MORE ON JOHN FORD

15 June 1996 / July 6, 1996
Source: Reuters
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (Reuter) - A third suspect was arrested Friday in an alleged bizarre plot to kill several local Republican politicians by exposing them to radioactive material, officials said.

Police found a small quantity of radium and weapons in the Medford, New York home of Edward Zabo, who was taken into custody, officials said.

Two other men, one of them the president of the Long Island ``UFO Network'', were arrested and charged Thursday with conspiracy to commit murder. Further arrests were expected, officials said.

District Attorney James Catterson said Thursday the alleged plot was ``something out of a novel.''

The plotters were ``so obsessed with hatred'' that they planned to spread radioactive material in their targets' cars or food in hopes they would contract incurable diseases and die, he said.

Catterson said one suspect, John Ford, had solicited people to use radium isotope against Suffolk County Republican Party leader John Powell when an informant alerted the authorities Wednesday. Ford was then recorded on tape allegedly outlining the plot.

The targets included two other Republicans -- county legislator Fred Towle and Brookhaven public safety director Anthony Gazzola.

Investigators found five canisters of radium, a low-level radioactive material, in Ford's home, Catterson said.

Catterson described Ford as a former court officer and president of the Long Island ``UFO Network.'' Also arrested on Thursday was Joseph Mazzachelli, 42, of Manorville, New York.

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