Kurt Cobain’s death shocked the entire world and obviously conspiracy theorists jumped all-in into the fray, mucking around half-informed and crying bloody murder without the correct proof. However, some questions do still haunt me from that day, and since the FBI released the file on Cobain’s death in 2021, these questions have risen from the depths of my mind to the forefront once again. The file reads —
“The police who took up the case were never very serious in investigating it as a murder but from the beginning insisted on it being a suicide,” it reads in part. “This bothers me the most because his killer is still out there. …” The writer also cites so-called evidence (“there were no prints on the gun he supposedly shot himself with”) and claims that, in Cobain’s note, “he mentioned nothing about wanting to die except for the part of it that was in another handwriting and appeared to be added at the end.”
The prints are a real concern. It was reported later that —
“The investigation was originally taken on by the Seattle Police Department’s Sergeant Donald Cameron, who was known to be a very reliable and highly esteemed officer within the department. He was joined by a medical examiner, Dr. Nikolas Hartshorne, who performed the autopsy and toxicity tests on Cobain’s body. The case was closed the same day the body was found before any evidence or tests had been processed. Sgt. Cameron had concluded that Cobain’s cause of death was, in fact, suicide. Cobain’s close friends and family became very suspicious of this conclusion as it seemed that the investigation was rushed, not done thoroughly, and was just assumed a suicide because of the circumstances presented. This is suspicious because Cobain never displayed signs of suicidal behaviour to the people closest to him. The only person who was adamant that Cobain was suicidal was his wife, Courtney Love, who Cobain had recently threatened with divorce and was trying to run away from prior to his death.
What makes this investigation even more suspicious is that Sgt. Cameron was eventually fired from the Seattle Police Department for conspiring to steal money from an active case. This huge blow to his reputation stirred up suspicion around Cobain’s case and how reliable Cameron’s investigation really was. Three months after Cameron’s termination, Dr. Hartshorne died in a sky diving accident which he was known to be studying and was extremely well educated in the sport.”
The crooked cop who could have easily been paid off by the people who became insanely wealthy from Cobain’s death is a theory that should also raise eyebrows.
Tom Grant, the private investigator hired by Courtney Love, had some concerns too. Upon initially meeting her, he had stated this —
“Within the first few meetings with Love, Grant noticed that she spoke a great deal about Cobain being suicidal and how worried she was that he was going to try to kill himself. These statements become contradictory when other people close to Cobain such as Dylan Carlson and Leland Cobain have gone on record saying that Cobain never displayed signs of suicidal behaviour especially after his daughter was born. Love seems to be one of the only people who is insistent that Cobain was in a suicidal state of mind when he left the rehabilitation centre in California.”
When he heard about the body being found, Grant immediately rushed to the Cobains’ home, as “he was immediately suspicious as to why the greenhouse room where Cobain’s body was found was never mentioned to him, during their prior search of the house. Upon arrival at the house, Grant asked to speak to the officer in charge of the case to share some useful information that he had gathered during his search. He was declined and asked to call the station later with whatever information he had. He states, “I was dumbfounded by that. If I were a police officer investigating the dead body and somebody told me there was somebody outside that had been in the house the night before, I’d tell them, ‘Hold him’.” At this point, Grant was convinced that something was not adding up in this situation that he was now very involved in. Being an ex-police officer of high standing, he began to pick up on the lazy and messy investigation that was being performed by the Seattle police department.”
“Grant began to analyze the evidence himself since it had not been properly processed by Sgt. Cameron and the Seattle police department. The first inconsistency that he noticed was a discrepancy in the police report that stated the door of the greenhouse was locked shut and that Cobain had locked himself in, this being what was put out in the media. This was not true, Grant explains, “it’s not a deadbolt, it’s a twist lock. Anybody could have twisted that lock and pulled the door shut behind ’em when they left.”
The next key piece of evidence in stepping closer to the truth behind Cobain’s death was found in the toxicology report that was processed after the cause of death had been announced to the public. This report indicated that Cobain’s body was found with 1.52 mg per litre of blood, of heroin in his system (Kurt & Courtney). In Soaked in Bleach, Dr. Cyril H. Wecht explains that “to reach 1.52 mg per litre, you’re talking about an amount that would certainly have exceeded 200 mg that were injected into [him].” This is considered to be three times the amount that would be lethal to a human being.
According to Grant, “we’re talking about evidence indicating it would have been impossible to pick up the shotgun.” This incredibly solid evidence has raised very many important questions in the case as Cobain would have gone unconscious before even being able to remove the needle from his arm, let alone position a shotgun and pull the trigger.”
Grant believes that the suicide ruling was “a rush to judgment.” The fact sheet claims that Grant “has found a number of inconsistencies, including questions about the alleged suicide note,” which Grant believed was “a retirement letter to Cobain’s fans.” A second part is believed to have been added to the letter by an unknown person. Handwriting expert, Reginald Alton, also compared copies of Cobain’s handwriting to a copy of the note. In a five-page written report, Alton pointed out more than a dozen discrepancies.
He believed the bulk of the suicide note was written by Cobain, but raised questions about the first line and the last four lines. His report stated:
“There are many indications that there may have been a second hand at work.”
Punk rocker El Duce claimed that Courtney Love offered him 50,000 dollars to kill Kurt Cobain — El Duce was one crazy dude, but his story was corroborated by the owner of the Rock Shop, where it was alleged to have happened, and El Duce also passed a lie detector test (again, not proof, but an indication of some kind). El Duce let slip the name ‘Allen’ to a BBC documentary maker, Nick Broomfield. Then, not long after, in a local interview (available online), he said the name Allen Wrench, one of his good friends. I believe the next day, El Duce was dead, decapitated by a train after allegedly falling asleep on a train track. Confirmed as the last person to see him alive: Allen Wrench.
Allen Wrench then got a Lexus, a new recording studio and toured Europe with his low-grade band.
Kristen Pfaff, who was rumoured to be in love with Kurt Cobain and who had been threatened by Courtney Love in the past, soon quit Courtney Love band’s Hole, where she had been the bassist. She returned home to get clean and rejoin her old band. She then died of a heroin overdose when she went back to Seattle to pick up her stuff. Her diary was found with the pages from the week that Kurt Cobain died ripped out.
There’s also concerns about the weapon used. The shotgun was gripped by Cobain’s left hand, upside down, barrel upwards towards his head and the butt below towards his feet. Grant explains where the bullet was found upon arrival at the scene as being on Cobain’s left side. He goes on to state, “The exit chamber is clearly on Cobain’s right side, if it was fired upside down as it was found and the cadaveric spasm confirms.” This means that the bullet should have exited the chamber and landed somewhere on Cobain’s right side.”
I guess we’ll never know because the gun was melted down within 30 days of him dying.
Nick Broomfield, director of Kurt & Courtney, had interviewed one of Cobain and Love’s many ex-nannies about the atmosphere and conversations that were being had in the house, weeks prior to Cobain’s death. During this interview, she had stated that there was a lot of talk about Cobain’s will and that “[Love] just totally controlled him”. Upon meeting with Carroll, Grant immediately picked up on some suspicious behavior that was executed by Love and Cobain before his disappearance. Carroll informed him that Love had asked her if there was any way to work around her and Cobain’s prenuptial agreement in the event of a divorce. She also told him that “about that same time Kurt had also called her and asked her if he could have Courtney’s name taken out of the will.”
When Broomfield questioned Grant about the divorce for his documentary, Grant responded with, “if there’s a divorce in the works, Courtney’s going to get half of everything at best. If he ends up committing suicide, Courtney ends up with everything.” This statement solidifies the root motive for murder if Love was the mastermind behind Cobain’s death. Love was willing to do anything to make herself successful and, if she and Cobain had divorced, she would lose half of the lifestyle she had gotten so used to.
Love tore down the greenhouse (where the body was) within weeks of Kurt’s death. And the Seattle PD determined it was a suicide right at the scene. It was not processed properly. The photos that were taken weren’t even developed until there was a court order, I believe the detective pushed for that, to develop the crime scene pics. Too much doesn’t add up. I am not too sure if CL played a part in this. This may have just worked out in her favor. What I don’t understand is how she supported one documentary but wont support another that actually has her recorded on phone conversations. There is a reason why Tom Grant wont let this go, and he never believed a word coming out of her mouth.
I’ve also read that Layne Staley as well was very suspicious, I believe he said Cobain would never leave that little girl. Those two weren’t the best of friends, but they did check on each other often.
These are some of the reasons I believe I’ll never know the truth behind what really happened that fateful morning of April 5th.
I do know that despite being rejected by almost everyone he had lived with during his childhood and adolescence, Cobain remained very close with his grandparents. When questioned on the cause of his death, Leland had one thing to say for certain: “Kurt didn’t commit suicide. He was murdered. I’m sure of it.”
_____________________________x_______________________________
Reference Links:
