Original tekst:
Tom Grant
The main proponent of the existence of a conspiracy surrounding Cobain's death is Tom Grant, a private investigator employed by Courtney Love after Cobain's disappearance from rehab. Grant was still under Love's employment when Cobain's body was found. Grant believes that Cobain's death was a homicide.
There are several key components to Grant's theory:
Credit card
Love told Grant to cancel her husband's credit card in order to find out where he was and bring him back to rehab. However, Grant did not understand why she would want to cancel the credit card because it would be easier to track him down if it was still active. His credit card reports showed that a person tried to use his credit card after his death.
Bloodstream heroin levels
Grant cites a figure published in an April 14, 1994, article by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, purportedly from the official toxicology report, which claimed, "the level of heroin in Cobain's bloodstream was 1.52 milligrams per litre.” Grant argues that Cobain could not have injected himself with such a dose and still have been able to pull the trigger. However, several different studies on heroin use have noted the difficulty in pinpointing the level of heroin that an addict can tolerate. In a 2004 story, Dateline NBC questioned five medical examiners about the figure from the toxicology report. Two of them noted the possibility that Cobain could have built up enough of a tolerance through repeated usage to have been able to pull the trigger himself, while the three others held that the information was inconclusive. Grant does not believe that Cobain was killed by the heroin dose. He suggests that the heroin was used to incapacitate Cobain before the final shotgun blast was administered by the perpetrator.
Suicide note
While working for Love, Grant was given access to Cobain's suicide note, and used her fax machine to make a photocopy, which has since been widely distributed. After studying the note, Grant believed that it was actually a letter written by Cobain announcing his intent to leave Courtney Love, Seattle, and the music business. Grant asserted that the few lines at the very bottom of the note, separate from the rest of it, are the only parts implying suicide. While the official report on Cobain's death concluded that Cobain wrote the note, Grant claims that the official report does not distinguish the questionable lines from the rest of the note, and simply draws the conclusion across the entire note. Grant claims to have consulted with handwriting experts who support his assertion. Other experts disagree, however. When Dateline NBC sent a copy of the note to four different handwriting experts, one concluded that the entire note was in Cobain's hand, while the other three said the sample was inconclusive. One expert contacted by the television series Unsolved Mysteries noted the difficulty in drawing a conclusion, given that the note being studied was a photocopy, not the original.
Shotgun
The shotgun was not checked for fingerprints until May 6, 1994. According to the Fingerprint Analysis Report, four cards of latent prints were lifted but contained no legible prints.
The Seattle Police Department's follow-up report states that the shotgun was inverted on Cobain's chest with his left hand wrapped around the barrel. However, no prints were found on the trigger.
Police report
Grant also cites circumstantial evidence from the official report. For example, the report claimed that the doors of the greenhouse could not have been locked from the outside, meaning that Cobain would have had to lock them himself. Grant claims that when he saw the doors for himself, he found that the doors could be locked and pulled shut. Grant also questions the lack of fingerprint evidence connecting Cobain to the key evidence, including the shotgun. Grant notes that the official report claims that Cobain's fingerprints were also absent from the suicide note and the pen that had been poked through it, and yet Cobain was found without gloves on his hands. None of the circumstantial evidence directly points to murder, but Grant believes it supports the larger case.
Rome incident
After Cobain's death, Love claimed that Cobain's overdose in Rome was a suicide attempt. Love told Rolling Stone David Fricke, "He took 50 pills. He probably forgot how many he took. But there was a definite suicidal urge, to be gobbling and gobbling and gobbling.” In studying the Rome incident, journalists Ian Halperin and Max Wallace contacted Dr. Osvaldo Galletta, who treated Cobain after the incident. Galletta contested the claim that the Rome overdose was a suicide attempt, telling Halperin and Wallace, "We can usually tell a suicide attempt. This didn't look like one to me." Galletta also specifically denied Love's claim that fifty Rohypnol pills were removed from Cobain's stomach. Grant believes that the claim that the Rome incident was a suicide attempt was not made until after Cobain's death. Grant claims that people close to Cobain, including Nirvana's management Gold Mountain, specifically denied the characterization prior to Cobain's death. Grant believes that if Rome had truly been a suicide attempt, Cobain's friends and family would have been told so that they could have watched out for him. Others have asserted that the claims by Gold Mountain and others were simply efforts to mask what was happening behind the scenes. Lee Ranaldo, guitarist for Sonic Youth, told Rolling Stone, "Rome was only the latest installment of [those around Cobain] keeping a semblance of normalcy for the outside world.”
Rosemary Carroll
Grant spoke to Cobain's attorney, Rosemary Carroll, at her office on April 13, 1994. He says that she pressed him to investigate Cobain's death, and claimed that Cobain was not suicidal. Grant also claims that Cobain had asked her to draw up a will excluding Love because he was planning to file for divorce. Grant claims that this was the motive for Cobain's death. Carroll has not confirmed Grant's allegations or commented publicly on the matter.
Min oversættelse:
Tom Grant
Den største fortaler for eksistensen af sammensværgelse i forbindelse med Cobains død er Tom Grant, en privatdetektiv ansat af Courtney Love efter Cobains forsvinden fra afvænning. Grant var stadig ansat af Love, da Cobains lig blev fundet. Grant mener, at Cobains død var et mord.
Der er flere centrale elementer i Grants teori:
Kreditkort
Love bad Grant om at annullere sin mands kreditkort for at finde ud af, hvor han var og bringe ham tilbage til afvænning. Men Grant forstod ikke, hvorfor hun ville annullere kreditkortet, fordi det ville være lettere at spore ham, hvis det stadig var aktivt. Hans kreditkortrapporter viste, at en person prøvede at bruge kreditkortet efter hans død.
Heroinindhold i blodet
Grant citerer et tal offentliggjort 14. april 1994 i en artikel af Seattle Post-Intelligencer angiveligt stammende fra den officielle toksikologirapport, der hævdede, at indholdet af heroin i Cobains blod var 1,52 milligram per liter." Grant hævder, at Cobain ikke kunne have injiceret sig med sådan en dosis og stadig have været i stand til at trykke på aftrækkeren. Imidlertid har flere forskellige undersøgelser om brug af heroin bemærket, at det er vanskeligt at indkredse omfanget af heroin, som en narkoman kan tåle. I en nyhedshistorie fra 2004 spørger Dateline NBC fem retsmedicinere om tallet fra toksikologirapporten. To af dem bemærkede muligheden, at Cobain kunne have opbygget tilstrækkelig tolerance ved gentagen brug til selv at have været i stand til at trykke på aftrækkeren, mens de tre andre fandt, at oplysningerne var ufyldestgørende. Grant mener ikke, at Cobain blev dræbt af heroindosen. Han tror, at heroin blev brugt til at lamme Cobain, før det endelige pistolskud blev administreret af gerningsmanden.
Selvmordsbrev
Mens han arbejdede for Love, blev Grant givet adgang til Cobains selvmordsbrev og brugte hendes faxmaskine til at lave en fotokopi, som siden er blevet vidt udbredt. Efter at have studeret brevet mente Grant, at det faktisk var et brev skrevet af Cobain, der bekendtgør sin hensigt at forlade Courtney Love, Seattle og musikbranchen. Grant hævdede, at de få linjer i bunden af brevet i modsætning til resten af det er de eneste dele, der antyder selvmord. Mens den officielle rapport om Cobains død konkluderede, at Cobain skrev brevet, hævder Grant, at den officielle rapport ikke skiller de tvivlsomme linier ud fra resten af brevet og blot konkluderer ud fra hele brevet. Grant hævder at have rådført sig med håndskrifteksperter, der støtter hans påstand. Andre eksperter er imidlertid uenige. Da Dateline NBC sendte en kopi af brevet til fire forskellige håndskrifteksperter, konkluderede en, at hele brevet var i Cobains egen hånd, mens de andre tre sagde, at skriftprøven ikke var overbevisende. En ekspert kontaktet af tv-serien Uløste Mysterier bemærkede vanskeligheden ved at drage en konklusion, da brevet, som skulle undersøges, var en fotokopi, ikke den oprindelige.
Haglgevær
Haglgeværet blev ikke undersøgt for fingeraftryk før 6. maj 1994. Ifølge Fingerprint Analysis Report blev der taget fire kort med latente aftryk, men ingen af dem indeholdt læselige aftryk. Den opfølgende rapport fra Seattle Politi fastslår, at pistolen var vendt mod Cobains bryst med hans venstre hånd viklet rundt om løbet. Imidlertid blev der ikke fundet aftryk på aftrækkeren.
Politirapport
Grant nævner også indicier fra den officielle rapport. For eksempel påstod rapporten, at dørene i drivhuset ikke kunne være blevet låst udefra, hvilket betyder, at Cobain havde været nødt til at låse dem selv. Grant hævder, at da han selv så dørene, fandt han, at at dørene kunne låses og trækkes i. Grant sætter også spørgsmålstegn ved de manglende fingeraftrykbeviser, der skulle forbinde Cobain til de afgørende beviser, herunder haglgeværet. Grant bemærker, at den officielle rapport hævder, at Cobains fingeraftryk også var fraværende fra selvmordsbrevet og pennen, der var blevet stukket igennem det, og alligevel blev Cobain fundet uden handsker på hænderne. Ingen af de indicier peger direkte på mord, men Grant mener, at det understøtter den større sag.
Romhændelsen
Efter Cobains død hævdede Love, at Cobains overdosis i Rom var et selvmordsforsøg. Love fortalte Rolling Stone's David Fricke: "Han tog 50 piller. Han har formodentlig glemt, hvor mange han tog. Men der var en klar selvmorderisk trang - at sluge... I forbindelse med en undersøgelse af Romhændelsen kontaktede journalisterne Ian Halperin og Max Wallace Dr. Osvaldo Galletta, som behandlede Cobain efter hændelsen. Galletta anfægtede påstanden om, at Rom-overdoseringen var et selvmordsforsøg, fortæller Halperin og Wallace. "Vi kan som regel se, om der er tale om et selvmordsforsøg. Det lignede det her ikke for mig." Galletta afviste specifikt også Love's påstand om, at halvtreds Rohypnolpiller blev fjernet fra Cobains mave. Grant mener, at påstanden om, at Romhændelsen var et selvmordsforsøg, ikke blev fremsat før efter Cobains død. Grant hævder, at folk tæt på Cobain, herunder Nirvanaledelsen Gold Mountain, specielt afviste den karakterisering før Cobains død. Grant mener, at hvis Romhændelsen virkelig havde været et selvmordsforsøg, ville Cobains venner og familie have fået det at vide, så de kunne have været der for ham. Andre har hævdet, at påstandene fra Gold Mountain og andre simpelthen var bestræbelser på at maskere, hvad der faktisk skete bag kulisserne. Lee Ranaldo, guitarist for Sonic Youth, fortalte Rolling Stone: "Rom var bare den seneste forevisning af [dem omkring Cobain] at opvise en antydning af normalitet for omverdenen."
Rosemary Carroll
Grant talte med Cobains advokat, Rosemary Carroll, på des kontor 13. april 1994. Han siger, at hun pressede ham til at undersøge Cobains død og hævdede, at Cobains død ikke var et selvmord. Grant påstår også, at Cobain havde bedt hende om at udarbejde et testamente uden Love, fordi han havde planer om at begære skilsmisse. Grant hævder, at det var motivet for Cobains død. Carroll har ikke bekræftet Grants påstande eller kommenteret dem offentligt.
|