Explosives Found in Exec’s Yard

Police pulled high-powered military explosives and a cache of weapons from the yard of Dr. Larry C. Ford’s Irvine home Friday as the biomedical researcher’s family buried him in his native Utah.

Authorities expected to complete the search by today and will send the six canisters, along with several dozen vials of suspected chemicals removed from Ford’s home last week, to the FBI crime lab in Quantico, Va., for analysis.

By Friday night, police had discovered two packages of military grade C-4 explosives and blasting caps in one of the canisters. The other three canisters contained weapons and ammunition, said Irvine police Lt. Sam Allevato.

Officials believe the explosives were being stored rather than used as some sort of booby trap because there was no electrical current needed to detonate them. “Unless detonated, it’s not going to blow,” Allevato said.

Ford buried the canisters in his yard years ago, Allevato said, but investigators have no clear idea how long the cache lay buried under a concrete slab.

Investigators also said Friday that the sources who tipped them off to the canisters said that they contained AIDS-related biomedical research. But no such material was found in the initial examination, police said, and the containers won’t be opened until they arrive in Virginia.

Police ordered more than 200 nearby residents out of their homes during the excavation and put them up in an Irvine hotel. So far, they said, the investigation has cost about $400,000. Residents could be allowed back to their homes sometime today, police said.

Meanwhile, speculation continued over Ford’s possible links to intelligence agencies and biological weapons.

An attorney representing the Ford family said detectives told Ford’s wife, Diane, that her husband was involved with the Central Intelligence Agency.

“She was shocked,” William Bollard said. “What she told me was that Larry is a man of ultimate integrity, and if he was involved in classified information [that] speaks more to his integrity than anything else.”

Diane Ford said that when she began dating Larry Ford about 30 years ago, he claimed access to classified information, the attorney said. “She thought it was just a line to impress on a date,” Bollard said.

Irvine police, though, flatly deny they told the Ford family of any connection with CIA.

“We, the police, have no information about any involvement with the CIA,” Allevato said. “We’re interested in this from the state charges of attempted murder. His alleged federal involvement is not really germane to this case at the time. We’re really pursuing the shooter.”

Ford’s family, who were in Utah for his funeral Friday, could not be reached for comment.

Hazardous materials specialists dug down nearly 8 feet to retrieve the canisters, said Irvine Sgt. Jeff Noble. The canisters, plastic sewer pipes measuring about 5 1/2 feet long and 10 inches wide, were buried with their tops nearly 2 feet below the surface, he said.

Police put the canisters inside larger pipes and sent them to the Armed Forces Reserve Center in Los Alamitos.

Ford was a partner in the Irvine biomedical firm Biofem, which is developing a female contraceptive suppository designed to also retard the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.

Ford’s partner, James Patrick Riley, survived an attempted slaying March 2. Three days later, Ford shot and killed himself.

Police have said they believe the motive for the murder attempt was financial.

However, company officials said Friday they had more than $5 million on hand and were planning to proceed with clinical tests of the suppository.

Meanwhile, more details emerged Friday of Ford’s relationship with key people involved in South Africa’s military.

Several doctors in South Africa said Ford performed work on commercial drug products at a military laboratory and gave the defense forces advice on how to protect personnel against biological and chemical weapons.

But two former South African military science researchers said Friday that at one point, Ford hosted a seminar in lacing everyday items with biological agents. The researchers asked not to be identified in part because they have been called as witnesses in a criminal trial and are under court orders not to discuss the case.

One researcher said the techniques turned out to be invalid, and further experiments with the procedures were unsuccessful.

Dr. Neil Knobel, former military surgeon general who held administrative responsibility for the weapons program, described Ford as a “brilliant scientist” who was knowledgeable about a wide range of fields, including biochemical warfare.

Knobel said Ford was not involved in any biological weapons development.

During the Persian Gulf War, Knobel said he asked Ford for informal advice on protecting South African forces based in Tel Aviv, Israel, from biochemical weapons.

“He even arranged for antitoxins to be delivered to our personnel in Tel Aviv,” Knobel said, “so he clearly had influence somewhere.”

Knobel said he hadn’t seen Ford for 18 months and was unaware of the shooting and suicide.

“I’m horrified,” he said. “Ford was a brilliant man. He was an outstanding scientist . . . He was a little bit eccentric but was a wonderful man, and a great friend of mine.”

Times correspondents Judy Silber and Louise Roug as well as Times staff writer Dean E. Murphy and researcher Salma Patel in Johannesburg contributed to this report.

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Buried Evidence

Investigators removed six canisters believed to contain weapons and possible hazardous materials Friday. The canisters will be flown to an FBI laboratory in Virginia for inspection. How they were excavated:

1. Remote-control robot winches 5 1/2-foot-tall canisters from hole

2. Investigators X-ray canisters and pack them into 6-foot-long, 12-inch-diameter containers

3. Truck takes containers to airport, where they’re flown to FBI lab

Source: Sgt. Jeff Noble, Irvine Police

Graphics reporting by BRADY MacDONALD / Los Angeles Times