Man Convicted in Shooting of O.C. Biotech Executive

A Los Angeles businessman was convicted Friday of attempted murder in an elaborate plot to kill an Irvine drug company executive, even as investigators struggle to identify the gunman and sort out the mystery.

The case, which involves high-stakes drug research, centers on last year’s shooting by a masked gunman of Biofem Inc. Chief Executive James Patrick Riley as he walked into work at the Irvine Spectrum office complex.

Police allege that Riley’s business partner, Dr. Larry C. Ford, masterminded the scheme so he wouldn’t have to share profits from the company’s breakthrough medical products. Ford committed suicide shortly after the shooting, which left Riley with a cheek wound.

The guilty verdict Friday in Santa Ana Superior Court against the getaway driver, Dino D’Saachs, a longtime friend of Ford’s, represents the first conviction in the case. Prosecutors are now confident that they eventually will track down the other culprits.

“The time will come when everyone involved in this serious crime will be held accountable,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Ebrahim Baytieh.

The verdict capped a two-week trial in which prosecutors tried to prove that the plot was driven by Ford’s greed and his longtime friendship with D’Saachs, a man described as a “contract killer” who kept a “how-to” book on assassinations in his office desk.

Riley expressed satisfaction with the verdict, but said the trial had been an emotional struggle. “It hurt,” he said. “It was emotionally difficult to hear that the man you were in business with wanted you departed from the scene.”

As the verdict was read, the 58-year-old D’Saachs showed no emotion. An Altadena resident who owns several Los Angeles businesses, he faces 26 years to life in prison at his June sentencing hearing.

D’Saachs’ attorney, Danny Davis, would not say whether his client knows the identity of the gunman or plans to assist investigators.

Davis said he plans to request a new trial on grounds that numerous judicial and prosecutorial errors were committed in the trial.

After Riley emerged from his car Feb. 28, 2000, a gunman appeared and fired at close range. The bullet ricocheted off Riley’s cheekbone and hit a nearby office window.

The gunman fled between two buildings and dived into a passing van that prosecutors say was driven by D’Saachs.

Days later, detectives began a search of Ford’s home that led to discovery of a cache of illegal weapons and explosives buried in his backyard. They also found cholera- and typhoid fever-causing bacteria in the home, which forced the evacuation of 200 Irvine residents.

The discoveries triggered an FBI investigation into “weapons of mass destruction.” Investigators later discovered that Ford was involved in South Africa’s apartheid-era biochemical warfare program.

Prosecutors said Ford wanted Riley dead so he could reap riches from a female contraceptive and a drug that could potentially cure AIDS. Both drugs would generate millions of dollars in revenue when they reached the market, prosecutors said.

Though each man owned 25% of the company, Riley effectively controlled the firm by having greater stockholder voting rights.

D’Saachs was linked to the crime scene through cellular phone records showing that he placed four calls to Ford in the minutes before the shooting. Witnesses said they saw a gunman jump into a van that matched the description of D’Saachs’ vehicle. D’Saachs was never identified as the driver, but investigators tracked the license plate to his home. A search of the van turned up a magazine of bullets matching that fired at Ford.