The Rome Incident Part 1 

Kurt Cobain lived for twenty seven years, some of which were blighted by  excruciating stomach pains that sometimes drove him to consider suicide.  But  he survived.  He managed to get treatment for that problem.  He survived. Within hours of Courtney Love and Michael DeWitt joining Kurt in Rome, hours  in which Kurt argued with Courtney, and finally decided to leave her, Kurt  was fighting for his life in a hospital in Rome.  Courtney's response to this was to tell Select magazine,  " If he thinks he  can get away from me that easily, he can forget it.  I'll follow him through  hell." She said this not within the context of a failed suicide, but within the  context of an argument in which Kurt told her he was going to leave her.  It  is reminiscent of a recorded threat by Courtney to Victoria Clarke,  " I will  haunt you to fucking hell, for the rest of your life."                             ............................................................   Tom Grant is convinced Rome represented Courtney's first attempt to murder  her husband.  The drug Kurt overdosed on was Rohypnol.  Grant believes  Courtney may have mixed a large number of the pills into Kurt's champagne so  that when he took a drink, he was actually unknowingly injesting large  amounts of the drug, enough to kill him. Wallace and Halperin ask why Courtney would have called an ambulance while  Kurt was unconcious, rather than leaving him until he was dead?.    In an Interview with Robert Hillburn on April 4th 1994, Courtney talked about  the overdose in Rome.  Hillburn commented, Love had flown to Rome early last month to spend time with Cobain after he  cancelled part of a European concert tour, caused by illness.  She awoke in  the hotel room to find him unconcious, having taken some of her prescription  tranqillizers and alcohol.  She says;   " He was dead.....legally dead,  he was in a coma for 20 hours..on life  support. 

They thought he was never going to come out of it."  (L.A. Times,  April 10th 1994. Maybe Courtney did leave him until she thought he was dead. Her above  statement looks to me like amazed disbelief that he was not dead. Maybe the  answer is that simple.  Reports came through that Cobain had been moved from the Umberto Prima  Hospital--aleegedly at Courtney Love's insistence-- to the American  Hospital... Many thought that, in the state he was in, Cobain would not be  moved anywhere unless doctors at the Umberto had said they could do nothing  more for him.  A doctor at the Umberto Prima said, "Cobain was in a grave condition when he left here." (Melody Maker, March  12th 1994.) How wise was it to have Kurt transferred at this point?.  I know it was  sup[posed to be for security reasons, but I question this excuse.  On March 3rd, just a few hours before she met Kurt in Rome,  Courtney did an  interview with Select magazine.  The interviewer said that during this she  was popping Rohypnol... "Look, I know this is a controlled substance. I got  it from my doctor.  It's like valium,"  she said.  In Melody Maker, March 12th 1994, there was a two page article on Kurt's  overdose.  Everett True had reviewed that weeks singles with Courtney just  prior to her flying to Rome. True commented that Courtney opened the review  by saying: " This reminds me of when I take those di-hydrocodeines I get over  here in London, with Rohypnol and a glass of champagne.."  Everett True ended his article by saying, " If Kurt Cobain wants to take  Rohypnol, drink champagne and go into a coma, it's up to him, ( and his wife  presumably,) and no-one else. (Melody Maker, March 12th, 1994.) (So, Courtney had the Rohypnol, and experience of that method of using it, at  a time that was crucial.)  Everett, where is your compassion?    Was it up to Kurt though?.  It is possible he wasn't aware that he had been  administered the drug.  Rohypnol is tasteless when dissolved in drink.  That  is why it is called the date rape drug.  One tablet will confuse and  disorientate a person.  It was claimed that Kurt ordered champagne and requested for a bell-boy to  fill a prescription for Rohypnol, the prescription was Courtney's.  How do we  know Kurt ordered these?.

Contrary to P. Brite's book where it is said the  nanny accompanying Courtney to Rome was Jackie, it was reported at the time  that she was accompanied by Cali, who we know is Michael DeWitt. (Statement  of a Gold Mountain employee, source, Cobain by the Editors of Rolling Stone,  p. 90.)   (If these items were ordered over the phone, then DeWitt could have ordered  them. Kurt could have been oblivious to this.)    The story unfolds in the Rossi/Brite books along similar lines. Kurt being  romantic, ordering champagne, requesting for the prescription to be filled,  wining and dining. Courtney fell asleep and woke up between 3-4 am to find  Kurt unconcious with blood coming from his nose.  He had a wad of cash in one  hand and a note in the other.  He was wearing a brown corderoy jacket.  (Rossi, p.187, Brite, p. 164.) This doesn't make sense at all.  We know Kurt wrote a note, nearly all  sources agree on that.  The only example I can find of Kurt's explanation of  this note is in Cobain by the Editors of Rolling Stone, p. 90. Where a Gold  Mountain employee said,   "Kurt insisted it was not a suicide note.  He just took all of his and  Courtney's money and was going to run away and dissappear."  I will always believe Kurt's reasons and doubt Courtney's.  On that basis  then, why would Kurt write a note, prepare to leave, get the cash together,  and then take an overdose?.  The two actions are contradictory. The other point is, in Brite's book, it say's Courtney woke up between 3-4am  and found Kurt unconcious----but the ambulance wasn't called until 6.30 am.  This time for the ambulance's arrival is well documented.  This incident was described at the time as an accident/mistake/inadvertant  overdose. A convenient mistake etc, which just happened when Kurt was leaving, running  away.  A mistake which involved Rohypnol and champagne, substances Kurt did  not use but that Courtney was in the habit of using and had at her disposal,  substances notorious for their use to incapacitate victims.  I don't believe  this was a mistake for one minute, and I believe Kurt's reasons, so I have to  consider the possibility that Grant was right, and that this was attempted  murder. It was only after Kurt's death that this was claimed to be a suicide attempt.  The accounts of are a mess, we only have slivers of reliable information to  go on.  Courtney's and DeWitt's can be discarded.. All I can do is try to piece together what might have happened using the  facts I have.  So the following is hypothetical/a possibility/ an opinion.  Are opinions banned under the British libel laws, Nick?.  Well, I'll take my  chances, 

1....Kurt wasn't attempting suicide.  There is evidence to support this.

2....The note Kurt wrote was a note saying he was leaving Courtney/running  away.  There is evidence to support this. ( On these foundations Kurt didn't take any Rohypnol that he was aware of.)

3....Kurt argued with Courtney, he told her he was leaving her and the tour  he was on.

4....Someone ordered champagne and for the prescription to be filled.  But  this might not have been Kurt.  Kurt might not have been aware of this.

5....Kurt didn't drink alcohol, this fact was witnessed by people who were on  the tour with him at the time.  Just 1 Rohypnol was dissolved in a small  ammount of champagne, which was then diluted with water, maybe in Kurt's  famous bottle of Evian water.  The perpetrators of this act have enough  experience of Rohypnol use to know what they are doing.  They provide just  enough Rohypnol to induce confusion. Safe in the knowledge that Kurt won't be  going very far, they leave the room. (According to Rossi's book, the suite  Kurt had in the Excelsior Hotel had an adjoining bedroom for the nanny. Maybe  they go in there.)

6....Because Courtney wasn't in the room, Kurt wrote a note saying he was  leaving. He got ready to leave.

7....The drug took effect before he could get away.

8....The perpetrators then returned. 9....Kurt was incapacitated. Why did he have a bloody nose?  Maybe this  happened next. 10...The perpetrators forcefully administered more Rohypnol and champagne.   Kurt struggled, and in the process he injured his nose. ("She saw the top of Kurt's blonde head whipping furiously back and forth."   P. Brite, p.169.  This was Courtney's description of Kurt supposedly being  man-handled into an ambulance.   Are you sure you aren't confused Courtney?.  You obviously saw this  somewhere, are you playing with the truth?. 11...The perpetrators wait intil 6.30 am to call for help. By this time they  believe Kurt is dead.  This is hypothetical, but it shows a sequence of events which make sense.   Provides answers to the contradictions which otherwise stand. Tom Grant doesn't have the answers to everything, and neither does he claim  to. He does have an informed opinion though, and many people believe him.   This will not go away.  It will only gain in strength as supporting evidence  emerges.

Anyone who chooses to believe Kurt when he said he wasn't suicidal,  has the right to question the circumstances of his death. Rome was never investigated as an attempted murder. It should have been,  maybe it still can.  Kurt's death must be re-investigated.  The patterns  evident at Rome and Lke Wash Blvd, cannot be ignored.  Kurt survived.  On Saturday March 12th 1994, Dr. Galletta who was responsible  for Kurt's treatment, issued the following statement;   "Cobain doesn't know what happened to him.  he hasn't gained complete  control of his memory.  When he emerged from the coma, he was very hungry and  asked for a stawberry milkshake!." Victims of date-rape often don't remember what happened to them, and their  memory can come back at different rates, sometimes remaining lost for years. In Dave Thompson's book, Never Fade Away, published 1994, p.11, Thompson  mentions an internet posting by Kurt, where he said, "I'm still pretty freaked over the Rome thing, and need time to rest and get  over it.  You'd think they could make a good milkshake, but no." I would be freaked if my intended plans suddenly came to a halt, and I ended  up in hospital for no reason I could fathom.  Kurt was on the verge of  leaving Courtney and running away, next thing, he finds himself  in hospital  fighting for his life, and he doesn't know why.   Sandford mentions this same posting, but he omitted the above section.  Sandford's book didn't come out until 1995, perhaps it was inconvenient to  include the above, Kurt showed a healthy propensity for milkshakes and  breakfasts, not what one would expect of a suicidal man.   The fact is that as time passes certain bits of information which pertain to  Kurt are being lost, whilst facts/evidence supporting Courtney's claims are  constantly evolving/miraculously appearing.  These un-named/Courtney claims  are an insult to Kurt Cobain.   Victims of date rape/Rohypnol are usually unconcious for at least 10 hours  and may only remember events in flashbacks over the next few days...Last year  Rohypnols manufacturer introduced an anti-abuse mechanism, in which a bright  blue liquid is produced once the drug is dissolved.  (London Evening  Standard, 20th August 1999.)  If Rome was an attempt to murder Kurt, and he survived, what on earth could  he be thinking and feeling?. Shocked, confused, scared?.  Probably not even remembering exactly what had  transpired. He did try to leave Courtney, after his return from Seattle.  He certainly  contacted his lawyer asking her to prepare a new will to exclude Courtney.   Maybe he had suspicions at the back of his mind.  He kept several guns for  his protection, until the police confiscated them. The friction within their relationship escalated to intolerable levels in the  days proceeding Rome.  Why?.  If it was just a tiff, as Courtney claimed,  well, that's no big deal. If it was a suicide attempt, Courtney would have informed his friends, so  that they could look out for him. She didn't. Instead, Courtney hounded Kurt,  "haunted him to fucking hell,"  maybe?.   (see Nanny/Broomfield interview, where the nanny said Courtney tried to  control Kurt every second that she could.  See the police report, for March  1994, where Kurt had to lock himself in a room, just to escape Courtney, and  when the police arrived, he told them he was not suicidal or trying to harm  himself, he was just trying to keep away from Courtney.  Why did he return to Seattle and remain under the same roof as Courtney?.   There are witnesses to the fact that Kurt didn't want to be around Courtney,  again see Broomfield/Nanny interview, and police report. But why didn't he just physically walk?. He'd just come out of a coma, he had been ill and tired even before that.  Maybe he didn't have the strength.  Maybe he wasn't in denial about his  supposed "drug problem," maybe he was in denial about the seriousness of what  happened in Rome, Or maybe he hadn't yet regained complete memory of what had  transpired there.  "The last image I have of him, which in the light of the tragedy now seems  pathetic, is of a young man playing with the little girl (Frances).  He did  not seem like a young man who wanted to end it all."  Dr. Galletta. Freedom of information. Justice for Kurt.  Frances Barnett.