Texts may provide evidence in attempted guitar heist, lawyer says

An alleged kidnapping victim claims hundreds of redacted texts from Courtney Love's former business manager are evidence of their involvement in a botched heist to steal back the guitar of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.

Musician Isiah Silva says he was given the guitar, a 1959 Remy Martin owned by Cobain prior to his 1994 death, at the time of his engagement to the daughter of Love and Cobain, Frances Bean Cobain. According to the lawsuit, Love was incensed upon discovering Bean Cobain intended to let Silva keep the guitar following the couple's 2017 divorce and sent numerous threatening texts to Silva demanding its return.

After he refused, Silva said Love's then-manager, Sam Lufti, threatened his friends to obtain the security codes to his property and broke into his home along with two others named as defendants in the suit. Silva said he was taken by Lufti against his will from the premises, which his friend -- who claims he witnessed the incident -- reported to police as a kidnapping.

Officers acting on the call stopped the car with Lufti and Silva near Hollywood Boulevard, according to the complaint. But they took no further action once Silva told them he and Lufti were "old college friends," allegedly under force of threat by Lufti, Silva claims.

Douglas S. Unger, Silva's counsel, filed a request on Nov. 1 to order the turnover of Lufti's phone records, arguing they can help disprove the defendants' account of events. Redacted records provided by Lufti in his own defense show lengthy phone calls occurring around the time of the alleged kidnapping and hundreds of texts with unknown persons throughout the night, according to Unger. Noting the defense objected to the turnover as an invasion of privacy, Unger said the records could provide troves of evidence outweighing any privacy concerns.

"This is not a trade secrets case," Unger wrote.

A well-known business manager in Hollywood, who recently made headlines following a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge's granting of a restraining order against him requested by former client Britney Spears, Lufti claimed in response to Silva's filing that he'd gone to Silva's home because of erratic texts sent by Silva containing "inappropriate threats to Cobain."

He says he went to the home to check on Silva and negotiate a divorce agreement, which Unger contests in court documents filed earlier this month. Silva v. Love, BC707927, (L.A. Super. Ct., filed May 25, 2018).

A hearing in the matter is set for Jan. 10 before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Randolph Hammock.