SPECIAL RESPONSE

April 18, 2002

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

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

Duplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
AZ POST Board Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Telecourse 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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Humanistic Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Don’t Rush to Judgement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Don’t Personalize Subject’s 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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Coordination 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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Weapons 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
 PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES

After viewing this program and/or reviewing this reference guide, students will be
able 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 down
rescues

* 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 on
foot.

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 officer’s 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, don’t pursue and don’t 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 MAINTAINING
A 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
officer’s 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 verbal

challenge 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 to
check 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 may
not 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
subject’s 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 subject’s condition.

1. Do not be reluctant to ask about the subject’s 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 person’s 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 “I’m here to help you. I don’t
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 subject’s 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 subject’s 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.

10
 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 unusual

or 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 as

Diamond 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 initial
response 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 - don’t 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.

20
 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 subject’s 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 Mean
Justice, 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 Medicine’s Tiniest Miracles.

LARRY FORD WAS A BRILLIANT SCIENTIST expertise coveted by the apartheid regime;
BENT ON SAVING THE WORLD FROM Fitzpatrick, a young actor, glib and personable,
DISEASE AND MISERY BUT IT WASN’T THE was part of Bouwer’s informal embargo-
IRVINE DOCTOR’S LAB WORK THAT SPARED busting team, making sure the parties at the
THE MOST LIVES, IT WAS HIS SUICIDE. mansion were well attended by the well-
connected.
The meeting at the Beverly Hills Mansion of the
South African trade attaché was unusually Larry Ford was a regular at those gatherings,
secretive, but Peter Fitzpatrick still managed to and the technology he handed over that day,
witness it, peering from an adjacent room Bouwer chortled, could prove invaluable; a
through a massive shared fireplace. He sampler of virulent, designer strains of cholera,
watched as Niel Knobel, deputy surgeon anthrax, botulism, plague, and malaria, as well
general of South Africa- the whit-ruled, as a bacteria he claimed had been mutated to
apartheid South Africa of 1986-met Larry Ford, be “pigment specific.” “Kaffer-killing germs,”
a noted Los Angeles gynecologist and Bouwer confided, using the derogatory
infectious disease specialist with an unofficial Afrikaans term for blacks. “Dr. Ford has done
specialty: biological and chemical warfare. my country a great service.”

The two spoke in hushed tones, then Ford, a Fitzpatrick clinked glasses with Bouwer and
devout Mormon who volunteered his services left, then called his handler at the FBI, where he
to missionaries and Boy Scout troops, passed served as one of two informants planted at
over a hefty black satchel. The meeting came South Africa’s Los Angeles consulate. He told
to a close. the FBI everything, yet, he says, nothing was
done. According to Fitzpatrick, the deputy
Later Fitzpatrick sat down with the boisterous surgeon general flew off with his suitcase full of
trade attaché, Gideon Bouwer, who could not death. “Why didn’t you stop him?” he later
resist explaining in his thick Afrikaans accent asked his handler. The agent just stared at
what had just happened. him.

The white minority government of South Africa Fifteen years passed. Apartheid was dead.
was in those years locked in a bloody struggle The FBI had long since lost interest in its old
with its black citizens, willing to do anything to informant, and Peter Fitzpatrick was sitting on
stay in power. Bouwer’s role was to thwart the his couch talking with his wife, the television
U.S. trade embargo on technology and set muted as the evening news flashed by.

24
Then something on the screen caught his eye; embryos from disease, the reason HIV negative
a grainy photo of a jut-jawed, narrow-eyed, babies can be born to HIV positive mothers.
round-shouldered man he hadn’t seen in Ford hoped to synthesize the substance,
years–Dr. Larry Ford. He turned up the volume saving countless lives, and earning him a Nobel
and heard a reporter explain how Ford, co- Prize along the way.
owner of and up-and-coming biotech firm, had
become a prime suspect in the attempted But Ford had come to resent his decade-long
murder of his business partner. That stunned partnership with Riley, who had final say in
Fitzpatrick, but what had him scrambling to his every Biofem decision and who had the
feet and reaching for the phone were the physician bound to a contract so
images that followed Ford’s photo: policemen sweeping–giving him a 50 percent share of any
searching the doctor’s Irvine idea or product Ford might conceive–that one
home–unprotected. lawyer likened it to indentured servitude. The
agreement snuffed out Ford’s attempts to make
“Oh my God, they have no idea what they’re lucrative outside deals, an so, police and
getting into,” Fitzpatrick exclaimed. It all came prosecutors have alleged, he decided Riley had
back to him then: Ford’s talk of bio-weapons to die.
and booby traps, his hoard of guns and
explosives, not to mention the doctor’s claim of Riley had just emerged from his blue Audi and
doing dirty work for the CIA–stories Fitzpatrick was walking to Biofem’s offices on a Monday
had once dismissed as a nerd’s Walter Mitty morning when the gunman approached and
fantasies until he noted the FBI’s hands-off fired. A chance turning of the businessman’s
policy with the suitcase of germs. “I’ve got to head sent the bullet through his left cheek
warn them, “ he told his wife. instead of his brain. “I have no doubt I would
be dead if not for that,” Riley said recently, a
So for the first time in many years, Fitzpatrick faint, nickel-sized scar marking the bullet’s
called the FBI. And once again, no one there point of entry. After crumpling to the hot
seemed interested in what he had to say. asphalt, he staggered back to his feet, blood
gushing, pulled out his cell phone, and called
When a masked assassin put a bullet into the one person he knew could help–his friend
James Patrick Riley’s head in front of his office and partner, Dr. Larry Ford. The doctor ran
on February 28, 2000, the case at first unfolded outside and applied pressure to the gaping
as a classic story of greed and envy; a hole in the side of the CEO’s face as they
corporate power struggle between Riley, the waited for an ambulance.
voluble CEO and marketing whiz, and his
partner, Dr. Larry Ford, the visionary with big Within three days, however, Riley’s savior had
ideas and the scientific skills to carry them out. become a prime suspect. After the first of
several searches of his house–which turned up
Ford was working on a combination only documents–the 49-year-old gynecologist
contraceptive and microbicide he and Riley met for five hours with his lawyer, scribbling
named “Inner Confidence”, a suppository that notes throughout the discussion. Then he
promised not only to revolutionize birth control returned home and retreated to his bedroom,
but also prevent HIV infection, AIDS, and where he carefully laid out a selection of
almost every other sexually transmitted firearms from his collection. He put a double-
disease. Ford liked to say they were going to barreled shotgun in his mouth and pulled both
save the world–and get rich in the process. triggers. His wife, Diane, heard the blast and
Their Irvine company, Biofem, Inc., could the thump of his body on the floor and knew;
capture annual sales worth some $400 million, she called the lawyer and the police without
Riley told investors. The profits, in turn, would going up to see her husband. The authorities
fund Ford’s true passion fo the past 12 years, found beside him a rambling, nearly ineligible
a secret Biofem project to develop a five-page note–what he had been writing in the
superantibiotic from what he called lawyer’s office–protesting his innocence. He
“Unidentified Amniotic Fluid Substance.” He had six different anti-depressants in his
believed it was nature’s way of protecting system.

25
The Biofem case might have made the back “I thought I was in for it then, that I would be
burner then and there had Irvine police washing dishes the rest of my life,” Ford would
detective Victor Ray quit when his department say, “But when the general called me in, all he
and the FBI warned him to. But Ray, a former asked was ‘Can you do it again?’” Ford did it
sonar technician on navy submarines, a job again, and a long-standing affiliation with the
that requires patience and persistence, would government had begun.
not give up. He steered the investigation to
Ford’s backyard, where men in Andromeda The invitation to work in the government
Strain suits would evacuate a neighborhood laboratory had come from a man Ford identified
and haul away an arsenal of toxins, germs, only as General Wyman. He liked to show
plastic explosives, and guns. In the process, people a framed photo of the general and
they unearthed a trail that stretched all the way himself (with Ford in an army uniform, though
from the CIA to the apartheid-era South Africa records show he was never in the military).
and Dr. Wouter Basson, the man who ran the This offer to an 18-year-old about to enter
country’s clandestine bioweapons program. college did not seem all that unusual to Ford or
his blue-collar parents. He had, after all,
The question still plaguing federal, state, and earned lab privileges at Brigham Young
local investigators is a simple but urgent one: University in his hometown of Provo, Utah, at
What was Ford planning to do with his germs age 12, according to Riley.
and bioweapons expertise? The discovery of
militia-movement and racist literature among Ford told the Rileys and others his subsequent
Ford’s papers has raised the possibility that he work for the military and the CIA included
offered his biological or chemical weapons to research on biological and chemical weapons,
terrorist groups. Concerns have also mounted consulting on Iraqi capabilities during the Gulf
over a patented feature of his Inner Confidence War, an sneaking into epidemic hot zones in
suppository; the microencapsulation of Africa to gather samples of such killer
beneficial bacteria. It turns out this organisms as the Ebola and Marburg virueses.
architecture could double as an ideal delivery
system for bioweapons, allowing otherwise Victor Ray, a compact man with thinning hair
fragile disease organisms to be seeded virtually who has been on the Irvine police force for ten
anywhere. Ford, in essence, had patented the years, initially discounted most of Ford’s claims
prescription for a perfect microscopic time as the nutty imaginings of an unbalanced
bomb. genius. It’s not that Ray hadn’t handled
unusual cases in the past. He was the
“That,” says Ray, “scares the hell out of detective assigned to the headline-grabbing
everyone.” case in which an “evil twin” allegedly plotted to
murder her sister and take over her life.
One of Larry Ford’s favorite stories about
himself dated back to his teenage years, after But the bungled attempt on Riley’s life
he won first place in the International Science suggested something far more mundane, and
Fair in 1966 for his studies of radiation quite a bit less, than the work of a CIA-trained
exposure. Awards from the Atomic Energy operative. Almost any other time and place for
Commission and the defense department a hit would have been better than the crowded
followed. Next came an invitation to continue commercial parking lot in front of Biofem’s
his research in a government laboratory. offices in the Irvine Spectrum, which sits
wedged in the busy “golden triangle” where
So there was young Larry in his buzz cut, the Santa Ana and San Diego freeways merge.
canvas low-tops, and high-water pants in a An experienced hit man might have simply
military lab back east, starting a new set of pulled up next to Riley’s car in an isolated
experiments. He was giddy about the turn his location and opened fire on a caged target, Ray
life had taken–until he walked in one morning suggests. This guy, in his black clothes and
and found that, overnight, he had accidentally mask, waited in a public place at ten in the
killed every lab animal in the facility. morning for Riley to get out of his car, then
shot him with a $70 Russian-made

26
semiautomatic known for jamming, which cola, a violation of Morman prohibitions against
probably explains why only one round was imbibing caffeine.
fired.
“Everyone who knows him knows who he
The hit man, described by witnesses as a slim really was,” Ford’s eldest son, Larry Jr. told
and athletic man with blond hair peeking out of the Desert News in Utah shortly after the
his ski mask, sprinted across the office plaza suicide. “He was the most loving, giving, loyal
brandishing his gun, running directly in front of person,” Larry Jr. suggested that his father
the Spectrum Bank branch below Biofem’s killed himself not out of guilt but “out of love,
second-floor suite. Suspecting a robbery, bank because he wanted to protect his family from
employees locked their doors and watched the what was eventually coming.”
man jump through a door of a silver Aerostar
van. Ford graduated magna cum laude from BYU,
published more than 65 articles, held numerous
Police traced the plates and the van to an old patents in medicine and biochemistry, had an
friend of Ford’s with a violent past. Dino international ob-gyn award named for him, and
D’Saach, who was arrested that night as the built a patient list that included doctors and a
getaway driver and has since been convicted of smattering of celebrities (although one, the late
attempted murder and conspiracy, crimes Margaux Hemmingway, overdosed on
carrying a mandatory 26-year sentence. His barbiturates Ford provided).
cell phone records showed him talking to Ford
immediately before and after the hit from a cell “Look at his background,” says Dr. Hunter
location near Biofem. (Biofem’s receptionist Hammill, an associate clinical professor at
remembers seeing Ford on the phone at his Baylor College of Medicine and a Biofem
office window just before the shooting with a consultant, who served his medical residency
perfect view of Riley’s parking space.) Police with Ford at UCLA. “He was the chief resident.
found private Biofem correspondence faxed He was good. He was so bright, you’d ask him
from Ford to D’Saach’s South-Central Los about a compound, he could describe for you
Angeles tax preparation business, along with the whole formula, how to build it, its
hit-man manuals, photos of Riley’s parking structure–he had it memorized. He was the
spot, and a crude homemade silencer. golden boy.”

If the crime wasn’t enough to reject the CIA But during his residency there was at least a
stories, Ray figured, there was Ford himself. hint that all was not quite right in Ford’s life.
Disheveled and disorganized, known for his One night in a campus parking lot in 1978, a
painful lack of conversational skills (“He could gunman opened fire on him. He let off five
light up a room by just leaving,” Fitzpatrick rounds, though only one struck Ford square in
says.), Ford came off as both a brilliant the chest. He was saved by several cassette
researcher and childish eccentric. The only tapes he had stuffed into his breast pocket,
shoes he ever wore were black Converse All- just enough to deflect the small-caliber bullet,
Stars, no matter what the occasion, and he leaving only a bruise over his heart. There had
was known to skip through the hospital been no robbery attempt. The doctor was
hallways, pepper his speech with expressions evasive when questioned by police, and no one
like yipee and okeydokey, and issue was ever arrested.
prescriptions with a trademark cliché, “Better
living through chemistry!”
Only after Ford’s suicide did informants start
None of his friends or family, not even Riley, coming forward. Ray began hearing about an
sitting in a hospital bed with his face a swollen entirely different Larry Ford, a man who
pumpkin, thought Ford capable of murdering cheated on his wife, betrayed his partner, and
anyone. His wife and three college-age bred supergerms and was willing to use them.
children–who declined to be interviewed for This was the Larry Ford who formed a close
this article–saw only a devoted family man bond with Dr. Jerry D. Nilsson, a gifted
whose worst “sin” was a fondness for diet Anaheim general surgeon with extreme views

27
and a penchant for trouble that quickly made that didn’t work; she later required emergency
him a suspect in the Riley shooting. Nilsson, surgery to save her life. Other women, Ray
who boasted of having worked as a special learned, had been given prototypes of Inner
forces physician for the white minority Confidence that were never intended for human
government of Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, use. All of them fell ill with a variety of vaginal
appears to have kindled Ford’s interest in infections, he says.
supporting apartheid. At the time of Ford’s
suicide, Nilsson was in the process of losing “Riley was told there was no product, that it
his license for sexual misconduct with patients, was still being developed, but I have one sitting
one of them a 14-year old who allegedly in my office that Ford gave to a patient,” Ray
became his lover for the next 15 years. says. “He was experimenting.”

Whenever the two doctors were together, it More people came forward. A former business
was the charismatic Nilsson who made the associate of Ford’s said that when a mistress
most lasting impression. Now 72, the surgeon broke up with Ford in the early 1980's, the
was a formidable presence even in late middle doctor vowed to infect her with an “alpha
age. Tom Bryon worked with Fitzpatrick as an bug”, promising “she will never be healthy or
FBI informant in the South African Consulate in normal again.” Authorities talked to the
the 1980's and spent time with both doctors. woman and learned that she suffered from a
He describes Nilsson as “the monster with mysterious and incurable malady that has
miracle hands,” a towering figure with a shaved caused debilitating vertigo for the past 14
head–Jesse Ventura as a skilled surgeon. “He years. She’s undergone two brain surgeries
was very fit, very muscular, the kind of guy just to ease the symptoms. At least one other
who could knock you out with one punch, “ woman, who maintains that Ford drugged her
Byron says. “He told me, ‘I’ve killed people in against her will during a business lunch, has
my lifetime, and I have no qualms about killing reported similar problems with chronic vertigo
again.’ I would never cross that man.” Nillson and complained of symptoms that resemble
was not available for comment. Gulf War Syndrome, except she was no where
near the war.
Nilsson had long worked with Ford to amass
biological and chemical weapons, and both State and county health officials, with help from
doctors stored them openly in their homes, his the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta,
ex-lover told the FBI. She sued Nilsson and interviewed many of these patients, but their
won a confidential settlement after accusing investigation was limited to whether there was
him of performing unnecessary surgeries on a public health risk, such as the threat of an
her, including cosmetic enhancement, without epidemic. They found none and closed their
her permission. She was also treated by Ford inquiry, though the FBI still makes a point to
and was one of several former patients who ask former patients of Ford’s if they were ever
told Ray that the gynecologist used them as lab unconscious in his presence, something the
rats, deliberately making them ill in order to complaining patients all have in common.
test his remedies. “If taking a life advances
scientific knowledge,” Ford would tell her, “the “We started to realize there was a lot more to
sacrifice is well worth it.” Dr. Ford than we had first thought,” says Ray.
“It began to look like there might be something
The detective spoke with a Los Angeles gun- to the stories he told, and that the attempt on
shop manager, a longtime friend of Ford’s, who Mr. Riley’s life was just the top of the iceberg.”
developed a complex of rare diseases, among
them a chronic lung and immune system In 1997 Ford’s long association with UCLA, the
disease, sarcoidosis, that is extremely school where he had been a clinical professor
uncommon in every racial group but one: and director of research for the Center for
African-Americans. The man is white, and he is Ovarian Cancer, abruptly ended. He had been
convinced Ford had a hand in his ailment. caught disposing of blood samples in a trash
There was one woman with cervical cancer can in the middle of a chemistry lab instead of
whom Ford treated with an experimental drug taking the biohazard precautions required by

28
the university. Later he was spotted scraping files that may have been deleted had nothing to
petri dishes into a toilet, another health hazard. do with the shooting.)
The school asked him to vacate the lab and
never come back, according to Rick Kesler denied knowing anything about the
Greenwood, director of UCLA’s Office of attempt on Riley’s life. Later, however, her
Environment, Health, and Safety. lawyer suggested officers exercise caution
opening a gym bag in the trunk of her car,
Greenwood, who knew Ford in graduate which Ray had impounded. Kesler had told her
school, describes him as an arrogant, single- attorney that it might contain firearms and a
minded know-it-all incapable of admitting knife dipped in ricin, a deadly toxin synthesized
mistakes, as when he accidentally killed two from castor beans. A drop in the bloodstream
rabbits while trying to extract blood from them, was all it took to kill. Ray and his superiors
then insisted that it was the animals’ fault. called in the FBI, whose Weapons of Mass
Destruction Response Team is charged with
A biochemist who worked with Ford at both dealing with biological and chemical threats.
UCLA and Biofem says Ford also faked
research results–what the science community According to Ray, the agent in charge of the
calls “dry-labbing”–“I could never replicate his team mocked the notion that Ford was
results when I would repeat his procedures,” connected to bioweapons research and the
he says. To be associated with Ford now, he CIA. But with Ray insisting that the information
explains, would be professional suicide, and he seemed good, that it matched other accounts,
is unwilling to be identified in this article. “The the agent agreed to contact the FBI liaison to
sloppiness was unbelievable. His technique the intelligence agency. In about ten minutes a
was awful. I ended up deciding I didn’t want call came back: The CIA knew of Ford.
anything to do with him.”
The CIA knows a lot of people, the agent
One of the most chilling stories Ray heard laughed. They probably know my
came from the owner of Chantal grandmother. But ten minutes later the liaison
Pharmaceuticals of Los Angeles, a company called again and said there was “high
that developed an antiwrinkle cream with confidence” that Ford had biological- and
Ford’s help. She told the FBI that Ford, angry chemical-weapons knowledge and did, in fact,
with one of her partners, went into the man’s have the capability to coat the knife with a
office carrying a cardboard box with a rabbit deadly toxin. Shortly after that a third call
inside. He put the box on the man’s desk, came in: Ford did work for the CIA, the
pulled on latex gloves, removed a syringe from chastened FBI official told the room full of
his pocket, and squirted two drops of a viscous cops.
amber liquid onto the rabbit’s shoulder. It
immediately convulsed an died, blood pouring There was no more laughing after that. The
out of its nose and ears. Ford, never uttering men in space suits took over. Searchers found
a word, turned and left, the box still sitting on an Uzi and another illegal firearm in the gym
the desk. bag; the knife was plunged into
decontaminating fluid before it could be tested,
Ray got confirmation of the Doctor’s which allowed authorities to make the calming
government ties three days after the case was announcement that they had found no
opened and a few hours after Ford’s suicide. dangerous substances in the car. But a jar of
He had picked up Valerie Kesler, Ford’s ricin turned up later in Ford’s home.
research assistant at Biofem, for questioning.
She met Ford while an undergrad at UCLA and While this drama unfolded in Irvine, Peter
the two had been lovers for most of the past 18 Fitzpatrick was trying to get through to
years. The night of the shooting, she spent someone, anyone, at the FBI who would listen
hours deleting Ford’s files from Biofem to his recollections of Ford’s involvement with
computers, according to James Riley’s wife, biowarfare in South Africa. No one was
Pam, who is the company’s business manager. available, so he went to the FBI’s bureau in
(Kesler’s attorney, John Kremer, says that any West L.A., where he was turned away by the

29
receptionist. “Basically,” say Fitzpatrick, “they Tom Byron, an out-of-work engineer friend,
said they didn’t know who the hell I was and had thought up. The attaché, always in the
that I should go.” Next he called the Orange market for any piece of new technology to
County District Attorney’s Office and asked for squeeze past the trade embargo, agreed to
the prosecutor assigned to the Ford case, but meet them.
ended up trapped in voice mail. He left an
exasperated message, then hung up. Early into the meeting, Bouwer, an imposingly
large man, began spouting racist rhetoric.
The next day, to Fitzpatrick’s surprise, two FBI Fitzpatrick didn’t blink, sensing this was a test
agents met a length with him to discuss his of sorts. He leaned back in his chair, crossed
information about Ford, bioweapons, and his legs, and smiled at Byron. “You’re among
South African surveillance. Then two things friends,” he told Bouwer, and, just like that,
happened; First, the weapons team showed up they were in.
to do another high-risk search and excavation
of Ford’s home. They uncovered nearly a The pair became regulars at the consulate and
hundred firearms, most of them shotguns and at the attaché’s home, where senior officials
rifles, 17 of them illegal automatic or from local defense contractors and
semiautomatic weapons, including four Uzis, an pharmaceutical companies, along with minor
M16, and a gangster-era Thompson machine celebrities, would frequent the parties,
gun. barbeques, and dinners Bouwer hosted to
forge informal ties to get around the embargo.
Ford had stowed the illegal weapons in six Each man was recruited independent of the
large plastic cylinders buried in his backyard, other to feed information to the FBI but
along with thousands of rounds of eventually learned of their mutual mission.
ammunition–something his family apparently Byron helped plant electronic surveillance
did not consider unusual, though they were devices for the bureau.
unaware that one canister contained a large
supply of the powerful military explosive C-4. Both informants say that Ford, Nilsson, and
The plastic explosives were packed with Ford’s mistress, Kesler, were regular guests at
blasting caps dangerously close to electrical Bouwer’s mansion, and Byron remembers
wires. Some 52 homes and several hundred encountering Dino D’Saach, the getaway
people had to be evacuated to the Hyatt driver, at several gatherings. Indeed, Ford and
Regency for three days (it was, after all, Nilsson’s connection to South Africa ran deep.
Irvine–no Red Cross sleeping bags in the The two doctors went on big-game hunts
school gym for this crowd). beginning in the early 1980's–about 20 stuffed
trophies lined the walls of Ford’s home–and, as
At the same time, Detective Ray expressed Ford and Nilsson told it, they did charity
interest in talking to Fitzpatrick and Byron in medical work there.
order to explore the South African angle, but
he and his partner were forbidden to do so by Later Ford and Kesler began smuggling into
the bureau and forbidden to come near Ford’s the U.S. distilled human amniotic fluid collected

tighter. “ ” They thought › we were crazy, we

house. Their department pulled the reins even by South African doctors for Ford’s antibiotic
research. They would hide the biologically
were imagining things,” Ray says, “They said hazardous body fluids in wine and liquor
we had been working too long without sleep. bottles to avoid impoundment. Riley, in
It stunk. But we were off the case.” testimony in the D’Saach trial, described on
trip in which a bottle of amniotic fluid broke
Now a clerical worker for a Beverly Hills law inside a suitcase while in flight, creating a
firm and an aspiring screen writer, Peter noxious odor that permeated the aircraft.
Fitzpatrick was a television and stage actor in
the mid 1980's when he struck up a friendship Ford and Nilsson were befriended by South
with Gideon Bouwer, the South African trade African deputy surgeon general Dr. Niel
attaché in Los Angeles. He had written Bouwer Knobel. Ford began advising him on protecting
asking for his help financing a hearing aid that troops from biological attack, as well as

30
suggesting AIDS prevention programs in a continued to work with Basson and Knobel,
country that today has the worst AIDS infection who had a picture of him hanging in his den at
on earth–benign and praiseworthy endeavors the time of the suicide.
that Knobel maintains had “no political
agenda.” But the AIDS prevention program According to a recent U.S. Air Force Academy
was for the whites in the military, not blacks. report on South Africa’s biological warfare
A secret right-wing South African organization, program, Ford was part of a global network of
the Broederbond, conducted studies around scientists that Basson assembled to assist
the same time that suggested the AIDS Project Coast. Whether that meant creating–or
epidemic could make whites the majority in the receiving and storing–toxins produced by the
future. program is a matter of conjecture, the reports
suggests, as South African officials have been
Since then, through the new government’s unable to account for all of the dangerous
Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which material produced over the years. The air force
was formed to probe the abuses of apartheid, report quotes testimony from a Swiss
information has surfaced about a secret South intelligence agent who laundered money for
African bioweapons program. Code-named Basson and who describes a worldwide
Project Coast, it was run by another Ford conspiracy involving unnamed Americans.
friend and financial benefactor, Dr. Wouter
Basson; Knobel had administrative oversight. “The death of Dr. Ford and revelations of his
Basson’s alleged ties to hundreds of South African involvement,” the report states,
poisonings and assassinations in South Africa “[raises] the possibility of a right-wing
and in neighboring countries of Angola and international network, [still] united by a vision
Zimbabwe earned him the nickname Dr. Death of South Africa once again ruled by whites.”
in the South African press. Documents
indicating he had arranged an offshore bank In the wake of Ford’s suicide, Fitzpatrick and
account for Ford were found in Ford’s papers Byron reminded a new set of FBI agents about
after his death. the meeting between Ford and Deputy Surgeon
General Knobel, in which the satchel of deadly
The commission uncovered evidence that germs was allegedly passed over to the South
whole villages, including and Angolan African–an about the fact that nothing was
settlement of several hundred people done to intercept Knobel as he returned to
suspected of harboring rebels, may have been South Africa. Once again no explanation was
decimated by Project Coast weapons. This offered. Byron suggested viewing the
finding parallels information Nilsson’s ex- surveillance recordings from the bugs he and
girlfriend provided: She said Ford more than Fitzpatrick helped plant so long ago. “You can
once boasted of wiping out an entire Angolan get a blockbuster out of those, I’m sure.”
village during a civil war. (She claimed Ford
had been talking with Nilsson in 1996 about “Not even we can get those tapes,” he
obtaining a missile or bombing system from remembers the agent responding. “They’re
former Soviet bloc nations that might be used sealed. National security.”
to deliver biological weapons.)
Matthew McLaughlin, spokesman for the FBI in
Project Coast scientists called to testify against Los Angeles, says the bureau’s policies bar him
Basson have said Ford was brought in to brief from confirming or denying Byron’s or
them on the use of biological weapons in mass Fitzpatrick’s accounts. Nor will he comment on
attacks and discrete assassination, the latter their allegation that the government permitted
through contamination of ordinary items such Ford to illegally develop and traffic in
as Playboy magazine and tea bags. One bioweapons. McLaughlin does caution,
scientist involved with South African however, that there are often reasons criminal
bioweapons development noted that Ford’s activity is allowed to go on in order to preserve
ideas–and arrogance–were not well received, an investigation, and that no informant in any
and that his work was given little credence in case has the whole picture. “We
the Project Coast lab. However, Ford compartmentalize people we work with, and

31
they are not privy to the breadth and width of CIA.
a case,” he says, “They see the elephant’s
toenail.” Victor Ray was brought back on the Ford case
after a week, once it became clear that he had
Of course, Byron and Fitzpatrick say trade not been off-base about a possible CIA
attaché Gideon Bouwer was clear in their connection and that he had developed sources
conversations 16 years ago about what had the FBI wanted–sources he wasn’t going to
happened in the meeting with Ford. They say give up unless there was mutual cooperation.
he rave about the ability to keep whites in
power through biological warfare, and he
hinted at being a part of a separate After some initial tug-of-war the Irvine police
agenda–some sort of extragovernmental and the FBI are working well together, Ray
conspiracy, like the one described in the says, but there have been disagreements. He
airforce report, that had plans to unleash could only get to Byron and Fitzpatrick
biological agents worldwide on South Africa’s through an L.A. Times reporter whom
enemies if the need should ever arise. Fitzpatrick had called, rather than through the
FBI, which declared them off-limits. And it is
“Just be ready,” Fitzpatrick remembers Ray, not the FBI, who has kept pushing to
Bouwer warning hm cryptically, then asking, widen the investigation, expanding it to other
“How fast can you get your daughter out of the suspects and states, securing search warrants
country if you had to?” the FBI said couldn’t be obtained, locating a
key witness the FBI believed to be dead. It
“I have to be honest,” Fitzpatrick says, appears that Irvine’s small police department is
“Gideon could be a great guy. But there was the main reason an international investigation
something dangerous about him. And when he is now under way, one that started with an
started talking about the master plan, about Orange County grand jury probe and that now
what a great service Ford had done for his appears to be headed for a federal grand jury.
country, about getting out of the country, it
gave me the chills.” So far the only public charges have revolved
around Riley’s shooting. Besides D’Saach’s
Niel Knobel has admitted meeting with Ford at attempted murder conviction, Kesler has been
the attaché’s home in the period Fitzpatrick charged with weapons violations for the guns
and Byron describe but denies any involvement found in her car. She remains a suspect in the
with biological weapons. shooting, as does Nilsson, whose home was
searched but who has not been charged. The
The informants never found out what happened gunman remains unidentified.
after that meeting between Ford and Knobel.
Bouwer fell from favor less than a year later, Biofem, meanwhile, is still trying to recover
apparently considered a security risk by his from the loss of Ford. The Unidentified
own government. He was recalled, and the Amniotic Fluid Substance project, which Riley
visits by Ford and Nilsson to the consulate only reluctantly admitted existed when called to
ended, as did Byron’s and Fitzpatrick’s work testify against D’Saach, may well die without
there. Bouwer died ten years ago in South Ford. Inner Confidence is moving forward, but
Africa. FDA clinical trials, which were supposed to
have begun by now, have been postponed.
Looking for answers, Fitzpatrick recently used Investors can’t be happy about the revelations
the Freedom of Information Act to obtain is FBI concerning Ford, and Riley fears the delay has
file. All but the captions were redacted from opened a window to rival products, since
the small ream of reports detailing his interest in micobicides as a means of battling
information about Ford and the South Africans. HIV has grown intense in the last year or two.
But those captions clearly show one thing:
Whatever Fitzpatrick told his handler was The search of Ford’s house unearthed more
immediately forwarded to FBI headquarters in than 260 containers of biological material, most
Washington and then it was dispatched to the of it in a refrigerator in Ford’s garage, along

32
with the jar of ricin, the substance Kesler said information about Ford and Dr. death’s
the knife had been dipped in. Authorities found financial dealings and offshore accounts.
it in his family room. Botulism, which produces Prosecutors in South Africa had been
one of the deadliest toxins known, was desperately trying to hold their case together,
recovered from a refrigerator at Biofem, stored Ray knew, and the records he had found could
by Ford next to a bottle of ranch dressing. have helped. But no one, he sighs, was the
least bit interested.
These discoveries were followed by reassuring
statements to the public that the doctor’s
illegal brew of germs was aged and posed little
danger. But internal FBI reports state that
there was a genuine public health hazard, and
Dr. Mark Horton, head of public health services
for Orange County, concedes that, had the
materials been handled without great care, they
could have imperiled the community.

In turns out that the assurances \were based

on the testing of only 16 of the samples–there
has been no official accounting of what was in
the rest. The public statements did not even
mention botulism.

Ray has no doubt that the danger was severe.

He notes that many of the biological samples in
Ford’s home were stored next to a jar of what
was suspected to be old and chemically
unstable ether. “If that ether had been
exposed to a higher temperature, it would have
exploded,” he says, “and Larry Ford’s
chemistry set would be blown all over Irvine.”

His disgust over the case almost led him to

leave it for good last summer. He was away all
the time, his wife was complaining, the stress
was enormous. “It really made me think...what
in the hell was going on and how could the
government have stood by while Ford...did
these things? I really wondered if there was
anything I could or should do.”

He took two trips to Washington, D.C., that

summer, the first to wander alone among the
monuments, the Arlington cemetery, the
Vietnam and police officers’s memorials,
looking for inspiration. During their second
trip, Ray and his wife decided he should
continue the case. “It’s hard to stand among
so much history of personal sacrifice and say,
‘I’m more important.’” he says.

But reality was not far behind. While at the

capital, he tried to make contact with officials at
the South African embassy, to pass on his

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 APPENDIX C

RESPONDER AWARENESS

Domestic Preparedness Training

Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction

AZ Department of Public Safety

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