Material in Doctor’s Storage Unit Had Deadly Potential

Police said Tuesday that a storage locker rented by Dr. Larry C. Ford and his pharmaceutical firm, Biofem Inc., contained hazardous materials that could have created deadly fumes if mixed.

Although the substances appear to have been part of the company’s research, police expressed concern that the materials had been improperly stored at the public warehouse unit, which has rules against any hazardous materials from being kept there.

Among the chemicals found in the 10-by-15-foot locker at Irvine Mini-Storage was potassium cyanide, a respiratory poison that prevents oxygen from reaching cells. If ingested, it causes death almost immediately.

Authorities are awaiting the results of FBI tests on other “suspicious substances” retrieved earlier from Ford’s Irvine home and from Biofem headquarters in Irvine on Monday.

Tuesday’s announcement is the latest in a series about bizarre events that have rocked the city since a masked gunman tried to kill Ford’s Biofem business partner, James Patrick Riley.

Riley was wounded in the face Feb. 28 as he arrived for work at his Irvine Spectrum office. Three days later, Ford fatally shot himself after police searched his home in connection with the attempted murder.

Clad in white protective suits, officials from the Orange County Fire Authority’s hazardous materials unit late Monday removed chemicals from the Kelvin Avenue storage facility, less than two miles from the doctor’s home.

Meanwhile, federal and local investigators took more suspicious materials from Biofem’s office. Officials said they would not describe what had been found until testing on the removed chemicals is complete.

“We did take items, and those items are being examined,” said FBI Special Agent Julie McWilliams.

Authorities have charged a Los Angeles businessman with driving the van in which the unidentified gunman fled after shooting Riley. Police said that they believe the motive behind the attack was financial but that they still do not have a clear understanding of what prompted Ford’s suicide.

After receiving tips from the doctor’s family and business associates, Irvine officials declared a local emergency and evacuated more than 200 people from homes in the neighborhood while FBI and local investigators combed through Ford’s house for biological waste and weapons.

In addition to about 30 baby food jars filled with an unknown substance, a search of the yard unearthed six buried plastic canisters. The containers were crammed with an arsenal of military-style assault weapons of unknown origin and nearly 50 rounds of incendiary ammunition, officials said.

Police revealed Tuesday that at least four of the 15 weapons buried in the backyard were automatic rifles, which are illegal to possess.

Officers said none of the hidden semiautomatic weapons were registered with the state, as is required by California law.

Among the arsenal in the six canisters were four Uzi-style guns, an M-16 rifle, a Belgian sniper rifle, a British Sten machine gun and a 1928 Thompson submachine gun.

Police said they remain baffled as to why Ford buried the weapons and how he acquired them. Ford enjoyed safari hunting and collecting vintage weapons, but police said most of the buried weapons were new and poorly stored, so they were unlikely to have been bought as part of a wider collection.