Kurt Cobain - Smells Like Who Dunnit?
Former Seattle Police Chief from 1994 to 2000, Norm Stamper recently stated:
“If I were Chief today, I would re-open this investigation. We should, in fact, have taken steps to study patterns involved in the behavior of key individuals who had a motive to see Kurt Cobain dead. If in fact Kurt Cobain was murdered, as opposed to having committed suicide, and it was possible to learn that, shame on us for not doing that. That was, in fact, our responsibility."
Stamper’s comments come from the new unauthorized documentary Soaked In Bleach directed by Benjamin Statler and featuring private detective Tom Grant as the primary storyteller of the film. You can read more about this on CBS here and Spin here. Grant incidentally featured in British documentary maker Nick Broomfield’s 1997 film Kurt and Courtney and is the primary drive behind the bid to have the case into Cobain’s death re-opened.
Stamper went on to say about the Cobain case:
Stamper went on to say about the Cobain case:
“It’s about right and wrong. It’s about honor. It’s about ethics. If we didn’t get it right the first time, we damn well better get it right the second time.”
It’s hard to argue with Stamper’s comments, as easy as it is for him to say this as the ex-Police Chief who will not have to back up his words. Surely if there really is substantial evidence that a murder has been committed the case would be re-opened, right?
Well, apparently not, as for now, the case remains officially closed.
Well, apparently not, as for now, the case remains officially closed.
Kurt Cobain, frontman of grunge rock band Nirvana on tour circa 1993/94
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So with this in mind and with Soaked In Bleach doing the rounds, we thought we would come as we are and put together our take on it and see why, over twenty years after Cobain’s death, there are still some who believe, genuinely and passionately, that the 27-year-old Nirvana frontman was murdered.
It was almost inevitable that the conspiracy theories would begin to swirl. But as outlandish as conspiracy theories tend to be, some have more legitimacy than others, and the death of Kurt Cobain has certainly shaped up to be one of them.
OK. So what do we “know.”
On Friday 8th April 1994, Kurt Cobain’s lifeless body was discovered by VECA Electric employee, Gary Smith, in the greenhouse above his garage, which was away from the main house. Beside his body was a cigar box full of heroin and drug paraphernalia, his wallet with his driver’s license, and to the side of the room was an apparent suicide note on a bed of soil with a pen pushed through it.
It was ruled a suicide by a single gunshot wound to the head. Case closed. Right?
Officially yes, but let’s look again at what some people say just doesn’t add up. Let’s have a quick look at the timeline leading up to Kurt’s body being found.
It was almost inevitable that the conspiracy theories would begin to swirl. But as outlandish as conspiracy theories tend to be, some have more legitimacy than others, and the death of Kurt Cobain has certainly shaped up to be one of them.
OK. So what do we “know.”
On Friday 8th April 1994, Kurt Cobain’s lifeless body was discovered by VECA Electric employee, Gary Smith, in the greenhouse above his garage, which was away from the main house. Beside his body was a cigar box full of heroin and drug paraphernalia, his wallet with his driver’s license, and to the side of the room was an apparent suicide note on a bed of soil with a pen pushed through it.
It was ruled a suicide by a single gunshot wound to the head. Case closed. Right?
Officially yes, but let’s look again at what some people say just doesn’t add up. Let’s have a quick look at the timeline leading up to Kurt’s body being found.
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The now infamous picture of Kurt Cobain's lifeless body through the open door of his greenhouse above the garage. A police detective kneels by him with clipboard in hand.
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Warning Signs Of Suicide, Or Timeline To Murder?
During the In Utero tour, on 4th March 1994, in a Rome hotel, Cobain was found unconscious by his wife Courtney Love. He had overdosed on a combination of rohypnol and champagne and was rushed to hospital where he spent the next five days before returning to Seattle.
Although nothing was said at the time, Kurt had supposedly mixed the drugs and champagne accidentally, Love later stated that this was a first suicide attempt. Here’s where things start to get a little strange.
On 8th March, a call was placed to the Seattle police department by Love who said that her husband (Kurt) had locked himself in a room in their house. He was armed with a gun and was suicidal. Police responded and attended the residence where they removed several guns from the property. Cobain though insisted that he was not at all suicidal and had locked himself in the room to hide from his wife. Courtney Love was questioned by police and promptly insisted that she had not seen Cobain with a gun after all, and that he had not stated that he was suicidal. Neither was charged and over the next month, Kurt appears to have spent much of the time in solitude at his home.
On 30th March, Cobain, under great pressure to do so from Love, his bandmates, and record label, checked into a drug rehab clinic in Los Angeles (Exodus Recovery). A couple of days later, unbeknown to anyone, he jumped over a wall at the facility and disappeared.
His body was found five days later.
In the book Heavier Than Heaven by Charles R. Cross, Guns N Roses' bass player, Duff McKagan, (a Seattle native) stated that he had sat next Cobain on the plane from Los Angeles to Seattle. He also stated that “from all of my instincts I knew something was wrong!”
There were apparent sightings of Kurt on 2nd and 3rd April in various places in and around Seattle. It was on 3rd April that Courtney Love first contacted private investigator Tom Grant, to locate her husband.
On the 7th April, on two separate occasions, Grant with Kurt’s best friend Dylan Carlson, went to Cobain’s home to search for him. A brief tape recording of this is played in the Kurt and Courtney film. Grant did not search in the greenhouse as he said that he didn't know it was there, and furthermore that he blamed Carlson for not thinking to show him. As it was, according to autopsy reports that suggest Cobain died somewhere close to the 5th April 1994, had they searched the greenhouse, they would have found his body.
The electrician who did find him, Gary Smith, who was there to work on a security system, said he at first thought Kurt was asleep until he saw a small amount of blood near his ear and then the shotgun laying on his chest.
Although nothing was said at the time, Kurt had supposedly mixed the drugs and champagne accidentally, Love later stated that this was a first suicide attempt. Here’s where things start to get a little strange.
On 8th March, a call was placed to the Seattle police department by Love who said that her husband (Kurt) had locked himself in a room in their house. He was armed with a gun and was suicidal. Police responded and attended the residence where they removed several guns from the property. Cobain though insisted that he was not at all suicidal and had locked himself in the room to hide from his wife. Courtney Love was questioned by police and promptly insisted that she had not seen Cobain with a gun after all, and that he had not stated that he was suicidal. Neither was charged and over the next month, Kurt appears to have spent much of the time in solitude at his home.
On 30th March, Cobain, under great pressure to do so from Love, his bandmates, and record label, checked into a drug rehab clinic in Los Angeles (Exodus Recovery). A couple of days later, unbeknown to anyone, he jumped over a wall at the facility and disappeared.
His body was found five days later.
In the book Heavier Than Heaven by Charles R. Cross, Guns N Roses' bass player, Duff McKagan, (a Seattle native) stated that he had sat next Cobain on the plane from Los Angeles to Seattle. He also stated that “from all of my instincts I knew something was wrong!”
There were apparent sightings of Kurt on 2nd and 3rd April in various places in and around Seattle. It was on 3rd April that Courtney Love first contacted private investigator Tom Grant, to locate her husband.
On the 7th April, on two separate occasions, Grant with Kurt’s best friend Dylan Carlson, went to Cobain’s home to search for him. A brief tape recording of this is played in the Kurt and Courtney film. Grant did not search in the greenhouse as he said that he didn't know it was there, and furthermore that he blamed Carlson for not thinking to show him. As it was, according to autopsy reports that suggest Cobain died somewhere close to the 5th April 1994, had they searched the greenhouse, they would have found his body.
The electrician who did find him, Gary Smith, who was there to work on a security system, said he at first thought Kurt was asleep until he saw a small amount of blood near his ear and then the shotgun laying on his chest.
A copy Kurt Cobain's "suicide" note
The letter how it was found with a pen stuck through it
Considerable Grounds For Concern?
Let’s start with the suicide note. Grant contests that were no fingerprints on the paper at all and that only the last four lines of the note seem to refer to suicide. He contends the note was a letter to his band and his fans, and that he was basically going to go away for a while. He was quitting the band and he was leaving Courtney. What is interesting here is that numerous times Cobain had stated privately while on the most recent In Utero tour that “I should be doing this with an acoustic guitar by myself!”
Grant argued that the last four lines that refer to suicide also do not appear to be in the same handwriting as the rest of the note. Numerous experts have examined the note for Grant’s claims – and basically, some agree with him that the last four lines are suspicious, while others say the lines are all written by the same person. Close friends attest that Cobain would indeed write letters and even song words in much the same way.
We know that heroin was in Kurt’s system when he died. Is it possible that he was simply more under the drug’s influence as he wrote the note, so becoming less able to write in the “clearer” manner in which he had started it?
The amount of heroin Cobain had in his system when he died, however, three times the lethal limit, as well as Valium, were other areas of suspicion that Grant pointed to. He argued that he would simply not have been capable of pulling the trigger.
Grant argued that the last four lines that refer to suicide also do not appear to be in the same handwriting as the rest of the note. Numerous experts have examined the note for Grant’s claims – and basically, some agree with him that the last four lines are suspicious, while others say the lines are all written by the same person. Close friends attest that Cobain would indeed write letters and even song words in much the same way.
We know that heroin was in Kurt’s system when he died. Is it possible that he was simply more under the drug’s influence as he wrote the note, so becoming less able to write in the “clearer” manner in which he had started it?
The amount of heroin Cobain had in his system when he died, however, three times the lethal limit, as well as Valium, were other areas of suspicion that Grant pointed to. He argued that he would simply not have been capable of pulling the trigger.
Kurt Cobain's cigar box was found by his body - it contained heroin and drug paraphernalia
More of Cobain's belongings as they were found next to his body.
In Kurt and Courtney it is stated that Dr. Colin Brewer insisted that experiments had been done with morphine where patients had the equivalent to twice as much heroin in their system as Kurt did and were still able to balance on one leg – although it should be noted that orally administered morphine experiments are different to injecting “street” heroin. It was also contended that Cobain was a huge, habitual heroin user and would have built up a certain amount of tolerance.
However, Canadian toxicologist and chemist, Roger Lewis, disagreed. In a paper called Dead Men Don’t Pull Triggers he claimed the massive amount of heroin combined with the benzodiazepine (Valium) would have “either immediately rendered him incapacitated and in a comatose state, or it would have killed him instantly!”
This is essentially what Grant is attesting, that someone injected Kurt with a “hot-shot” of drugs, and while incapacitated placed a gun in his hands and pulled the trigger, so leaving “no doubt” that it was a suicide.
There were also no fingerprints on any of the bullets or the gun itself, and as Cobain was not found with gloves on, his fingerprints should be on the weapon. Furthermore, there was no gunpowder residue on his hands, which again should have been present. Further still, the gun had been loaded with three cartridges. Surely a person planning suicide would only load one cartridge. I mean who shoots themselves three times in the head?
Also, Kurt’s Seafirst credit card was said to have been used twice after his death – that is twice after the 5th April. Given that there is no doubt medically that Cobain had been dead for several days when his body was found, this is very odd.
Grant ultimately accused Courtney Love of having her husband murdered and even went on to name who he said was the actual killer, the couple’s male nanny, Michael Dewitt. He claimed he began to become suspicious of Love shortly after she hired him due to her “strange behavior”. He had found out that Cobain was allegedly going to divorce Courtney and that her motives were financial.
He even claimed that he had met with the Cobain’s attorney on 13th April 1994, Rosemary Carroll, and she urged him to pursue the case, that he was right and that Cobain’s death was not suicide. Grant maintains that Carroll told him that in the weeks leading up to his death Kurt had instructed her to draw up a will that would exclude Courtney as he was going to divorce her.
In the Kurt and Courtney documentary, Broomfield speaks with a female nanny who had worked at the house in the weeks leading up to his death. She said, quite openly, that “there was a lot of talk about wills by Kurt” at that time.
While Carroll has not publicly commentated on these statements, nor has she denied them. Given the gravity of what Grant is saying, you would think if there was any amount of untruth about them she would have refuted them by now - which she hasn't.
Perhaps more importantly, neither has Courtney Love or Michael Dewitt taken any legal action against Tom Grant for deformation – and it might be this lack of action on Love and/or Dewitt’s part that lends the most credence to Grant’s claims. He would state:
However, Canadian toxicologist and chemist, Roger Lewis, disagreed. In a paper called Dead Men Don’t Pull Triggers he claimed the massive amount of heroin combined with the benzodiazepine (Valium) would have “either immediately rendered him incapacitated and in a comatose state, or it would have killed him instantly!”
This is essentially what Grant is attesting, that someone injected Kurt with a “hot-shot” of drugs, and while incapacitated placed a gun in his hands and pulled the trigger, so leaving “no doubt” that it was a suicide.
There were also no fingerprints on any of the bullets or the gun itself, and as Cobain was not found with gloves on, his fingerprints should be on the weapon. Furthermore, there was no gunpowder residue on his hands, which again should have been present. Further still, the gun had been loaded with three cartridges. Surely a person planning suicide would only load one cartridge. I mean who shoots themselves three times in the head?
Also, Kurt’s Seafirst credit card was said to have been used twice after his death – that is twice after the 5th April. Given that there is no doubt medically that Cobain had been dead for several days when his body was found, this is very odd.
Grant ultimately accused Courtney Love of having her husband murdered and even went on to name who he said was the actual killer, the couple’s male nanny, Michael Dewitt. He claimed he began to become suspicious of Love shortly after she hired him due to her “strange behavior”. He had found out that Cobain was allegedly going to divorce Courtney and that her motives were financial.
He even claimed that he had met with the Cobain’s attorney on 13th April 1994, Rosemary Carroll, and she urged him to pursue the case, that he was right and that Cobain’s death was not suicide. Grant maintains that Carroll told him that in the weeks leading up to his death Kurt had instructed her to draw up a will that would exclude Courtney as he was going to divorce her.
In the Kurt and Courtney documentary, Broomfield speaks with a female nanny who had worked at the house in the weeks leading up to his death. She said, quite openly, that “there was a lot of talk about wills by Kurt” at that time.
While Carroll has not publicly commentated on these statements, nor has she denied them. Given the gravity of what Grant is saying, you would think if there was any amount of untruth about them she would have refuted them by now - which she hasn't.
Perhaps more importantly, neither has Courtney Love or Michael Dewitt taken any legal action against Tom Grant for deformation – and it might be this lack of action on Love and/or Dewitt’s part that lends the most credence to Grant’s claims. He would state:
“As I predicted when I first started speaking out (about Cobain’s homicide), no legal action has been taken against myself or anyone in the media who have covered this story!”
Check out the video below, a short interview with Tom Grant on American television in 2004.
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The separate garage at Cobain's home - the greenhouse above is where Kurt'as body was found
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The greenhouse above the garage from behind - detectives take in the scene upon finding Cobain's body
The El Duce Conspiracy and Questions With No (Satisfactorily) Answers
Another thing to point out here is that in the Kurt and Courtney documentary, Elden Hoke (aka El Duce) claimed that Love had offered him $50,000 to “blow his (Kurt’s) fucking head off!” outside the Rock Shop in Hollywood. Apparently the manager of the shop, Karush Sepedjian, had witnessed the exchange between Love and Hoke and would later confirm what Hoke had said was true. Hoke also took a lie detector test on the matter and passed with a 99.7% certainty. Perhaps the strangest thing about El Duce and his claims were that a week after speaking with Nick Broomfield about this on camera, he was found dead on the railway track near his home. Coincidence?
All interesting stuff I am sure you agree but there are those who simply do not buy into Grant’s claims, and interestingly it seems to be those closest to the rock star who don’t. We will look at those in a moment, first, check out the short interview with Nick Broomfield below, and see the clip of him speaking with El Duce.
All interesting stuff I am sure you agree but there are those who simply do not buy into Grant’s claims, and interestingly it seems to be those closest to the rock star who don’t. We will look at those in a moment, first, check out the short interview with Nick Broomfield below, and see the clip of him speaking with El Duce.
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A close up shot of Cobain's arm - note the medical tag from the Exodus clinic
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Kurt Cobain's body being taken from the property.
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Cobain’s father, Donald Cobain, worked with Washington State Patrol. To the best of anyone’s knowledge, he has made no attempt to use his “connections” to have the case reopened. He will almost certainly be aware of the claims that his son was murdered.
Both of Cobain’s Nirvana bandmates, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, have both strongly disagreed with the notion that Cobain was murdered. Indeed close friends of Kurt’s, Everrett True and Dylan Carlson, have each stated similar views to Novoselic and Grohl. Carlson in fact, in the Kurt and Courtney documentary categorically stated that “I would kill them”, whoever it was, if he thought his friend had been murdered. He also described Grant, with whom he had spent three days with in the week leading up to Kurt’s body being discovered as “incompetent.”
The only way to confirm what actually happened, or indeed shed clarifying light on the reality would be for Kurt Cobain’s death to be reopened and having Grant’s evidence followed up professionally. While there doesn’t appear to be enough evidence to say that Cobain was definitely murdered, there is more than enough to seriously look into this again.
We will leave with a comment from Greg Sage, who had planned to do some recording with Kurt in the weeks after his death. Only Sage knows what he means, but it is worth remembering that Love was not the only person who stood to "benefit" financially from Kurt's death. There would have been many others within the industry itself. Sage stated:
Both of Cobain’s Nirvana bandmates, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, have both strongly disagreed with the notion that Cobain was murdered. Indeed close friends of Kurt’s, Everrett True and Dylan Carlson, have each stated similar views to Novoselic and Grohl. Carlson in fact, in the Kurt and Courtney documentary categorically stated that “I would kill them”, whoever it was, if he thought his friend had been murdered. He also described Grant, with whom he had spent three days with in the week leading up to Kurt’s body being discovered as “incompetent.”
The only way to confirm what actually happened, or indeed shed clarifying light on the reality would be for Kurt Cobain’s death to be reopened and having Grant’s evidence followed up professionally. While there doesn’t appear to be enough evidence to say that Cobain was definitely murdered, there is more than enough to seriously look into this again.
We will leave with a comment from Greg Sage, who had planned to do some recording with Kurt in the weeks after his death. Only Sage knows what he means, but it is worth remembering that Love was not the only person who stood to "benefit" financially from Kurt's death. There would have been many others within the industry itself. Sage stated:
“Well, I can’t really speculate other than what he said to me, which was, he wasn’t at all happy about it, success to him seemed like, I think, a brick wall. There was nowhere else to go but down, it was too artificial for him, and he wasn’t an artificial person at all. He was actually, two weeks after he died, he was supposed to come here and he wanted to record a bunch of Leadbelly covers. It was kind of in secret, because, I mean, people would definitely not allow him to do that. You also have to wonder, he was a billion-dollar industry at the time, and if the industry had any idea at all of him wishing or wanting to get out, they couldn’t have allowed that, you know, in life, because if he was just to get out of the scene, he’d be totally forgotten, but if he was to die, he’d be immortalized.”
Check out the videos below, just a sampling of the many videos and documentaries looking at the untimely death of the Nirvana frontman.
[Marcus Lowth July 2015]
[Marcus Lowth July 2015]
The “27 Club” – Cobain! Winehouse! Morrison! Joplin!.... Time To Come Good On A Deal With The Devil? Numerous musicians have died tragically young at the age of 27. Is it coincidence? Or is there more to this...? From CONSPIRACIES AND UNSOLVED MYSTERIES |
California Screaming? Dark Tales And Legends From Otherwise Sunny California Whereas most people see California as a paradise where anything goes and life is fun and sun, the state of the stars has a darker, more sinister side... From GHOSTS, THE PARANORMAL AND ANYTHING STRANGE |
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If Reincarnation Is Real, Is It Limited To Human Beings Here On Earth? Or Is It Universal? Many people, when regressed through hypnosis have not only recalled past lives, but also past lives when they were alien beings! Is there really something to this? And does that mean that reincarnation is universal and not limited to Earth...? From THE ANCIENT ASTRONAUT THEORY |
The “Lead Masks” Case – Two Strange And Mysterious Deaths On Vintem Hill! One of the strangest and most chilling UFO investigations was the "Lead Mask" case from Brazil in 1966. If only because the two men had apparently walked to their death of their own accord... From UFOs, ALIENS, AND OUTER SPACE |