Larry Creed Ford Sr. (September 29, 1950 – March 2, 2000) was a

biomedical Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

gynaecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, which focuses on pre ...

from

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

who was suspected of conspiring to murder his business partner, James Patrick Riley and subsequently found to have stored lethal biological toxins in his home and office.

Death

On February 28, 2000, Ford's business partner at Biofem, Inc., James Patrick Riley, was shot and wounded by a masked gunman at the company's office near the

Irvine Spectrum Irvine Spectrum is a district in southeastern Irvine, Orange County, California, centered on the Irvine Spectrum Center shopping and lifestyle center. It is also an edge city, a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside ...

. The company had been working on a

suppository A suppository is a dosage form used to deliver pharmaceutical drug, medications by insertion into a body orifice (any opening in the body), where it dissolves or melts to exert local or systemic effects. There are three types of suppositories, eac ...

microbicide An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms (microbicide) or stops their growth (bacteriostatic agent). Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they are used to treat. For example, antibiotics are used aga ...

that worked as a

contraceptive Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

and also claimed to prevent

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

. Police quickly discovered that the driver of the gunman's getaway van, Dino D'Saachs, made a phone call to Ford the morning of the attack. Prosecutors alleged Ford was behind the attempted murder. Following police questioning on March 2, Ford committed suicide with a shotgun at his

Woodbridge Woodbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called ''West Midland'' *Woodbridge, Tasmania Canada *Woodbridge, Ontario England *Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of **Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency ...

home. His suicide note claimed he was innocent of the attempted murder, but added that there was information hidden in the house of interest to the police. When authorities searched the home, they discovered containers buried next to his swimming pool containing

assault rifle An assault rifle is a select fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge, intermediate-rifle cartridge and a Magazine (firearms), detachable magazine.C. Taylor, ''The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat'', F.A. Moyer '' ...

s and C-4 plastic explosives. In refrigerator at his home, were 266 bottles and vials of pathogens. Among them were the bacterial agents of ''

Clostridium tetani ''Clostridium tetani'' is a common soil bacterium and the causative agent of tetanus. Vegetative cells of ''Clostridium tetani'' are usually rod-shaped and up to 2.5 μm long, but they become enlarged and tennis racket- or drumstick-shaped wh ...

'' and ''

Clostridioides difficile ''Clostridioides difficile'' ( syn. ''Clostridium difficile'') is a bacterium known for causing serious diarrheal infections, and may also cause colon cancer. It is known also as ''C. difficile'', or ''C. diff'' (), and is a Gram-positive spec ...

''. According to the Orange County's Health Officer, the microorganisms were found in extremely poor condition, though they stated there was no evidence to suggest that these materials were being used to prepare a biological weapon, and neither of these bacteria are on the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United S ...

(CDC) list of possible bioterrorism agents. In later reporting it was alleged that the materials identified, and the risks they represented, may have been based on only a limited sample of the materials uncovered. Some 83 files with medical records and personal items taken by Ford from his female patients were found under floorboards. Shane Gregory who was Ford's mistress until she became ill and Tami Tippit (a set stylist) who became ill after a single business lunch with Ford. Ford went on to brag to others how he had infected them with various diseases. City officials closed an elementary school and evacuated 250 local residents in the immediate area while they performed a thorough search of Ford's home.

Shooting of Ford

Around 1978, Ford was shot in a UCLA parking lot. The only bullet that hit him was deflected by dictaphone tapes in his pocket. Ford was unwilling to talk to the police about the event and only told his family soon before his death.

South African biological warfare

After Ford killed himself, a number of newspapers alleged that he and Riley had ties with biological warfare development in

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

-era

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Ford was also linked to

Daniel Knobel Daniel Pieter 'Neil' Knobel (29 November 193622 July 2021) was a South African military commander. A medical doctor, he was Surgeon-General, in command of the South African Medical Service, from 1988 to 1997. Medical career Knobel was born i ...

, former chief medical officer for the

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence Fo ...

, and

Wouter Basson Wouter Basson (born 6 July 1950) is a South African cardiologist and former head of the country's secret chemical and biological warfare project, Project Coast, during the apartheid era. Nicknamed "Dr Death" by the press for his alleged acti ...

, former head of the country's secret chemical and biological warfare project.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Larry 1950 births 2000 suicides 2000 deaths Suicides by firearm in California