Biofem Aide Pleads Not Guilty

A longtime aide to the Irvine scientist suspected of masterminding an elaborate scheme to kill his business partner pleaded not guilty Friday to two indictments for allegedly possessing and transporting illegal weapons.

Valerie Kesler, 37, entered the plea a week after she posted a $100,000 bail bond. If convicted, she could receive a maximum sentence of nearly nine years in prison.

Kesler worked alongside Dr. Larry C. Ford, co-founder and director of science at Biofem Inc., who authorities believe was behind last year’s failed attempt to kill the firm’s chief executive, James Patrick Riley.

Days after the shooting, police allegedly found two illegal assault weapons at Kesler’s home and in her car, though prosecutors said neither is believed to be linked to the attempted murder.

A masked gunman shot Riley in the face as he arrived for work at the drug company’s Irvine Spectrum office the morning of Feb. 28, 2000. Riley was only wounded, though. That evening, police arrested Dino D’Saachs, a Los Angeles businessman, on suspicion of helping the shooter flee.

Police say Ford masterminded the attempt to kill Riley so he wouldn’t have to share profits from the company’s breakthrough medical products.

Irvine police searched Ford’s home two days after the attempted murder, and he killed himself the next day. After his death, police searched Ford’s home several times. One of the first searches turned up dozens of jars of “suspicious” substances, which tests showed were germs that caused cholera and salmonella.

In July, investigators learned that Ford, D’Saachs and Dr. Jerry D. Nilsson, a longtime friend of Ford who had been questioned in the shooting, met in the mid-1980s at the home of the South African trade envoy in Beverly Hills.

D’Saachs was convicted of attempted murder in April.

Police are still trying to identify the man who shot Riley, who has offered a $10,000 reward for information that solves the mystery.

Kesler’s attorney said her indictment this month was an attempt to press for the elusive gunman’s identity.