Meetings With S. African Attache Under Scrutiny

A series of meetings at the Beverly Hills home of South Africa’s trade attache are now the focus of the probe into February’s attempted slaying of an Irvine drug company executive.

The encounters, which took place in the mid-1980s, are under scrutiny because investigators have discovered that all three named suspects in the Irvine shooting conspiracy attended the events, police said.

In addition, the FBI, at the time, had become concerned enough about allegations that two of the suspects were involved in trying to supply South Africa with germ warfare materials that the agency monitored several of the suspects’ meetings, according to sources close to the investigation.

Detectives aren’t sure what role, if any, these years-old meetings played in the alleged plot to murder Biofem Inc. CEO James Patrick Riley. But investigators expressed hope that the connections could help them unravel a 4-month-old inquiry that has yet to reveal either the gunman or a conclusive motive.

The events at the Beverly Hills compound--which ranged from gala celebrations attended by dozens of people to informal gatherings around a wood-paneled bar--represent the strongest link yet between the Irvine shooting suspects and South Africa’s biological warfare program.

Dr. Larry Ford, who police say helped “mastermind” a plot to kill his Biofem Inc. business partner, has been identified by several South African researchers as an advisor to the military program.

FBI agents regularly inquired about Ford’s and another doctor’s frequent visits to the home of South African trade official Gideon Bouwer, according to friends of the trade attache.

Two of the friends--Peter Fitzpatrick and Tom Byron--said they told the FBI that Bouwer often discussed acquiring biological weapons with the help of Ford and others.

There is no evidence that the discussion led to any weapons development, and the FBI never made any arrests.

But 14 years later, in the wake of the Biofem shooting, the FBI launched a “weapons of mass destruction” probe when they searched Ford’s Irvine home and found germs that cause cholera and typhoid fever. Sources said federal agents are trying to determine if Ford kept the germs for biological-warfare research.

Ford committed suicide days after a masked gunman shot and wounded Riley.

Prosecutors have charged businessman Dino D’Saachs, 56, with conspiracy to commit murder, alleging he drove the gunman to and from the scene of the shooting.

Detectives have twice questioned Orange County surgeon Jerry D. Nilsson and say he has been cooperative. In court documents, police named Nilsson as a suspect in the case but have not revealed how they believe he was involved.

Nilsson’s attorney, Anthony P. Brooklier, said his client had nothing to do with the shooting of Riley. D’Saachs has pleaded not guilty to his alleged role in a plot.

Police said they turned to the events of 14 years ago in an effort to prove that the three suspects--Ford, D’Saachs and Nilsson--had previously consorted with one other.

Irvine investigators interviewed Fitzpatrick, Byron and others who visited Bouwer’s house and learned that all three suspects were seen at the diplomat’s home, police officials said.

“These people have been associated for years,” said Irvine Police Det. Victor Ray.

Fitzpatrick and Byron said they met Ford during gatherings at Bouwer’s Beverly Hills home. The attache hosted frequent parties, inviting American businessmen he hoped could provide South Africa with military intelligence or supplies despite an embargo, the two said.

The surveillance came at the height of the U.S. arms embargo against South Africa and just as the apartheid-era regime was developing a covert biological warfare program.

Fitzpatrick and Byron said they told federal authorities about a 1986 meeting at Bouwer’s home that included Ford, Nilsson and a high-ranking South African official involved in the nation’s biological weapons program. Bouwer bragged that Nilsson and Ford were supplying the official with germ warfare materials, Fitzpatrick and Byron said.

Irvine detectives and an FBI spokesman declined to comment on the federal probe of Bouwer’s activities. A law enforcement source familiar with the investigation said agents were unable to prove claims of embargo-busting.

“They never could substantiate a thing on Ford and Nilsson,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “They never got anything they could sink their teeth into.”

The South African foreign affairs spokesman said consular officials never heard of allegations involving Bouwer and biological weapons.

The extent of Ford’s relationship with South Africa’s covert biological warfare program--code-named Project Coast--remains unclear.

Two South African researchers said earlier this year that Ford lectured scientists on how to lace everyday items with biological agents.

But former South African Surgeon General Niel Knobel, who served as administrative head of the program, has said Ford’s role was limited to providing informal consultation on protecting troops against biological attacks.

Knobel said he met Ford at Bouwer’s Beverly Hills home once but maintained that Ford played no role in the development of biological weapons.