sending an office

forward on foot.

f. Use of special vehicles.

g. Having suspect open the trunk, then re-secure. Leave

keys in keyhole.

h. Last visible suspect exiting the vehicle open all doors on

the side he/she exits.

i. An officer should not use a suspect as a shield.

j. Consider curtains, cabinets, armor plating and heavy

wall construction on the vehicle.


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EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED PERSONS

I. Emotionally disturbed persons

A. Listen carefully to dispatched information for subtle clues.

1. Pick up on any information that may indicate that this call maynot be a call for service relating to a criminal act, but a call for

help from a significant other.

2. Request communications personnel to query the caller, if still

on the phone, for further information and clarification of the

subjects condition(s) and actions.

B. Upon arrival, listen closely to what the involved person is telling

about what is happening with the subject.

1. What does the involved person really want? Are they wanting

a criminal act addressed or are they asking for help for the

subject?

C. Ask the involved person for information on the subjects condition.

1. Do not be reluctant to ask about the subjects mental

condition.

2. Is the subject currently under medical care?

3. Is the subject taking any medication?

4. Have there ever been any prior incidences requiring law

enforcement involvement?

5. What has occurred to instigate this incident?

6. What pulls this persons string, positively and negatively?

D. Take a humanistic approach with the subject while still maintaining

good officer safety.

1. Speak to the subject, not at the subject.

2. Remain calm, in tone of voice and in actions.


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3. Reassure the subject by saying Im here to help you. I dont

want to hurt you.

4. Solicit his/her suggestions as to how this situation can be

resolved peaceably.

5. Insure that the subject knows that the officer(s) will not leave

until the situation is resolved.

6. Determine, if possible, what the subject wants or needs.

E. Do not rush to judgement.

1. Maintain awareness of criminal conduct.

2. Address personal needs.

3. Do not be a Joe Friday.

4. Do not be afraid to allow the subject to vent; let him/her talk.

Officer safety must, of course, be maintained.

F. Do not personalize the subjects actions.

1. Remain objective.

2. Do not allow the situation to evolve into me against him/her.

3. Do not become argumentative.

4. Deal with tangibles.

G. Be aware of the subjects possible desire for Suicide by Cop

1. Use every effort to de-escalate the situation.

2. Keep all non-lethal options open.

H. Be creative

1. Do whatever it takes to resolve the situation peaceably.

2. Do not be tied into meeting deadlines.

3. Do not make promises which cannot be fulfilled.

4. Explore the use of outside options/resources.


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OFFICER DOWN RESCUE

I. Officer Down Rescue

A. Practice good officer safety tactics in all situations.

1. Avoid committing the 10 Deadly errors(see Appendix A)

2. Good tactics will reduce the possibility of an officer-down

rescue.

B. Make tactical approaches to situations.

1. Evaluate cover/concealment options.

2. Consider possible escape routes

C. Backup/cover officers need to avoid becoming part of the problem

1. Avoid the kill zone

2. Primary role is coordinating rescue while protecting the victim

officer.

D. Communication

1. The backup officer is the primary source of information and

must organize the response of the rescue team.

E. Coordination of the rescue team

1. Determine number of people needed.

2. Determine the roles of the team members.

a. Designated shooters (shoulder weapons preferred)

b. Rescuers (minimum of two)

(1) Approach with handguns or shoulder weapons

with slings to allow both hands free

c. Shield officer (if ballistic shield is available)


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F. Cover fire

1. Deploy as necessary to minimize suspect threat during the

rescue.

2. Provide protection for rescuing officers and victim officer in

the kill zone.

G. Teamwork

1. Communicate direction of approach and escape.

2. Identify threat areas to be covered.

3. Choreograph approach to maximize protection of rescuers.

4. Maintain individual responsibilities.

H. Equipment - agency and officer considerations

1. Protective vests (mandatory)

2. Ballistic helmets

3. Ballistic shield

4. Shoulder weapons with extended magazine capacities to

provide sustained cover fire if needed.

I. Training

1. Practice as a team

2. Consider S.W.A.T./ abortion of rescue


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ACTIVE SHOOTER

I. Definition

A. Active shooter (extreme emergency)

1. Shooting is occurring while officers are on the scene.

B. Immediate deployment

1. Officers are responding immediately to neutralize the threat.

2. Officers use the direct to threat concept

II. Difference between traditional S.W.A.T. and Active Shooter

A. In the active shooter situation, there is not enough time for S.W.A.T.to respond.

1. The entry team is made up of first responders to the scene,

which can include patrol officers, motor officers, school

resource officers, administrative personnel or anyone else who

is closest to the scene.

III. Not a substitute for standard tactics/procedures

A. An active shooter situation is an extreme situation calling for unusualor extreme tactics, which are not used in the vast majority of police

work.

IV. Concept and Procedures

A. Mission

1. Neutralize threat(s) is the primary mission

2. Containment

3. Rescue victims

a. Weight the odds of success. This is NOT a suicide

mission, but there are extreme risks. Someone is going

to get hurt.


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4. Concept - Contact and Rescue Team

a. Contact Team

(1) Seeks/finds/ neutralizes threat(s) by going directly

to the active shooting. The contact team

continues even if an officer is downed by gunfire

or other events.

(2) Made up of 4-5 officers

(a) Equipment (long guns, helmets, battering

ram, extra ammunition, etc.)

(b) Preferably have had training in active

shooter situations

(c) Use tactics and formations such asDiamond wedge, Stack and others.

(d) The attitude is bring the offense to the

suspect.

(3) The officers mus possess an all or nothing

attitude or the situation could transition to a

hostage/barricade.

b. Rescue team

(1) The size depends on the situation and the

personnel available.

(2) Some agencies choose not to put in rescue teams

unless absolutely needed.

(3) The rescue team follows behind the contact team,

pulling victims out and taking them to the first aid

area.

5. Both teams will be communicating progress to the Incident

Commander who should be in place by now.

6. Both teams should be reporting downed victims, explosives

and/or fortifications.


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7. The contact team must not break off once the engagement has

been made with the active shooter(s) until all threats have been

neutralized.

V. Historical examples

A. Tower of Texas 1966

B. San Ysidro 1984

C. North Hollywood, California 1997

D. Columbine High School


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WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

I. Definition

A. Any destructive device that is intended to cause death or serious

bodily injury to a large number of people through the release,

dissemination or impact of:

1. Toxic or poisonous chemical or their precursors

2. Disease causing organisms

3. Radiation or radioactivity

4. Conventional explosives sufficient for wide-spread lethality

II. Preparing for a WMD incident

A. Size up potential targets in city/beat

1. Government agencies

2. Industrial facilities

3. Places of public assembly

4. Infrastructure facilities

a. Communications

b. Power

c. Transportation

5. Enclosed spaces regularly occupied by large numbers of

people

B. Become familiar with potential sites


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III. Four phases of a WMD incident

A. Notification

1. Begins with the notification that an incident has occurred and

continues until the first emergency responders arrive and take

appropriate steps to begin site management.

2. Anyone may make notification.

3. During this phase, gather information

a. Location of incident

b. Wind direction

4. Establish site security and begin to restrict movement to the

downwind vapor hazard zone.

B. Response phase

1. Begins with initial site management and ends with the

evacuation of the last living casualty away from the hazard.

2. Includes such actions as rescue, agent identification, evidence

collection, searches for secondary devices and perpetrators

C. Recovery phase

1. Begins with the last of the living casualties being evacuated

and concludes with the end of the survey of the area for agent

contamination

2. The focus is on re-establishing essential services that the

attack may have interrupted.

3. State and federal responders may arrive to provide assistance.

D. Restoration Phase

1. Emphasis will be on restoration of the site to its original state

with emphasis on safety.


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IV. Law enforcement roles in a WMD

A. General role of law enforcement

1. Same as for any crisis management or crime scene incident

2. Due to the nature of incident, may not be able to perform some

of the normal tasks.

3. Imperative that officers always operate within their level of

training, protective equipment and department policy when

dealing with WMD response and investigation.

4. The evidence of a WMD may not be readily apparent to first

responders.

5. Although the Federal Bureau of Investigation has primary

jurisdiction over domestic terrorism to include WMD, the initialresponse falls to local law enforcement and public safety

agencies.

6. Some of the key challenges facing law enforcement are:

a. Size of the initial perimeter

b. Operating in personnel protective equipment

c. Processing a contaminated crime scene

B. Specific law enforcement roles

1. Traffic and crowd control on the outer perimeter

2. Crowd control in the decontamination area

3. Security

a. Site access

b. Responders and victims

c. Law enforcement/fire service hesitative equipment


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d. Evidence

e. Critical off-site facilities

(1) Medical facilities

(2) Command control centers

(3) Locations with links to the theme of the initial

attack

f. Crime scene processing

g. Evidence collection

h. Witness interviews

i. Multi-agency communications

j. Long-term site security

k. Tactical resolution, if necessary

l. Render-safe of an improvised WMD device, if

appropriate

C. Law enforcement response - patrol

1. Recognize the danger and protect yourself

a. Avoid temptation to take action

2. Look for WMD indicators - dont become a victim

a. Stop, look and listen.

b. Resist the urge to rush in.

c. Approach from upwind.

d. Stay clear of spills, vapor and smoke.

e. Be mindful of enclosed spaces.


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f. Do not enter contaminated areas.

g. Consider clues provided by the dispatcher:

(1) Multiple victims

(2) Acute signs and symptoms displayed by victims

(3) Evidence of WMD attack present

(4) Delivery device present

3. Observe the incident from a safe upwind/up ground position

before approaching.

4. Be aware of the possibility of a secondary device designed to

inflict casualties on first response personnel.

5. Do not approach the scene unless equipped with proper

protective equipment (PPE).

a. PPE recommended for law enforcement officers

operating on the perimeter of a WMD consists of a level

C, Tyvek-type or charcoal-lined full body chemical suit,

full face negative pressure respirator, over boots and

butyl gloves with police gear worn over the protective

suit.

6. Notify communications of incident status - what do you see?

7. Note weather and wind conditions to facilitate safe response

for additional units.

8. Establish liaison with the fire service command on support

requirements, personnel protective equipment requirements

and their exclusion zones

9. Direct all ambulatory casualties to an upwind/up location.

10. Isolate all ambulatory casualties.

11. Establish incident command

12. Establish control perimeters - only essential personnel.


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13. Notify dispatch of safe approach units for responding

personnel.

14. Control additional responding units - establish safe staging

area 2,000 to 4,000 feet from incident location.

15. Call for specialized assistance - Explosives, S.W.A.T., HazMat,

Intelligence, Investigation

D. Law enforcement response - specialized units

1. While the initial response will be from the patrol force,

additional law enforcement assets are available to assist in the

crisis incident response.

2. These may be present in your agency or available through

mutual aid response.

3. Explosive/HazMat

a. Establish communications with Patrol and Fire

command.

b. Establish Explosive unit staging area for personnel and

equipment.

c. Identify appropriate PPE needed for hazards.

d. Conduct reconnaissance of the area in protective

clothing.

e. Render safe procedures for WMD delivery or

conventional explosive devices.

4. Tactical

a. Provide tactical security for on-going field operations.

b. Provide tactical resolution option, if necessary.

c. Provide support for operations within the hot and

warm zones.


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5. Intelligence

a. Identify possible motive for attack.

b. Identify group or suspect involved.

c. Identify additional targets.

d. Coordinate with the investigative function.

6. Investigation

a. Witness interviews

b. Suspect interrogations.

c. Criminal investigation support for the FBI

(See Appendix B and Appendix C for further information on Weapons of Mass

Destruction)


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APPENDIX A

An examination of deaths and injuries of officers while on duty has revealed some

common mistakes being made by officers. Pierce Brooks, in his book, Officer

Down, Code Three, defined these errors.

1. Failure to maintain proficiency and care of weapon, vehicle and equipment.

2. Improper search and use of handcuffs.

3. Sleepy or asleep.

4. Relaxing too soon.

5. Missing or not receiving danger signs.

6. Taking a bad position.

7. Failure to watch the subjects hands.

8. Tombstone courage.

9. Preoccupation (worrying about other problems).

10. Apathy.


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APPENDIX B

The Medicine Man

By Edward Humes

Reprinted with permission of author from Los Angeles magazine, July 2001

About the Author:

Edward Humes is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the author of six books, including MeanJustice, No Matter How Loud I Shout: A Year in the Life of Juvenile Court, and his latest, Baby E.R.- The Heroic Doctors and Nurses Who Perform Medicines Tiniest Miracles.

LARRY FORD WAS A BRILLIANT SCIENTISTBENT ON SAVING THE WORLD FROMDISEASE AND MISERY BUT IT WASNT THEIRVINE DOCTORS LAB WORK THAT SPAREDTHE MOST LIVES, IT WAS HIS SUICIDE.

The meeting at the Beverly Hills Mansion of theSouth African trade attach was unusuallysecretive, but Peter Fitzpatrick still managed towitness it, peering from an adjacent roomthrough a massive shared fireplace. Hewatched as Niel Knobel, deputy surgeongeneral of South Africa- the whit-ruled,apartheid South Africa of 1986-met Larry Ford,

a noted Los Angeles gynecologist andinfectious disease specialist with an unofficialspecialty: biological and chemical warfare.

The two spoke in hushed tones, then Ford, adevout Mormon who volunteered his servicesto missionaries and Boy Scout troops, passedover a hefty black satchel. The meeting cameto a close.

Later Fitzpatrick sat down with the boisteroustrade attach, Gideon Bouwer, who could notresist explaining in his thick Afrikaans accent

what had just happened.

The white minority government of South Africawas in those years locked in a bloody strugglewith its black citizens, willing to do anything tostay in power. Bouwers role was to thwart theU.S. trade embargo on technology and

expertise coveted by the apartheid regime;Fitzpatrick, a young actor, glib and personable,was part of Bouwers informal embargo-busting team, making sure the parties at themansion were well attended by the well-connected.

Larry Ford was a regular at those gatherings,and the technology he handed over that day,Bouwer chortled, could prove invaluable; asampler of virulent, designer strains of cholera,anthrax, botulism, plague, and malaria, as wellas a bacteria he claimed had been mutated tobe pigment specific. Kaffer-killing germs,

Bouwer confided, using the derogatoryAfrikaans term for blacks. Dr. Ford has donemy country a great service.

Fitzpatrick clinked glasses with Bouwer andleft, then called his handler at the FBI, where heserved as one of two informants planted atSouth Africas Los Angeles consulate. He toldthe FBI everything, yet, he says, nothing wasdone. According to Fitzpatrick, the deputysurgeon general flew off with his suitcase full ofdeath. Why didnt you stop him? he laterasked his handler. The agent just stared at

him.

Fifteen years passed. Apartheid was dead.The FBI had long since lost interest in its oldinformant, and Peter Fitzpatrick was sitting onhis couch talking with his wife, the televisionset muted as the evening news flashed by.


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Then something on the screen caught his eye;a grainy photo of a jut-jawed, narrow-eyed,round-shouldered man he hadnt seen inyearsDr. Larry Ford. He turned up the volumeand heard a reporter explain how Ford, co-owner of and up-and-coming biotech firm, hadbecome a prime suspect in the attemptedmurder of his business partner. That stunnedFitzpatrick, but what had him scrambling to his

feet and reaching for the phone were theimages that followed Fords photo: policemens e a r c h i n g t h e d o c t o r s I r v i n ehomeunprotected.

Oh my God, they have no idea what theyregetting into, Fitzpatrick exclaimed. It all cameback to him then: Fords talk of bio-weaponsand booby traps, his hoard of guns andexplosives, not to mention the doctors claim ofdoing dirty work for the CIAstories Fitzpatrickhad once dismissed as a nerds Walter Mittyfantasies until he noted the FBIs hands-offpolicy with the suitcase of germs. Ive got towarn them, he told his wife.

So for the first time in many years, Fitzpatrickcalled the FBI. And once again, no one thereseemed interested in what he had to say.

When a masked assassin put a bullet intoJames Patrick Rileys head in front of his officeon February 28, 2000, the case at first unfoldedas a classic story of greed and envy; acorporate power struggle between Riley, the

voluble CEO and marketing whiz, and hispartner, Dr. Larry Ford, the visionary with bigideas and the scientific skills to carry them out.

Ford was working on a combinationcontraceptive and microbicide he and Rileynamed Inner Confidence, a suppository thatpromised not only to revolutionize birth controlbut also prevent HIV infection, AIDS, andalmost every other sexually transmitteddisease. Ford liked to say they were going tosave the worldand get rich in the process.Their Irvine company, Biofem, Inc., could

capture annual sales worth some $400 million,Riley told investors. The profits, in turn, wouldfund Fords true passion fo the past 12 years,a secret Biofem project to develop asuperantibiotic from what he calledUnidentified Amniotic Fluid Substance. Hebelieved it was natures way of protecting

embryos from disease, the reason HIV negativebabies can be born to HIV positive mothers.Ford hoped to synthesize the substance,saving countless lives, and earning him a NobelPrize along the way.

But Ford had come to resent his decade-longpartnership with Riley, who had final say inevery Biofem decision and who had the

physician bound to a contract sosweepinggiving him a 50 percent share of anyidea or product Ford might conceivethat onelawyer likened it to indentured servitude. Theagreement snuffed out Fords attempts to makelucrative outside deals, an so, police andprosecutors have alleged, he decided Riley hadto die.

Riley had just emerged from his blue Audi andwas walking to Biofems offices on a Mondaymorning when the gunman approached andfired. A chance turning of the businessmanshead sent the bullet through his left cheekinstead of his brain. I have no doubt I wouldbe dead if not for that, Riley said recently, afaint, nickel-sized scar marking the bulletspoint of entry. After crumpling to the hotasphalt, he staggered back to his feet, bloodgushing, pulled out his cell phone, and calledthe one person he knew could helphis friendand partner, Dr. Larry Ford. The doctor ranoutside and applied pressure to the gapinghole in the side of the CEOs face as theywaited for an ambulance.

Within three days, however, Rileys savior hadbecome a prime suspect. After the first ofseveral searches of his housewhich turned uponly documentsthe 49-year-old gynecologistmet for five hours with his lawyer, scribblingnotes throughout the discussion. Then hereturned home and retreated to his bedroom,where he carefully laid out a selection offirearms from his collection. He put a double-barreled shotgun in his mouth and pulled bothtriggers. His wife, Diane, heard the blast andthe thump of his body on the floor and knew;

she called the lawyer and the police withoutgoing up to see her husband. The authoritiesfound beside him a rambling, nearly ineligiblefive-page notewhat he had been writing in thelawyers officeprotesting his innocence. Hehad six different anti-depressants in hissystem.


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The Biofem case might have made the backburner then and there had Irvine policedetective Victor Ray quit when his departmentand the FBI warned him to. But Ray, a formersonar technician on navy submarines, a jobthat requires patience and persistence, wouldnot give up. He steered the investigation toFords backyard, where men in AndromedaStrain suits would evacuate a neighborhood

and haul away an arsenal of toxins, germs,plastic explosives, and guns. In the process,they unearthed a trail that stretched all the wayfrom the CIA to the apartheid-era South Africaand Dr. Wouter Basson, the man who ran thecountrys clandestine bioweapons program.

The question still plaguing federal, state, andlocal investigators is a simple but urgent one:What was Ford planning to do with his germsand bioweapons expertise? The discovery ofmilitia-movement and racist literature amongFords papers has raised the possibility that heoffered his biological or chemical weapons toterrorist groups. Concerns have also mountedover a patented feature of his Inner Confidencesuppository; the microencapsulation ofbeneficial bacteria. It turns out thisarchitecture could double as an ideal deliverysystem for bioweapons, allowing otherwisefragile disease organisms to be seeded virtuallyanywhere. Ford, in essence, had patented theprescription for a perfect microscopic timebomb.

That, says Ray, scares the hell out ofeveryone.

One of Larry Fords favorite stories abouthimself dated back to his teenage years, afterhe won first place in the International ScienceFair in 1966 for his studies of radiationexposure. Awards from the Atomic EnergyCommission and the defense departmentfollowed. Next came an invitation to continuehis research in a government laboratory.

So there was young Larry in his buzz cut,

canvas low-tops, and high-water pants in amilitary lab back east, starting a new set ofexperiments. He was giddy about the turn hislife had takenuntil he walked in one morningand found that, overnight, he had accidentallykilled every lab animal in the facility.

I thought I was in for it then, that I would bewashing dishes the rest of my life, Ford wouldsay, But when the general called me in, all heasked was Can you do it again? Ford did itagain, and a long-standing affiliation with thegovernment had begun.

The invitation to work in the governmentlaboratory had come from a man Ford identified

only as General Wyman. He liked to showpeople a framed photo of the general andhimself (with Ford in an army uniform, thoughrecords show he was never in the military).This offer to an 18-year-old about to entercollege did not seem all that unusual to Ford orhis blue-collar parents. He had, after all,earned lab privileges at Brigham YoungUniversity in his hometown of Provo, Utah, atage 12, according to Riley.

Ford told the Rileys and others his subsequentwork for the military and the CIA includedresearch on biological and chemical weapons,consulting on Iraqi capabilities during the GulfWar, an sneaking into epidemic hot zones inAfrica to gather samples of such killerorganisms as the Ebola and Marburg virueses.

Victor Ray, a compact man with thinning hairwho has been on the Irvine police force for tenyears, initially discounted most of Fords claimsas the nutty imaginings of an unbalancedgenius. Its not that Ray hadnt handledunusual cases in the past. He was the

detective assigned to the headline-grabbingcase in which an evil twin allegedly plotted tomurder her sister and take over her life.

But the bungled attempt on Rileys lifesuggested something far more mundane, andquite a bit less, than the work of a CIA-trainedoperative. Almost any other time and place fora hit would have been better than the crowdedcommercial parking lot in front of Biofemsoffices in the Irvine Spectrum, which sitswedged in the busy golden triangle wherethe Santa Ana and San Diego freeways merge.

An experienced hit man might have simplypulled up next to Rileys car in an isolatedlocation and opened fire on a caged target, Raysuggests. This guy, in his black clothes andmask, waited in a public place at ten in themorning for Riley to get out of his car, thenshot him with a $70 Russian-made


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semiautomatic known for jamming, whichprobably explains why only one round wasfired.

The hit man, described by witnesses as a slimand athletic man with blond hair peeking out ofhis ski mask, sprinted across the office plazabrandishing his gun, running directly in front ofthe Spectrum Bank branch below Biofems

second-floor suite. Suspecting a robbery, bankemployees locked their doors and watched theman jump through a door of a silver Aerostarvan.

Police traced the plates and the van to an oldfriend of Fords with a violent past. DinoDSaach, who was arrested that night as thegetaway driver and has since been convicted ofattempted murder and conspiracy, crimescarrying a mandatory 26-year sentence. Hiscell phone records showed him talking to Fordimmediately before and after the hit from a celllocation near Biofem. (Biofems receptionistremembers seeing Ford on the phone at hisoffice window just before the shooting with aperfect view of Rileys parking space.) Policefound private Biofem correspondence faxedfrom Ford to DSaachs South-Central LosAngeles tax preparation business, along withhit-man manuals, photos of Rileys parkingspot, and a crude homemade silencer.

If the crime wasnt enough to reject the CIAstories, Ray figured, there was Ford himself.

Disheveled and disorganized, known for hispainful lack of conversational skills (He couldlight up a room by just leaving, Fitzpatricksays.), Ford came off as both a brilliantresearcher and childish eccentric. The onlyshoes he ever wore were black Converse All-Stars, no matter what the occasion, and hewas known to skip through the hospitalhallways, pepper his speech with expressionslike yipee and okeydokey, and issueprescriptions with a trademark clich, Betterliving through chemistry!

None of his friends or family, not even Riley,sitting in a hospital bed with his face a swollenpumpkin, thought Ford capable of murderinganyone. His wife and three college-agechildrenwho declined to be interviewed forthis articlesaw only a devoted family manwhose worst sin was a fondness for diet

cola, a violation of Morman prohibitions againstimbibing caffeine.

Everyone who knows him knows who hereally was, Fords eldest son, Larry Jr. toldthe Desert News in Utah shortly after thesuicide. He was the most loving, giving, loyalperson, Larry Jr. suggested that his fatherkilled himself not out of guilt but out of love,

because he wanted to protect his family fromwhat was eventually coming.

Ford graduated magna cum laude from BYU,published more than 65 articles, held numerouspatents in medicine and biochemistry, had aninternational ob-gyn award named for him, andbuilt a patient list that included doctors and asmattering of celebrities (although one, the lateMargaux Hemmingway, overdosed onbarbiturates Ford provided).

Look at his background, says Dr. HunterHammill, an associate clinical professor atBaylor College of Medicine and a Biofemconsultant, who served his medical residencywith Ford at UCLA. He was the chief resident.He was good. He was so bright, youd ask himabout a compound, he could describe for youthe whole formula, how to build it, itsstructurehe had it memorized. He was thegolden boy.

But during his residency there was at least ahint that all was not quite right in Fords life.

One night in a campus parking lot in 1978, agunman opened fire on him. He let off fiverounds, though only one struck Ford square inthe chest. He was saved by several cassettetapes he had stuffed into his breast pocket,just enough to deflect the small-caliber bullet,leaving only a bruise over his heart. There hadbeen no robbery attempt. The doctor wasevasive when questioned by police, and no onewas ever arrested.

Only after Fords suicide did informants start

coming forward. Ray began hearing about anentirely different Larry Ford, a man whocheated on his wife, betrayed his partner, andbred supergerms and was willing to use them.This was the Larry Ford who formed a closebond with Dr. Jerry D. Nilsson, a giftedAnaheim general surgeon with extreme views


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and a penchant for trouble that quickly madehim a suspect in the Riley shooting. Nilsson,who boasted of having worked as a specialforces physician for the white minoritygovernment of Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe,appears to have kindled Fords interest insupporting apartheid. At the time of Fordssuicide, Nilsson was in the process of losinghis license for sexual misconduct with patients,

one of them a 14-year old who allegedlybecame his lover for the next 15 years.

Whenever the two doctors were together, itwas the charismatic Nilsson who made themost lasting impression. Now 72, the surgeonwas a formidable presence even in late middleage. Tom Bryon worked with Fitzpatrick as anFBI informant in the South African Consulate inthe 1980's and spent time with both doctors.He describes Nilsson as the monster withmiracle hands, a towering figure with a shavedheadJesse Ventura as a skilled surgeon. Hewas very fit, very muscular, the kind of guywho could knock you out with one punch, Byron says. He told me, Ive killed people inmy lifetime, and I have no qualms about killingagain. I would nevercross that man. Nillsonwas not available for comment.

Nilsson had long worked with Ford to amassbiological and chemical weapons, and bothdoctors stored them openly in their homes, hisex-lover told the FBI. She sued Nilsson andwon a confidential settlement after accusing

him of performing unnecessary surgeries onher, including cosmetic enhancement, withouther permission. She was also treated by Fordand was one of several former patients whotold Ray that the gynecologist used them as labrats, deliberately making them ill in order totest his remedies. If taking a life advancesscientific knowledge, Ford would tell her, thesacrifice is well worth it.

The detective spoke with a Los Angeles gun-shop manager, a longtime friend of Fords, whodeveloped a complex of rare diseases, among

them a chronic lung and immune systemdisease, sarcoidosis, that is extremelyuncommon in every racial group but one:African-Americans. The man is white, and he isconvinced Ford had a hand in his ailment.There was one woman with cervical cancerwhom Ford treated with an experimental drug

that didnt work; she later required emergencysurgery to save her life. Other women, Raylearned, had been given prototypes of InnerConfidence that were never intended for humanuse. All of them fell ill with a variety of vaginalinfections, he says.

Riley was told there was no product, that itwas still being developed, but I have one sitting

in my office that Ford gave to a patient, Raysays. He was experimenting.

More people came forward. A former businessassociate of Fords said that when a mistressbroke up with Ford in the early 1980's, thedoctor vowed to infect her with an alphabug, promising she will never be healthy ornormal again. Authorities talked to thewoman and learned that she suffered from amysterious and incurable malady that hascaused debilitating vertigo for the past 14years. Shes undergone two brain surgeriesjust to ease the symptoms. At least one otherwoman, who maintains that Ford drugged heragainst her will during a business lunch, hasreported similar problems with chronic vertigoand complained of symptoms that resembleGulf War Syndrome, except she was no wherenear the war.

State and county health officials, with help fromthe Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta,interviewed many of these patients, but theirinvestigation was limited to whether there was

a public health risk, such as the threat of anepidemic. They found none and closed theirinquiry, though the FBI still makes a point toask former patients of Fords if they were everunconscious in his presence, something thecomplaining patients all have in common.

We started to realize there was a lot more toDr. Ford than we had first thought, says Ray.It began to look like there might be somethingto the stories he told, and that the attempt onMr. Rileys life was just the top of the iceberg.

In 1997 Fords long association with UCLA, theschool where he had been a clinical professorand director of research for the Center forOvarian Cancer, abruptly ended. He had beencaught disposing of blood samples in a trashcan in the middle of a chemistry lab instead oftaking the biohazard precautions required by


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the university. Later he was spotted scrapingpetri dishes into a toilet, another health hazard.The school asked him to vacate the lab andnever come back, according to RickGreenwood, director of UCLAs Office ofEnvironment, Health, and Safety.

Greenwood, who knew Ford in graduateschool, describes him as an arrogant, single-

minded know-it-all incapable of admittingmistakes, as when he accidentally killed tworabbits while trying to extract blood from them,then insisted that it was the animals fault.

A biochemist who worked with Ford at bothUCLA and Biofem says Ford also fakedresearch resultswhat the science communitycalls dry-labbingI could never replicate hisresults when I would repeat his procedures,he says. To be associated with Ford now, heexplains, would be professional suicide, and heis unwilling to be identified in this article. Thesloppiness was unbelievable. His techniquewas awful. I ended up deciding I didnt wantanything to do with him.

One of the most chilling stories Ray heardcame from the owner of ChantalPharmaceuticals of Los Angeles, a companythat developed an antiwrinkle cream withFords help. She told the FBI that Ford, angrywith one of her partners, went into the mansoffice carrying a cardboard box with a rabbitinside. He put the box on the mans desk,

pulled on latex gloves, removed a syringe fromhis pocket, and squirted two drops of a viscousamber liquid onto the rabbits shoulder. Itimmediately convulsed an died, blood pouringout of its nose and ears. Ford, never utteringa word, turned and left, the box still sitting onthe desk.

Ray got confirmation of the Doctorsgovernment ties three days after the case wasopened and a few hours after Fords suicide.He had picked up Valerie Kesler, Fordsresearch assistant at Biofem, for questioning.

She met Ford while an undergrad at UCLA andthe two had been lovers for most of the past 18years. The night of the shooting, she spenthours deleting Fords files from Biofemcomputers, according to James Rileys wife,Pam, who is the companys business manager.(Keslers attorney, John Kremer, says that any

files that may have been deleted had nothing todo with the shooting.)

Kesler denied knowing anything about theattempt on Rileys life. Later, however, herlawyer suggested officers exercise cautionopening a gym bag in the trunk of her car,which Ray had impounded. Kesler had told herattorney that it might contain firearms and a

knife dipped in ricin, a deadly toxin synthesizedfrom castor beans. A drop in the bloodstreamwas all it took to kill. Ray and his superiorscalled in the FBI, whose Weapons of MassDestruction Response Team is charged withdealing with biological and chemical threats.

According to Ray, the agent in charge of theteam mocked the notion that Ford wasconnected to bioweapons research and theCIA. But with Ray insisting that the informationseemed good, that it matched other accounts,the agent agreed to contact the FBI liaison tothe intelligence agency. In about ten minutes acall came back: The CIA knew of Ford.

The CIA knows a lot of people, the agentlaughed. They probably know mygrandmother. But ten minutes later the liaisoncalled again and said there was highconfidence that Ford had biological- andchemical-weapons knowledge and did, in fact,have the capability to coat the knife with adeadly toxin. Shortly after that a third callcame in: Ford did work for the CIA, the

chastened FBI official told the room full ofcops.

There was no more laughing after that. Themen in space suits took over. Searchers foundan Uzi and another illegal firearm in the gymbag; the knife was plunged intodecontaminating fluid before it could be tested,which allowed authorities to make the calmingannouncement that they had found nodangerous substances in the car. But a jar ofricin turned up later in Fords home.

While this drama unfolded in Irvine, PeterFitzpatrick was trying to get through tosomeone, anyone, at the FBI who would listento his recollections of Fords involvement withbiowarfare in South Africa. No one wasavailable, so he went to the FBIs bureau inWest L.A., where he was turned away by the


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receptionist. Basically, say Fitzpatrick, theysaid they didnt know who the hell I was andthat I should go. Next he called the OrangeCounty District Attorneys Office and asked forthe prosecutor assigned to the Ford case, butended up trapped in voice mail. He left anexasperated message, then hung up.

The next day, to Fitzpatricks surprise, two FBI

agents met a length with him to discuss hisinformation about Ford, bioweapons, andSouth African surveillance. Then two thingshappened; First, the weapons team showed upto do another high-risk search and excavationof Fords home. They uncovered nearly ahundred firearms, most of them shotguns andrifles, 17 of them illegal automatic orsemiautomatic weapons, including four Uzis, anM16, and a gangster-era Thompson machinegun.

Ford had stowed the illegal weapons in sixlarge plastic cylinders buried in his backyard,along with thousands of rounds ofammunitionsomething his family apparentlydid not consider unusual, though they wereunaware that one canister contained a largesupply of the powerful military explosive C-4.The plastic explosives were packed withblasting caps dangerously close to electricalwires. Some 52 homes and several hundredpeople had to be evacuated to the HyattRegency for three days (it was, after all,Irvineno Red Cross sleeping bags in the

school gym for this crowd).

At the same time, Detective Ray expressedinterest in talking to Fitzpatrick and Byron inorder to explore the South African angle, buthe and his partner were forbidden to do so bythe bureau and forbidden to come near Fordshouse. Their department pulled the reins eventighter. They thought we were crazy, wewere imagining things, Ray says, They saidwe had been working too long without sleep.It stunk. But we were off the case.

Now a clerical worker for a Beverly Hills lawfirm and an aspiring screen writer, PeterFitzpatrick was a television and stage actor inthe mid 1980's when he struck up a friendshipwith Gideon Bouwer, the South African tradeattach in Los Angeles. He had written Bouwerasking for his help financing a hearing aid that

Tom Byron, an out-of-work engineer friend,had thought up. The attach, always in themarket for any piece of new technology tosqueeze past the trade embargo, agreed tomeet them.

Early into the meeting, Bouwer, an imposinglylarge man, began spouting racist rhetoric.Fitzpatrick didnt blink, sensing this was a test

of sorts. He leaned back in his chair, crossedhis legs, and smiled at Byron. Youre amongfriends, he told Bouwer, and, just like that,they were in.

The pair became regulars at the consulate andat the attachs home, where senior officialsfrom local defense contractors andpharmaceutical companies, along with minorcelebrities, would frequent the parties,barbeques, and dinners Bouwer hosted toforge informal ties to get around the embargo.Each man was recruited independent of theother to feed information to the FBI buteventually learned of their mutual mission.Byron helped plant electronic surveillancedevices for the bureau.

Both informants say that Ford, Nilsson, andFords mistress, Kesler, were regular guests atBouwers mansion, and Byron remembersencountering Dino DSaach, the getawaydriver, at several gatherings. Indeed, Ford andNilssons connection to South Africa ran deep.The two doctors went on big-game hunts

beginning in the early 1980'sabout 20 stuffedtrophies lined the walls of Fords homeand, asFord and Nilsson told it, they did charitymedical work there.

Later Ford and Kesler began smuggling intothe U.S. distilled human amniotic fluid collectedby South African doctors for Fords antibioticresearch. They would hide the biologicallyhazardous body fluids in wine and liquorbottles to avoid impoundment. Riley, intestimony in the DSaach trial, described ontrip in which a bottle of amniotic fluid broke

inside a suitcase while in flight, creating anoxious odor that permeated the aircraft.

Ford and Nilsson were befriended by SouthAfrican deputy surgeon general Dr. NielKnobel. Ford began advising him on protectingtroops from biological attack, as well as


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suggesting AIDS prevention programs in acountry that today has the worst AIDS infectionon earthbenign and praiseworthy endeavorsthat Knobel maintains had no politicalagenda. But the AIDS prevention programwas for the whites in the military, not blacks.A secret right-wing South African organization,the Broederbond, conducted studies aroundthe same time that suggested the AIDS

epidemic could make whites the majority in thefuture.

Since then, through the new governmentsTruth and Reconciliation Commission, whichwas formed to probe the abuses of apartheid,information has surfaced about a secret SouthAfrican bioweapons program. Code-namedProject Coast, it was run by another Fordfriend and financial benefactor, Dr. WouterBasson; Knobel had administrative oversight.Bassons alleged ties to hundreds ofpoisonings and assassinations in South Africaand in neighboring countries of Angola andZimbabwe earned him the nickname Dr. Deathin the South African press. Documentsindicating he had arranged an offshore bankaccount for Ford were found in Fords papersafter his death.

The commission uncovered evidence thatwhole villages, including and Angolansettlement of several hundred peoplesuspected of harboring rebels, may have beendecimated by Project Coast weapons. This

finding parallels information Nilssons ex-girlfriend provided: She said Ford more thanonce boasted of wiping out an entire Angolanvillage during a civil war. (She claimed Fordhad been talking with Nilsson in 1996 aboutobtaining a missile or bombing system fromformer Soviet bloc nations that might be usedto deliver biological weapons.)

Project Coast scientists called to testify againstBasson have said Ford was brought in to briefthem on the use of biological weapons in massattacks and discrete assassination, the latter

through contamination of ordinary items suchas Playboy magazine and tea bags. Onescientist involved with South Africanbioweapons development noted that Fordsideasand arrogancewere not well received,and that his work was given little credence inthe Project Coast lab. However, Ford

continued to work with Basson and Knobel,who had a picture of him hanging in his den atthe time of the suicide.

According to a recent U.S. Air Force Academyreport on South Africas biological warfareprogram, Ford was part of a global network ofscientists that Basson assembled to assistProject Coast. Whether that meant creatingor

receiving and storingtoxins produced by theprogram is a matter of conjecture, the reportssuggests, as South African officials have beenunable to account for all of the dangerousmaterial produced over the years. The air forcereport quotes testimony from a Swissintelligence agent who laundered money forBasson and who describes a worldwideconspiracy involving unnamed Americans.

The death of Dr. Ford and revelations of hisSouth African involvement, the report states,[raises] the possibility of a right-winginternational network, [still] united by a visionof South Africa once again ruled by whites.

In the wake of Fords suicide, Fitzpatrick andByron reminded a new set of FBI agents aboutthe meeting between Ford and Deputy SurgeonGeneral Knobel, in which the satchel of deadlygerms was allegedly passed over to the SouthAfricanan about the fact that nothing wasdone to intercept Knobel as he returned toSouth Africa. Once again no explanation wasoffered. Byron suggested viewing the

surveillance recordings from the bugs he andFitzpatrick helped plant so long ago. You canget a blockbuster out of those, Im sure.

Not even we can get those tapes, heremembers the agent responding. Theyresealed. National security.

Matthew McLaughlin, spokesman for the FBI inLos Angeles, says the bureaus policies bar himfrom confirming or denying Byrons orFitzpatricks accounts. Nor will he comment ontheir allegation that the government permitted

Ford to illegally develop and traffic inbioweapons. McLaughlin does caution,however, that there are often reasons criminalactivity is allowed to go on in order to preservean investigation, and that no informant in anycase has the whole picture. Wecompartmentalize people we work with, and


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they are not privy to the breadth and width ofa case, he says, They see the elephantstoenail.

Of course, Byron and Fitzpatrick say tradeattach Gideon Bouwer was clear in theirconversations 16 years ago about what hadhappened in the meeting with Ford. They sayhe rave about the ability to keep whites in

power through biological warfare, and hehinted at being a part of a separateagendasome sort of extragovernmentalconspiracy, like the one described in theairforce report, that had plans to unleashbiological agents worldwide on South Africasenemies if the need should ever arise.

Just be ready, Fitzpatrick remembersBouwer warning hm cryptically, then asking,How fast can you get your daughter out of thecountry if you had to?

I have to be honest, Fitzpatrick says,Gideon could be a great guy. But there wassomething dangerous about him. And when hestarted talking about the master plan, aboutwhat a great service Ford had done for hiscountry, about getting out of the country, itgave me the chills.

Niel Knobel has admitted meeting with Ford atthe attachs home in the period Fitzpatrickand Byron describe but denies any involvementwith biological weapons.

The informants never found out what happenedafter that meeting between Ford and Knobel.Bouwer fell from favor less than a year later,apparently considered a security risk by hisown government. He was recalled, and thevisits by Ford and Nilsson to the consulateended, as did Byrons and Fitzpatricks workthere. Bouwer died ten years ago in SouthAfrica.

Looking for answers, Fitzpatrick recently usedthe Freedom of Information Act to obtain is FBI

file. All but the captions were redacted fromthe small ream of reports detailing hisinformation about Ford and the South Africans.But those captions clearly show one thing:Whatever Fitzpatrick told his handler wasimmediately forwarded to FBI headquarters inWashington and then it was dispatched to the

CIA.

Victor Ray was brought back on the Ford caseafter a week, once it became clear that he hadnot been off-base about a possible CIAconnection and that he had developed sourcesthe FBI wantedsources he wasnt going togive up unless there was mutual cooperation.

After some initial tug-of-war the Irvine policeand the FBI are working well together, Raysays, but there have been disagreements. Hecould only get to Byron and Fitzpatrickthrough an L.A. Times reporter whomFitzpatrick had called, rather than through theFBI, which declared them off-limits. And it isRay, not the FBI, who has kept pushing towiden the investigation, expanding it to othersuspects and states, securing search warrantsthe FBI said couldnt be obtained, locating akey witness the FBI believed to be dead. Itappears that Irvines small police department isthe main reason an international investigationis now under way, one that started with anOrange County grand jury probe and that nowappears to be headed for a federal grand jury.

So far the only public charges have revolvedaround Rileys shooting. Besides DSaachsattempted murder conviction, Kesler has beencharged with weapons violations for the gunsfound in her car. She remains a suspect in theshooting, as does Nilsson, whose home was

searched but who has not been charged. Thegunman remains unidentified.

Biofem, meanwhile, is still trying to recoverfrom the loss of Ford. The UnidentifiedAmniotic Fluid Substance project, which Rileyonly reluctantly admitted existed when called totestify against DSaach, may well die withoutFord. Inner Confidence is moving forward, butFDA clinical trials, which were supposed tohave begun by now, have been postponed.Investors cant be happy about the revelationsconcerning Ford, and Riley fears the delay has

opened a window to rival products, sinceinterest in micobicides as a means of battlingHIV has grown intense in the last year or two.

The search of Fords house unearthed morethan 260 containers of biological material, mostof it in a refrigerator in Fords garage, along


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with the jar of ricin, the substance Kesler saidthe knife had been dipped in. Authorities foundit in his family room. Botulism, which producesone of the deadliest toxins known, wasrecovered from a refrigerator at Biofem, storedby Ford next to a bottle of ranch dressing.

These discoveries were followed by reassuringstatements to the public that the doctors

illegal brew of germs was aged and posed littledanger. But internal FBI reports state thatthere was a genuine public health hazard, andDr. Mark Horton, head of public health servicesfor Orange County, concedes that, had thematerials been handled without great care, theycould have imperiled the community.

In turns out that the assurances \were basedon the testing of only 16 of the samplestherehas been no official accounting of what was inthe rest. The public statements did not evenmention botulism.

Ray has no doubt that the danger was severe.He notes that many of the biological samples inFords home were stored next to a jar of whatwas suspected to be old and chemicallyunstable ether. If that ether had beenexposed to a higher temperature, it would haveexploded, he says, and Larry Fordschemistry set would be blown all over Irvine.

His disgust over the case almost led him toleave it for good last summer. He was away all

the time, his wife was complaining, the stresswas enormous. It really made me think...whatin the hell was going on and how could thegovernment have stood by while Ford...didthese things? I really wondered if there wasanything I could or should do.

He took two trips to Washington, D.C., thatsummer, the first to wander alone among themonuments, the Arlington cemetery, theVietnam and police officerss memorials,looking for inspiration. During their secondtrip, Ray and his wife decided he should

continue the case. Its hard to stand amongso much history of personal sacrifice and say,Im more important. he says.

But reality was not far behind. While at thecapital, he tried to make contact with officials atthe South African embassy, to pass on his

information about Ford and Dr. deathsfinancial dealings and offshore accounts.Prosecutors in South Africa had beendesperately trying to hold their case together,Ray knew, and the records he had found couldhave helped. But no one, he sighs, was theleast bit interested.


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APPENDIX C

RESPONDER AWARENESS

Domestic Preparedness TrainingDefense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction

AZ Department of Public Safety


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