The Missing Credit Card

Cobain's dead body was found in the greenhouse of his Lake Washington house on 8th April 1994. It is estimated that he died on 5th April 1994. On 3rd April 1994, Courtney Love hired Tom Grant, a private investigator, to find who was using Cobain's missing credit card. Well, that was the initial reason she gave to hire Grant but then she tasked him to find Cobain who was said to have left rehab and was missing. Courtney allowed the bank to give transaction records of the missing credit card to Tom Grant. Grant observed that transactions were made between 5th April 1994 to 8th April 1994, the days Cobain was lying dead in his greenhouse. The question now is who was using the credit card?

Grant assumes the card was stolen by the murderer after they killed Cobain and between 5th to 8th of April 1994 the murderer used the credit card.

Now the first thing I want to say is that even before Cobain died his credit card was reported to be stolen and therefore it shouldn't come as a surprise that transactions were made after his death. For some reason, Grant believes that the credit card was stolen by the murderer who was hired by Courtney Love to kill Cobain. Either that or she gave the card directly to the murderer and lied that the card was stolen.

Before we can assume the card was used by the murderer we must confirm that Cobain was indeed murdered. Still, the question remains who was using the credit card?

I know that one person who may have used the credit card was a woman, possibly a drug dealer.

In chapter 9 of the book Kurt Cobain by Christopher Sandford, the author wrote that on 6th April 1994 a woman tried to charge a $1,517 in cash advance on Cobain's credit card to settle his unpaid drug bills.

This is from the book Kurt Cobain chapter 9.

[Note: Further investigation is needed before we can say for certain that the card was used by this woman.]

Below is an image of the transaction record when Cobain was missing. Notice that on 6th April 1994 there was a transaction of $1,517.56.

Image Source

It has been said that on 2nd April 1994, Cobain purchased some heroin. It is likely this was the drug dealer he purchased heroin from. 

This is from chapter 24: Angel's hair of the book Heavier than Heaven by Charles R. Cross. 

[Note: It was Saturday on 2nd of April 1994.]

Another thing. Have you noticed the sections where 'PICKUP CD' and 'NO' is written? They are under the category of 'RESPONSE' and 'CARD PRESENT?' respectively. Let me show you a larger photo of the transaction record.

Image Source

'RESPONSE' shows how the transaction went. Pickup CD means Pick Up Card. Pick Up Card means that the transaction was declined because the card expired or the card was cancelled or reported to be stolen. Courtney had cancelled all of Cobain's credit cards after she learned that he left rehab and is missing. None of the transaction done on the dates where the response was Pickup CD were approved. This means that whoever was using the card didn't get to pay or withdraw cash from Kurt's bank account. 

'CARD PRESENT?' shows whether the transaction was made using a card or without the card. NO means that the card itself wasn't used. This means that the card wasn't stolen and used directly to make any of the transactions. It is likely someone had the credit card's number and details to use it.

It has been said that Cobain allowed his friends, acquaintances and drug dealers to use his credit cards. Others say it was Courtney who gave away his credit cards to various people to use. What I know is that some people had the credit card's details and they were the ones using the card after Kurt died. Considering how some of them are drug dealers, I can understand why they haven't come out and admit that they were the ones using the card. Plus, Courtney had reported the card to be stolen or lost. Depending on what the law is, legal action will be taken against these people for being drug dealers and for allegedly stealing the credit card.

Conclusion:

The missing credit card was reported to be stolen or lost. Courtney had cancelled all of Cobain's credit cards when he left rehab and was said to have gone missing. The transaction record of the card reveals that all of the  transactions after Cobain's death was done without the card present. It is said that Cobain or his wife had given credit cards or its details to some of their friends, acquaintances and drug dealers. It is possible that the card was used by people who Cobain knew personally. None of the transactions were approved because Courtney had cancelled the card. Before we can consider that the card was used by the murderer it must be confirmed that Cobain was indeed murdered.

-Indya