Kurt Cobain: Suicide or Murder?

 

Kurt Cobain is best known as the guitarist, primary songwriter, and frontman of Nirvana. His life ended at the height of his popularity and success. He was found in the area above his garage known as the greenhouse. Officially, Kurt committed suicide by shooting himself with a shotgun after taking Heroin. However, there is a lot of mysteries surrounding Kurt's death that has to make you wonder if this really was a suicide or if there was something much more sinister at play.

Private investigator Tom Grant has been leading the investigation in this case since 1994. Tom believes that someone else was with Kurt that day and that they gave Kurt a large amount of Heroin before killing him and making it look like a suicide. He is also convinced that Courtney had something to do with the death, and her bizarre behavior proves this is the case. Although, it could also be the fact that Courtney, was so messed up on drugs that she was unaware that her actions were making her look guilty of something. 

Official investigators, however, are convinced that Kurt's death was a suicide, ignoring all of the signs that suggest it wasn't. They claim to have no evidence of a homicide, and that might be true but they have even less evidence that this was a suicide.

What the public was never really told was that Kurt and Courtney were not getting along. Kurt wanted to retire and was planning on divorcing Courtney. Kurt was also walking away from a 9.5 million dollar contract to do the Lollapalooza Music festival and Courtney wasn't happy about it. She blamed this on his drug addiction and even went as far as to organize an intervention. The intervention was not planned well and even included junkie friends to help talk Kurt into getting clean. It is assumed that Kurt did not take such a gesture as genuine.

It was following a tour stop at Terminal Eins in Munich Germany, on March 1st, 1994 that Kurt was diagnosed with bronchitis and severe laryngitis. Kurt flew to Rome for medical treatment and was joined by Courtney on March 3rd. It was the morning of March 4th, that Courtney woke to find Kurt was unresponsive. He had accidentally overdosed on a combination of Champagne and Rohypnol. Kurt was rushed to the hospital and remained unconscious the rest of that day. After spending five days in the hospital, he was released and he returned to Seattle.

On March 18th police received a phone call from Courtney. She told them that Kurt was suicidal and locked himself in a room with a gun. The police arrived and confiscated several guns and a bottle of pills from Kurt. Kurt was insisting that he was not suicidal and went into that room to hide from Courtney.

The intervention happened on March 25th, 1994. There were 10 people involved in the intervention. This included fellow musicians, record company executives, and Kurt's best friend, Dylan Carlson. The intervention was initially unsuccessful, Kurt became angry and insulted everyone before locking himself into a bedroom. However, by the end of the day, Kurt agreed to try a detox program.

The following day, Courtney left Seattle and went to stay at the Peninsula Hotel, in Beverly Hills. It wasn't until March 30th, that Kurt and Dylan went out and bought a shotgun. The shotgun was for Kurt but was registered in Dylan's name because Kurt worried that the police would confiscate it. Kurt had also told Dylan that he wanted the shotgun for protection after he got out of rehab. He was afraid of intruders and bought this specific 20 gauge, set-up for a light load. This is the gun recommended by gun dealers for home protection because it will not penetrate the walls and endanger whoever is on the other side. It seems odd that Kurt would purchase a gun with this intended use, and use it for suicide.
It seemed that Kurt felt his life was in danger. With him walking out on the festival, he was costing a lot of people, a large sum of money. Kurt took the shotgun home and then jumped on a plane heading to the rehab center in Marina Del Rey, California.

While there the staff was unaware of any history of depression or prior suicide attempts. Friends who visited Kurt at rehab said that there was no sign of a negative or suicidal mind. He spent the day talking to counselors and happily playing with his daughter Frances.

On April 1st, as many as thirteen unanswered phone calls from Courtney to Kurt plagued the rehab center. Most of these calls were to the patient's payphone. Courtney would tell Tom she only spoke with Kurt once that day. It was on that evening that Kurt left rehab. He simply went out for a cigarette and climbed over a six-foot-high fence. It was at 8:47 PM that he called Courtney's hotel and left her a message. Giving her the phone number of a woman named Elizabeth. This of course was not mentioned to the media as it doesn't appear to be sent by a man who was suicidal.

Kurt took a taxi to the Los Angeles Airport and flew back to Seattle. It was while he was on the flight that he was sitting near Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses. Now, for those of you who don't know, Kurt held personal animosity towards Guns N' Roses, specifically, Axl Rose. Despite that Kurt seemed rather happy to see him. McKagan would later recall the memory differently, almost like he should have known something was off. None of Kurt's family or close friends knew where he was.

Kurt arrived in Seattle, early Saturday morning and was taken to his house by a hired driver. Kurt was seen by the live-in nanny Michael Dewitt better known as Cali on April 2nd, 1994. That night, Courtney planted a fake story with the Associated Press. She had a friend plant it anyway, stating that she overdosed and had to be rushed to the hospital. He was also spotted in numerous locations around Seattle on April 2nd and 3rd.

It was on April 3rd, 1994 that Courtney called Tom Grant about trailing Kurt, yet she did not mention that Kurt had been seen at the Seattle home the day before she called. Courtney had told Tom that someone was using Kurt's only credit card and she simply wanted to know who was using it. Tom had taken Ben Klugman with him to the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills. As soon as Courtney opened the door she said to them: “If you leak this to the press, I'll sue the fuck out of you.” She told them that her husband was Kurt Cobain and that he had just left a rehab center. She went on to tell them that she lied to the credit card company and had Kurt's card canceled.

Courtney went on to tell them that Kurt only had one card and that without the card he had no access to money. She claimed that Kurt had no friends and no one that would lend him money at all. This didn't make sense to either of them, so they questioned her further on Kurt's ability to get money for his needs. She responded by saying: “This guy can't even catch a fucking cab by himself.”

She explained to them about the story she had planted with the Associated Press, and how she did it in hopes to scare Kurt into contacting her. This was when she rambled in an angry rage about the 9.5 million dollars that Kurt just walked away from. It was then that she mentioned that she thought Kurt wanted a divorce. She mentioned the prenuptial agreement but commented that her name is on all the houses and assets.

Courtney admitted she had no idea where Kurt was, that he could be in Seattle but could also be back east, staying with Michael Stripe. She did not tell them that Kurt was seen at the house on Saturday, April 2nd. Cali would later say that Kurt went into Cali's bedroom in the early morning and had a short conversation. Cali had admitted that he told this to Courtney before she hired Tom.

Courtney had asked them to get a surveillance team on a drug dealer's Seattle apartment, and other places that Kurt might turn up. However, she refused to put surveillance on the house. It was on April 4th, 1994 that Courtney had told Tom that she filed a missing person's report while pretending to be Kurt's mother Wendy. This of course reached the media as Kurt's mother filing the missing person's report, and yet again another “person” claiming that Kurt was suicidal.

As they monitored the surveillance in Seattle they continued to work with the credit card company. That's when they learned that someone was trying to use Kurt's card for various purchases. Yet, Kurt was not spotted anywhere on April 4th.

Courtney claimed that Kurt only stayed in the best hotels. Taking her word for this Tom and Ben called various hotels from listings in the Seattle phone book. At one point they even thought they had found him under one of the alias' that Courtney had provided. Yet, when they asked her what she wanted them to do, she told them to just have the hotel watched. She claimed that she didn't want Kurt to know she was looking for him, and that was why she only wanted them to watch the hotel. However, not even an hour had passed when she calls them back and proceeds to tell them that she called the person at the hotel and that it is not Kurt.

By April 6th, 1994 Kurt still hadn't been found. Tom thought he'd be better in this investigation if he was in Seattle rather than California. He offered to travel to Seattle to search for Kurt himself. Courtney thought this was a good idea. But when one of her friends asked her why she didn't go to Seattle too, Courtney claimed that she had business in LA. Tom had asked Courtney not to tell anyone that he was going to Seattle in case they alert Kurt to his arrival. Naturally, Courtney ignored this and called Cali right up, claiming that Cali wouldn't say anything, yet she had previously stated she didn't trust Cali. As Tom was leaving, Courtney got to her feet and shouted: “Save the American Icon, Tom!”

It wasn't until 11:30 PM that night that Tom picked up Dylan Carlson at his apartment. The two of them went to a cafe and ate as they planned their strategy for locating Kurt and finding out the truth. According to Dylan, Kurt was not suicidal, and the Rome incident was an accident.

After they were done at the cafe, the two of them checked out a drug dealer's apartment on Capitol Hill and also checked out several hotels on the Aurora Strip, a place that Kurt was known to go from time to time. Tom had mentioned to Dylan the fact that Kurt only stays in the best hotels, and Dylan was actually confused. According to him, that was false information, that Kurt was actually known for staying in some pretty ratty places.

While they were driving, Tom had also asked Dylan if they should check out Kurt's mother in Aberdeen. But, Dylan said no. He told Tom that Kurt wouldn't go there, he didn't get along with his mother.

It was 2:15 AM, on April 6th, when they arrived at the Lake Washington house. Tom waited in the car while Dylan approached the house alone. This was the plan so that Kurt wouldn't see Tom and freak out. Dylan was gone for a long time, and when he returned he said he didn't find anything. However, Tom was suspicious because of the amount of time it took Dylan to return.

They called Courtney from a payphone, she had been at Rosemary Carroll's house. It was Dylan who spoke to Courtney, and he asked her to call and have the security system turned off so that they can go in and check the house for Kurt.

A little while later, they entered the residence through an unlocked kitchen window. One thing stood out to Dylan like a sore thumb. "I've never seen the house this clean before," he said to Tom. There was a television that was left on in a bedroom, and the bed was unmade but according to Dylan, this was Cali's bedroom. They did not find Kurt, there was nothing on the stairs, no gun, or nothing out of the ordinary. Tom searched the master bedroom and after ransacking the bed did manage to find a package of Rohypnol. When they were there, Dylan did not mention the greenhouse, and Tom could not see it because it was dark, and raining that night.

After a few hours of sleep, they started their search again. They checked some of Kurt's hangouts and spoke to people who might know where Kurt might be. They headed out to Kurt's property in a small town called Carnation which is 30 miles east of Seattle. It was here that Kurt owned two vacant cabins, that were situated on several acres of land. However, because it was dark out Dylan couldn't remember how to get there.

They stopped at a payphone and attempted to call Courtney, but she had gotten arrested and was in the hospital. When they did manage to get in touch with Courtney, she asked them to return to the Lake Washington house and look for the shotgun. She told them that she figured the shotgun was hidden in a compartment in her closet. Tom thought it was weird that she didn't ask Cali to do this.

It was about 9:45 PM by the time they returned to the Lake Washington house. It was when they went inside the house that they found a letter to Kurt from Cali laying on the stairs. The note had not been there the night before. Part of the note said: “I can't believe you managed to be in the house without me noticing. You're a fucking asshole for not calling Courtney.”

Tom felt that this note was intended for his benefit and not Kurt. It seemed that the note was placed there on purpose, as a way to make Tom think that Kurt had been in the house either during or after the time that he and Dylan checked the house. The note just seemed phony, and when Tom mentioned this to Rosemary, she too said the note seemed planted. Much like the fake story to the media.

On the afternoon of April 7th, Cali told his friends that he was going to LA. Tom would not get to speak to Cali in Seattle, it wouldn't be until weeks later that he'd talk to him in LA. However, it was almost as if Cali was avoiding him. Cali claimed that he hadn't been at the Lake Washington house since Monday because Courtney kept calling the house claiming that she knew Kurt was at the house.

But, this didn't make any sense at all. Because, if Cali was barely in the house, why would he find it hard to believe that Kurt managed to be in the house without him noticing? And if Courtney knew Kurt was in the house why wouldn't she allow them to watch the house?

It was Friday morning, on April 8th, when Dylan and Tom headed to the property in Carnation for a second time. However, once again they would not make it there. When they stopped for gas, Dylan went to make a phone call, and when he returned he had some news to share with Tom. Dylan told him that his friend said that there was a body found at the Lake Washington house.

They had no idea who the body was until Tom turned on the radio and it was announced that Kurt Cobain was dead. Even though he was Kurt's best friend Dylan had no reaction to the news. However, the news continued to go on to say that Kurt was found in the greenhouse. Tom looked at Dylan and asked him what the greenhouse was, and Dylan replied to his question with: “It's just a dirty little room. I think they keep some lumber in there or something,”.

Kurt's body was discovered by electrician Gary Smith who had arrived to work on a security system. Later, it would be revealed that Courtney was the one who called the electrical contractors. She placed the call on April 6th, the day Tom flew to Seattle. She instructed them to work on the lights and motion sensors specifically in the greenhouse! Gary described the position of the body and shotgun, but he also mentioned another strange fact. It appeared that a hairdresser had combed Kurt's hair. The electrician stated that his hair was all nice and even.

Apart from a minor bit of blood coming out of Kurt's ear, the electrician saw no signs of trauma. At first, he thought Kurt was sleeping until he saw the shotgun. The strangest part of the scene was that Kurt was holding the shotgun upside down, with his hand locked on the barrel upon death. This meant that the exit chamber was on the left of Kurt, but the shotgun shell was found on the right of him. There was nothing to the left of Kurt to make the shell ricochet either.

Another strange thing was that Kurt's credit card, the one he used to purchase his plane ticket to Seattle. The same card that Courtney had canceled was missing from the scene. The other odd thing is that while Courtney had canceled what she said was Kurt's only card, Kurt had two other Versateller cards in his wallet, as well as $120 on the floor, and $63 in his coat pocket. This helped Tom to realize that misleading information had been passed to him, the police, and the media.

But according to the credit card company someone had attempted to use Kurt's card as early as Friday morning, only a few hours before Kurt was found. This would prove even more interesting when Kurt's autopsy report came back, and it was discovered that Kurt had been dead for days. In fact, it is believed that Kurt died on April 5th. The day before Tom went to Seattle looking for him. The day before Courtney called the Electrical contractors. This meant that the entire time that Tom was at the Lake Washington house, Kurt was dead in the greenhouse. The one place that Dylan hadn't told him about from the beginning.

A so-called “suicide” note was found at the scene and addressed to Kurt's childhood imaginary friend Boddah. The strangest thing about this note is that the bulk of the letter, the part actually believed to be written by Kurt doesn't talk about suicide at all. Instead, it is a letter to Kurt's fans talking about retirement. Only the last 4 lines of the note mention suicide. These letters are much bigger than the rest of the letter, and appear to have been written by someone else and added to the letter. "Please keep going Courtney, for Frances, for her life which will be so much happier without me. I love you. I love you!"

This is the questionable portion of the suicide note. Handwriting experts have even determined that Kurt wrote everything but these last four lines of the note. However, Washington State Crime Lab is convinced that Kurt wrote the entire letter. That does not stop Tom, or thousands of people around the world from thinking that something horrible happened to Kurt on April 5th, 1994.

To make matters worse when the toxicology report came back, it left a lot more questions than answers.
There was not only a high concentration of Heroin found in his system. There were also traces of a tranquilizer drug, Diazepam found in his system. However, when we say high concentration of Heroin, we mean it. Kurt was injected with 3x a lethal dose of Heroin. His heroin blood level was 1.52mgs per liter. This meant that Kurt would have to inject a minimum injection of 225mgs of heroin, which is 3x a lethal dose for even a hardcore Heroin addict.

Not only would Kurt have to inject that into himself, but put away the kit before picking up the shotgun, and killing himself. It would be near impossible for him to have done because that much Heroin in his system wouldn't allow him to do so. It doesn't make any sense at all.

If Kurt really injected himself with that much Heroin, could he have had the ability to pick up the shotgun, let alone pull the trigger? Why would he even bother shooting himself after taking that much Heroin if Kurt wanted to die?

The police and the media also reported that Kurt was “barricaded” in the greenhouse, but this just wasn't true. The lock on the greenhouse door was a push and twist lock, that anyone could have locked the door after the fact. The stool they claim was wedged against the door was actually just sitting in front of the unlocked balcony doors. Kurt also did not leave his Driver's License out to be identified. This was taken out of his wallet by an officer on the scene to take photographs. It was not left out by Kurt as the media suggested.

To make things even stranger, there were no legible fingerprints found on the shotgun, the shells, or the pen. Not even Kurt's. The police have an excuse for that too, as they said that the prints could have been smudged off when Kurt fired the gun. But what about the pen and the shells?

Tom believes that the Seattle Police Department and the media were manipulated into thinking that Kurt was suicidal from the beginning so that when they found Kurt's body, no one would question it. But, who planted the thought of suicide? Ironically, that was Courtney too.

It was Courtney, not Wendy who filed the missing person's report. Courtney filed it in Wendy's name most likely to have one more person back up the suicide claims. In the missing person's report, Courtney clearly stated, “Mr. Cobain ran away from California facility and flew back to Seattle. He also bought a shotgun and maybe suicidal.” Not only does the wording of the report make it look as if Kurt purchased the shotgun after rehab, but it once again makes him look suicidal. It also fails to mention that Kurt was last seen at the Lake Washington house. It was also after Kurt's death, that Courtney started to say that the Rome incident was also a suicide attempt. Courtney also denied that Cali seen Kurt at the house, which made no sense given the letter that was found on the stairs addressed to Kurt.

As bizarre and questionable as the death of Kurt Cobain was, the behavior of Courtney and those around her just got even more bizarre as time went on. By this point, Tom was already suspecting Courtney's involvement in Kurt's death, but the events that followed would seal the deal for him.

For starters, Courtney wasn't upset with Tom and Dylan when they hadn't found Kurt. She also acted as if Kurt had died the night before, if that would have been true, if they had found Kurt, they might have been able to save him, but Courtney just didn't seem to care about that.

Tom had met with Rosemary Carroll on April 13th in her Hollywood office. She too was suspicious about Courtney's involvement in Kurt's death. Rosemary too, insisted that Kurt was not suicidal. Rosemary told him that it was just a few weeks before Kurt's death that Courtney had called and asked her to find the “meanest, most vicious divorce lawyer” she had also asked if the prenuptial agreement could be voided. However, Kurt called Rosemary around the same time. He wanted to take Courtney out of his will. Rosemary told Tom that Courtney wouldn't let her or anyone else see the suicide note. However, she's confused as to why Courtney didn't go to Seattle with Tom because she didn't have any real business in LA.

According to Rosemary, On Thursday, Courtney had told Dylan to check the greenhouse. It is odd then as to why he didn't check it. It was also unclear as to why she hadn't gotten Cali to do this. Courtney returned to the Peninsula Hotel and called 911. She had “Overdosed” again, and had gotten arrested. Because she told Dylan to check the greenhouse, you can almost see a planned sequence of events.
Tom and Rosemary both agreed that it would be best for Tom to return to Seattle and investigate the case a little more. But, Rosemary was adamant that Courtney not be told about these conversations between Tom and Rosemary.

Tom arrived in Seattle at 6:30 PM and checked into a hotel. It wasn't until the next day that Tom headed down to the Lake Washington house, and a security guard let him inside. He found Courtney inside and sitting in the dining room. Upon seeing him Courtney commented: “I guess I really found the right P.I. this time.” Following a brief conversation, Courtney got up from the table to light a cigarette. That's when a lady walked over to Tom wearing a black T-shirt that read: Grunge is dead. She asked if he was the investigator, and what he thought. Tom had no idea who this lady was so he replied with: “I don't know, what do you think.” She introduced herself as Kurt's mom, and she too claimed: “something doesn't feel right” she also brought to attention the fact that Dylan didn't check the greenhouse.

During this entire conversation, Courtney kept looking over her shoulder as if she was uncomfortable with the conversation that was taking place. Tom had actually asked Wendy if they could talk in length sometime in the next few days, and Wendy had actually agreed. But, then Courtney returned and whispered something in Wendy's ear, and Wendy's manner toward Tom seemed to suddenly change. She was suddenly cool and evasive.

It was after this that Courtney took Tom upstairs and showed him the alleged suicide note. Tom had pointed out that when he heard her reading the note on TV that she said, Kurt was laying on the bed. Tom pointed out that before he ransacked the bed it was perfectly made and no one had been in it. Courtney corrected him, saying that it was her who was laying on the bed. She showed Tom the note, he scanned the letter for the line. Then he pretended that he needed his glasses to read the note, and tricked Courtney into allowing him to copy it. She agreed but she didn't seem very happy about it.

They made plans to go out to the Carnation property that day as well. Courtney informed Tom that Eric Erlandson (guitarist of Courtney's band Hole) was going to go with them. However, when Eric arrived Courtney took him into another room, and when they returned Eric had left. When Tom asked Courtney about Eric she told him that Eric was going to meet them there.

When they left the house they were followed by a couple of news vans, which Tom was able to ditch. At this point, Courtney and her friend Kat Bjelland (guitarist for Babes in Toyland) were in the back seat. Courtney was talking about the “son of a bitch” who leaked the phony story about her fake overdose. She was agitated and grumbled: “I'm going to find out who the hell it was and sue that motherfucker for libel. I can prove I was at the hotel. People saw me there. It was a total lie.” Tom reminded Courtney that she had told him that she had planted the fake story herself, she basically said: “Huh... oh,” and looked out the window.

They had actually missed a turn when Courtney conveniently couldn't remember what road to take. So they ended up getting lost. They stopped for directions from a nearby farmer. One of the buildings on the property had just been built. Courtney would have been to the property several times, therefore she knew the way. Had she deliberately delayed their arrival?

Tom soon realized the two buildings reflected Kurt and Courtney's personality and lifestyle perfectly. One of the buildings was an old weathered cabin, which was filled with well-used furniture and bedding. It looked like the home of someone living in poverty, and Tom knew by now this is where Kurt found it the most comfortable. The other was a brand new wood-sided mansion that had yet to be furnished. An exhibition of success and wealth, this was obviously the personality and lifestyle of Courtney. These buildings were separated by a pond, in which a newly constructed walking bridge joined the old with the new.

The group went into the old cabin first, and Courtney and Kat went directly upstairs while Tom looked around downstairs. There were a man's jacket and other articles of clothing spread around the living room. There was also a box filled with at least 30 Rolling Stone Magazines near the coffee table. However, everything in the cabin was covered with a thin layer of moss, which made it obvious that no one had been here in some time.

However, when Courtney came downstairs, she actually tried to convince Tom that Kurt had been there at the Carnation property when she showed him a cloth pouch, that contained a syringe. “Look, Tom. Kurt was here.” She had said. However, it was at that moment that Kat went into the bathroom and screamed. Upon investigation, Tom found five dead rats in the toilet, making it even less unlikely that Kurt or anyone else had stayed at the cabin.

It was of course, in the new house that they found a sleeping bag, cigarette butts, and soda cans scattered about. Courtney wanted this all collected so that she could have them tested for fingerprints. It wasn't until Tom told her that fingerprints can be duplicated using a silicon material that Courtney dropped the talk about testing these items for fingerprints. The weirdest thing of all was that the entire time they were there, Eric never showed up. Which led Tom to suspect that Eric had been to the property before them, and he had planted those items that Courtney had wanted to be tested.

It was on the way back that Courtney was on the phone with Narcotics Detective Antonio Terry. It turns out that she had been talking to him the entire time that Kurt had been missing. This detective was even mentioned in Kurt's missing person's report, to have more information about Kurt. The conversations in the car on the way back also made Tom believe that Courtney was still thinking more about herself than Kurt. Tom was certain that Courtney was obsessed with her career.

It was when Courtney was out of the car for a brief time when Tom heard something on the radio which was both alarming yet made sense more than anything else. The commentator Paul Harvey, was talking about a rumor surrounding Kurt and Courtney.

Apparently, the two of them had a suicide pact. Now while the story seemed just as phony as other stories that had been planted in the media by Courtney, it also made sense out of some of the events if Courtney had known Kurt had been dead. It was as if Courtney was creating a series of events that could be strung together to suggest that not only was Kurt suicidal but that Courtney was the victim in all of it.

Tom believed that when Courtney “Overdosed” and got arrested, it was because she was convinced they were going to find Kurt dead, only Dylan for reasons unknown did not bother to check the greenhouse. This attempted “suicide” would make it look like they had planned it and yet Courtney would survive. At least that's how it looks.

By now, Tom was already suspecting that Courtney at least knew more than what she was saying and that she was keeping vital information from Tom. Information that proved Kurt's death wasn't a suicide.

You would think that if a Private Investigator was telling her that they thought her husband was murdered that she would participate 100%. However, Courtney did the opposite of co-operating with the P.I. she hired and started doing things that would hinder his investigation.

Tom had told Courtney, that he wanted to speak with Cali and Dylan together. At first, Courtney claimed that Cali was in rehab in either El Paso or Georgia. Then she changed her story and said that Cali was in LA with some friends. Courtney asked Eric to call Cali and request that he return to Seattle immediately. However, when Dylan arrived Tom had been in the kitchen, and when Tom entered the room to look for him he was told that Dylan was upstairs with Courtney. When they came down, it was obvious to Tom that Dylan had just gotten his Heroin fix.

Tom had taken Dylan into the kitchen away from the others, and more importantly Courtney. Tom started to question Dylan but ran into a few unexpected problems. For one Dylan's answers seemed canned, it was as if they had been prepared and rehearsed. To make things even worse, Dylan kept nodding off from the Heroin. Annoyed, Tom left the Lake Washington house, giving Eric instructions to call him when Cali had arrived in Seattle.

However, after several hours of not hearing from Eric, Tom called. Eric had informed him that after he left, Courtney got on the phone and told Cali that he didn't have to come to Seattle after all. Eric expressed his own concern claiming: “I don't know what's going on here!”.

On April 16th, Ben Klugman flew down to Seattle to help Tom with the investigation. They returned to the Lake Washington house to talk with Courtney but were informed that Courtney was sleeping. Tom asked the lady who answered the door if they could talk to Wendy. But, she returned a few minutes later, saying that Wendy has nothing to talk to them about. They left and followed up on some leads before returning to the hotel.

Tom was really curious about the notes. He had several of these documents examined by two professionals. It was really interesting because when it came to the letter from Cali to Kurt, both of them felt as if it were Courtney who wrote this letter. With all the information that Tom had, he figured he needed to go to the Seattle police department. He met with Sgt. Cameron, the lead homicide investigator that was assigned to the case, about a week after Kurt's body had been found.

They talked about the numerous inconsistencies, the missing credit card, and continued activity after Kurt's death, the fact that Courtney specifically told Dylan to check the greenhouse and Dylan had not, the phony letter on the stairs, and the fact that two examiners felt that Courtney wrote the letter. They talked about the doubts that Kurt wrote all of the alleged suicide note, that the 4 lines that mentioned suicide seemed suspicious. They also talked about the electrician's comment about how Kurt's hair had been combed. They also spoke about Courtney's motives if she was involved with the death.

Kurt was planning on divorcing Courtney, and if that happened, Courtney would get a low percentage of assets if anything at all. However, if Kurt committed Suicide, Courtney would inherit and control the entire Cobain and Nirvana estate. Kurt's record sales would skyrocket causing her to earn even more money, and the publicity of all of it would launch her own career.

However, Sgt. Cameron wasn't convinced. The fact of the matter was that the Seattle police department viewed Kurt's death as a suicide from the moment that Kurt's body was found, and declared it as such the same day. This was highly due to the number of times Courtney had planted that Kurt was suicidal during the time that Kurt was missing.

When Tom asked to see the photographs, Sgt. Cameron admitted that they didn't develop the pictures and probably never would because they don't develop pictures of a suicide. Tom would find out this wasn't totally the truth as officers had taken 23 Polaroids on scene. So, they did have photographs that Tom could view, although he has never seen these photographs.

Tom had even asked Sgt. Cameron about the locked door, and how the lock wasn't a deadbolt but a push and twist lock. Sgt. Cameron, rather annoyed at this point insisted that the stool was wedged against the door, but of course, Tom knew that this wasn't the case.

Tom spent the next few weeks examining the documents himself. His tests concluded that Cali did indeed write the note left on the stairs for Kurt. One of the examiners admitted her mistake, the other had been convinced of her original opinion. Nevertheless, Tom contacted Detective Kirkland to retract his statement that Courtney wrote the note, but he didn't see the significance in this. It was apparent that the Seattle police department wasn't taking Tom seriously.

Tom then studied media material and found it filled with planted stories about Courtney. One of these stories included her being at home grieving when in fact she was at Canyon Ranch in Arizona where she was sleeping with Billy Corgan only three weeks after Kurt died.

By May 18th, Tom had just about enough of running around in circles. He wrote Courtney a letter explaining his suspicions concerning her and her connection to Kurt's death. Tom expected an angry response from Courtney or even a reaction to the letter. Instead, she contacted him with more work for him to do that was unrelated to Kurt's case. The work was always real time-consuming and it kept him on the payroll. Every time that Tom attempted to talk to someone close to Courtney about Kurt, Courtney seemed to find him another job to keep him busy. Tom believes that Courtney assumed he would stay quiet as long as he was getting paid. This became even more obvious when he completed the work but Courtney didn't seem to even care about the results.

The strange part about things was that she verbally encouraged Tom to continue to investigate Kurt's death, but continuously sabotaged his efforts to collect any information on Kurt's death. However, Tom eventually took advantage of the fact that Courtney wanted him close to keep tabs on him. During the time that Kurt was missing, Courtney often told Tom that she happened to think that Kurt was with Katlin before he died. Katlin was a drug dealer in Seattle. They had been watching her apartment and videotaping visitors to the apartment. Not once had Courtney asked to see these tapes.

Once Tom was finally able to sit down with Cali, he had told Tom that he had checked the greenhouse on Sunday, but never bothered to look after that. Like Dylan before him, Cali claimed: “It's just a dirty gross little room.”. In reality, the greenhouse was a rather large, clean room. Measuring 19' x 23'. Ironically, in the May 11th, issue of the Seattle Times, Dylan claimed that he didn't even know such a room existed by saying: “For all the times I'd been there, I didn't even realize there was a room above it associated with the house.”. This like a lot of things within this case was a direct lie. Dylan had known about the room, Courtney had told him to check it, he ignored it, and then he told Tom it was a “dirty little room.”

Several weeks after Kurt's death, Courtney had given Cali $30,000. This was said to have been money for rehab, back east. Courtney had become angry when she learned that he took his girlfriend with him. Tom couldn't shake the feeling that this seemed more like a payoff than anything else.

If you look into the Seattle police department's records, you will find evidence that the shotgun wasn't even checked for fingerprints until 05/06/94. This seems strange as they ruled the case a suicide the same day as they found Kurt's body. The reports also mention the missing credit card but
gives no explanation as to where it might have been.

There was a series of strange deaths that followed Kurt's death, that seemed suspicious. Firstly, the murder of Narcotics Detective Terry on June 4th, 1994. He was the first in nine years to be killed in the line of duty. Although his death seems to be a coincidence and in no way connected to the Cobain case, this seems interesting given his connection to the case.

However, the most interesting “coincidence” was that on June 15th, 1994. Kristen Pfaff who was the bass player of Hole actually died of an alleged overdose. She was found in the bathtub of her Seattle apartment's bathroom. What makes this death interesting, like Kurt, Kristen was planning on leaving Seattle, Hole, and Courtney. In fact, the U-Haul was already packed. Kristen had planned on leaving the very next day. It was also during an interview that Courtney admitted to being in Seattle the night Kristen had died, saying that she had to drag Eric away from her body.

To make matters much worse were the copy-cat suicides that were happening all over the country. Kurt's fans were having a time accepting the death of their icon, and while they were grieving they viewed it as Kurt took the logical way out, so they followed him.

However, even after the bizarre circumstances with Kristen's death, police saw no problem returning both the original “suicide” note and the note from Rome to Courtney, on June 17th, 1994. In the Seattle police department's eyes, Kurt Cobain killed himself and there was nothing to be suspicious about.

Tom had tried to talk to Cali again, but every time he tried, Courtney would find more unrelated work for him to do, to occupy his time. Eventually, she would try to get Tom to sign a confidentiality agreement. She also wanted both Cali and another friend of hers, Renee Naverette to sign a confidentiality agreement as well. Courtney had known Cali for years, and he even lived in the house, why did she want him to sign one now?

It was the December 15th issue of Rolling Stone Magazine that really paved the way for Tom's suspicions. It featured an interview with Courtney Love, and the article in question painted the very psychopathic personality that Tom had seen over the months he had been investigating Kurt's case. But, more disturbing than all of that is Courtney was once again going out of her way to painting Kurt in the suicidal light. She goes on to tell this story about Kurt bringing a gun to the hospital when Frances was born. In the story, Courtney heroically takes the gun from Kurt and says: “I'll go first, I can't have you do it first. I'll go first.”

This story is again hard to believe. Even if we ignore the fact that Kurt loved his daughter, and this day would have probably been the happiest. It just seems to lean heavily on the fact that Kurt was depressed, that he thought about suicide constantly, and that this was a guy who would continuously attempt to take his life until he eventually succeeded. It made no sense. Courtney was so absorbed by trying to convince everyone that Kurt really committed suicide, that she threw her own daughter under the bus. She painted this image that her father was so depressed by her birth that he wanted to kill himself, which meant that perhaps she didn't think it through to the end. However, she also let it slip in this interview that there had been a second suicide note, written just for her.

However, when Tom asked Courtney about this second suicide note she claimed that she found it under her pillows. This was impossible, Kurt was dead by April 5th, and Tom ransacked the bed on April 7th, and here Courtney was saying that she found this second note from Kurt tucked neatly under her pillows that Tom had thrown about the room. How could it be both?

 Ignoring this Tom had asked Courtney why she didn't tell him about the second note. She claimed that she didn't think it was necessary. She claimed also that she had told Sgt. Cameron and Rosemary about the second note. Again Tom knew this to be false, if Rosemary had known about a second note, she would have told Tom about its existence. Also, if the police had been aware of this note it would have been in the police reports and it wasn't. The second note apparently says: “You know I love you, I love Frances, I'm so sorry. Please don't follow me... I'll be there, I'll protect you. I don't know where I'm going, I just can't be here anymore.”

The reason Courtney kept this second note secret was that she knew it confirmed that the note found at the scene was a retirement letter. That of course, is assuming she didn't write the note herself, which of course she very well could have, seeing how she was caught in a lie about where she had found the note, to begin with. Kurt was simply leaving the music industry, he was leaving Seattle and he was leaving Courtney, that's all he was planning to do, and Courtney, she knew this.

There was no actual “suicide” note. Experts who have examined the note have even said that the words:
“which will be so much happier without me,” Had been added to the note, after the bulk of the note was written, and by another hand. Tom himself has examined this note, and he had concluded that when enlarged on a copy machine, the inconsistencies become very clear. The inked printed line of that critical comment is much thinner than the ink printed lines on the rest of the document. This says one thing, the line was added after the rest of the document was completed. Also, the pressure of the hand used to write this one line was also not consistent with the pressure used by the hand that had written the bulk of the note.

According to Courtney the note Kurt wrote her in Rome mostly trashes her, but she claimed that this too was a suicide note, focusing on one line of the note yet again. “Dr. Baker says I would have to choose between life and death. I'm choosing death.” There is no way of knowing if this line was even in the note from Rome, but it's safe to assume that the doctor was not telling Kurt to commit suicide. Why would a doctor plant ideas of suicide in a patient's head? It was more likely, that the doctor was telling Kurt if he continues to use drugs, they would eventually kill him.

It was no secret that Kurt was severely addicted to Heroin, Kurt's response in this note was likely in the context that he was going to do what he wanted, even if it would eventually kill him. Given the fact that Heroin withdrawal involves physical pain to the point of torment this would be the typical response of any severe addict who is afraid or not ready to kick the addiction. It is safe to assume that this line was twisted by Courtney into another thing she could use to convince the world that Kurt Cobain was suicidal and eventually succeeded in killing himself.

The doctor in Rome was convinced that the incident was an accident, he even said that: “Kurt did not seem like a young man who wanted to end it all.” No one ever claimed Rome was a suicide attempt until after Kurt died. Before he died, even Kurt himself stated that the note in Rome was not a suicide note. This was a story put together by Courtney after Kurt's death.

Kurt's body was released only a few days after he was found, Courtney had him cremated immediately. Courtney claimed that on advice from the police the Rome note wouldn't do her any good so she burned it. The shotgun was also returned to Courtney, and she had it melted down. To top it off the greenhouse was also destroyed. To this day, the police and Medical Examiner have no forensic evidence that proves Kurt's death was a suicide. With that being said, there is a substantial amount of evidence suggesting murder. The question is what do you believe? 


Listen to Kurt Cobain's thoughts on Depression, Suicide, and the future of Nirvana:

Listen to the "Suicide note" 

Listen to Courtney talk about Kurt

And Again here where she chillingly says: "I usually get what I want."
As well as directly talks about Kurt

Watch Tom Grant and Ian Halperin talk about the mysteries surrounding Kurt's death.

Was this simply a suicide? Or did someone or multiple people murder Kurt Cobain, and made it look like he committed suicide?