On Thursday, June 13, authorities in Suffolk County, New York (on Long Island), discovered a bizarre plot by to kill local politicians by using poisonous, radioactive radium as a weapon.

District Attorney James Catterson has charged three men with conspiracy to commit murder. Arrested June 13 were John Ford, 47, of Bellport, and Joseph Mazzachelli, 42, of Manorville. Another suspect, Edward Zabo of Medford, was arrested the following day. Canisters of radium and other more conventional weapons were found in Ford's and Zabo's homes.

Exact motives are unclear. DA Catterson said that Ford was "obsessed with hatred for mainstream political figures." Ford was once an officer of the court, and is president of the Long Island UFO Network. Recent comments on Usenet discussed Ford's UFO work, including an alleged alien crash site on Long Island. Ford told other UFOlogists his life was in danger because of his UFO investigations. The Usenet commentator described Ford's UFO pictures as "indistinguishable blurs," and said his behavior was "pretty paranoid."

The targets of this alleged murder plot were Republican officials from Suffolk County and a nuclear power plant safety director. The DA says Ford solicited for someone willing to spread radium in the close vicinity of John Powell, head of the Suffolk County Republican Party, county legislator Fred Towle (also GOP), and Brookhaven safety director Anthony Gazzola. One of the people contacted by Ford to do the deed went to the DA and a sting was arranged. Ford is said to have been caught on tape outlining plans to put radium in his intended victims' cars and food.

When Ford was arrested, his house was searched and five canisters of radium were found, along with several rifles, handguns, ammunition, a "mine sweeper" (possibly a metal detector), a gas mask, and what mainstream news reports have described as "militia literature." No evidence has been advanced linking Ford or the others to any militia group.

Other arrests in the case are expected.

(c) Copyright 1996 ParaScope, Inc.