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Death Is Not The End: Investigating The Kurt Cobain Case After 20 years – Part Two
SEE ALSO: Bleach, Blood & Lies: A look Back On The Death Of Kurt Cobain 20 years Later – Part One
Shawn Helton
In part one of our re-investigation into Kurt Cobain’s death, we discussed his rise to fame, looked at key forensic details, while also going over the events that had taken place in the month leading up to his death.
It appears as though the iconic singer did not die as a result of suicide, as aspects of his death seem to have many contradictions and unanswered questions, suggesting his sudden end had indeed involved foul play.
Below we’ll comb through more of the dark details in this compelling case….
IMAGE: Burning Bright - Nirvana performing during the In Utero tour.
The road to sobriety
Nearly a year before Kurt’s brief stint in rehab at Marina Del Ray, he had what some called a “miracle” in the summer of 1993. He had long suffered from incredible gastrointestinal pain and after seeing many specialists, it was revealed he had a pinched nerve that had been contributing to his stomach ailment. After this discovery, he was able to receive treatment and no longer needed heavy doses of heroin to kill the pain, changing his outlook on life dramatically. This prompted those around Kurt to notice this new-found reality, as his close friend Dylan Carlson is said to have noted:
“Kurt became a new person after that. He stopped retreating into the dark side that everybody came to associate with him and actually seemed cheerful. Part of it was Frances, I think, but the stomach thing was the most important.”
IMAGE: Kurt was found to have had three times the lethal dose of heroin in his body when found dead. His blood morphine level of 1.52 mg per liter post-mortem, indicated a 225 -240 mg per liter intravenous injection before his death. Experts have argued over the amount of heroin in his system but in order for him to have 1.52 mg per liter while deceased for at least three days, he would have had to have had a much higher dose. Most of those who have reviewed the case have gotten the amount of heroin in Kurt’s blood incorrect, producing a false outcome when looking at the results.
Courtney wanted everyone to believe Kurt was going to die and that he had dependency issues all the way up to his final days, carefully crafting a narrative of drug abuse to warp public perception, while also convincing the Seattle Police Department and the media of Kurt’s inevitable fate. We all know that Kurt had a heroin addiction for years but by all accounts it seemed as though he was starting to make some better choices in life. This excerpt is from Melody Maker’s August 1993 edition, where Kurt condemns drug use:
“I never went out of my way to say anything about my drug use. I didn’t want some 15-year-old kid who likes our band to think it’s cool to do heroin. I think people who glamorize drugs are fucking not very nice people and if there’s a hell, they’ll go there.”
In another interview with The Face in September of 1993, Kurt had this to say about his own mortality:
“I’m not in any way afraid of death…I’m afraid of dying now, I don’t want to leave behind my wife and child, so I don’t do things that would jeopardise my life. I try to do as little things as I can to jeopardise it. I don’t want to die.”
Now I realize these are just a couple quotes from the famed Nirvana singer but does this sound like a person that would be suicidal in the months leading up to their death?
Here was a quote from rock journalist Everett True on Kurt’s condition in the March 1994 edition of Melody Maker:
“Although it’s no secret that in the past Kurt Cobain has taken drugs, sometimes to excess, the last time we met (in Seattle, last December-1993), he seemed completely “clean”. That is, he was clean, optimistic and happier than he’d been for years….I knew that he’d cut down on his drug taking for a while….He hadn’t taken alcohol in any serious quantity for several years, that’s for sure.”
It’s important to remember, he also had a one year-old daughter who he seemed to be ecstatic about, displaying more of passion to live than at any other point in his life according to many who were around him at the time, as well as those in the music industry he played shows with.
It’s hard to imagine the father depicted in this photograph below would want to leave what his life had become.
IMAGE: A proud father – Kurt seen here with his daughter Frances.“I’m not going to say a damn word about it being tough; I’m having the best time of my life!” – Kurt Cobain speaking about his daughter in a Kerrang’s December 1993 edition.
The Peninsula and false reports
The last known contact Kurt had with Courtney was a phone call and message he made for her at the Beverly Hills Peninsula Hotel where she was staying on April 1st,1994 at 8:47 pm. Kurt’s message was confirmed according to hotel records, as it appeared to reference a person and phone number that would make sense to Courtney:
“Elizabeth’s phone number is (213)_______.“
Courtney never mentions this message at the time.
We should also keep in mind that when Courtney made the false police report posing as Kurt’s mother, Wendy O’ Connor, it gave her the chance to control the narrative of Kurt’s apparent state of mind – planting a suicidal seed for media and police:
“Mr. Cobain ran away from California facility and flew back to Seattle. He also bought a shotgun and may be suicidal.”
IMAGE: A vision of hell – Courtney was once married to Leaving Trains singer James Moreland (Falling James) in 1989. His thoughts on Courtney are eye-opening: “She definitely has an evil side. She once tried to burn my bed when I was sleeping.” It has been said that the pair had irreconcilable differences, as Courtney allegedly had extramarital affairs and threatened to pay someone to assault James.
Why would Courtney alter the details about the purchase of the shotgun, knowing how this report would be viewed and treated, you have to wonder, was that her intention all along?
Kurt of course bought the shotgun prior to going to rehab and had it fully loaded for protection at their Lake Washington residence, as he had been recently concerned for his family’s safety.
Later during the search for Kurt, Courtney stated that the shotgun could have been in a hidden compartment in her closet at the Lake Washington house.
On April 6th, Courtney made a call to Veca Electric to upgrade the security systems at their Lake Washington property, adding motion detectors and a new alarm system. This is why the electrician Gary Smith was doing work on the greenhouse when he discovered Kurt’s body on that dark day in early spring.
IMAGE: The mask of sanity – Michael Dewitt (Cali), was the former male nanny for Kurt and Courtney. It has also been said that he was involved in a relationship with Courtney prior to her meeting Kurt, he was a known junkie at the time of Kurt’s death. He left the Lake Washington house the day before Kurt’s body was found and Courtney reportedly gave him $30,000 for rehab treatment. Tom Grant suspects this could have been a payoff, reportedly Cali had been missing from the property sometime on April 2nd-5th but we do know he was at the property on the 6th. Cali was never subjected to a polygraph or treated as a suspect by police and only had a phone interview with them. Why wouldn’t Cali and Courtney make themselves available to search for Kurt?
The Hunt For Kurt
On April 6th, 1994, Tom Grant, Courtney’s private investigator, picked up Dylan Carlson to go over some background information about Kurt, locations about where he might stay or go, they agree to meet the next day to resume their search.
The next day arrives, April 7th, 1994, Tom and Dylan take a trip up to the Lake Washington house, calling Courtney to turn off the alarm system, as the pair gain access through an unlocked kitchen window. Dylan makes a comment that he had never seen the house this ‘clean’ before. The search turned up empty and the two decided to head out towards the Cobain’s carnation property, where they owned ’his and hers’ log cabins 30 miles outside of Seattle. When driving there Dylan says he has trouble locating the property in the dark. The two then turn back to Lake Washington.
A few days later Tom would eventually go to the carnation property and noted that there was a thin-film of moss on everything in Kurt’s cabin and that he couldn’t have been there. Tom theorized that Courtney tried to plant a syringe on the scene, trying to make it look as though Kurt had been there.
At 9:45 on the 7th, inside the Cobain house, Tom found a note in the main stairway from Michael Dewitt, the note pleads with Kurt to reconcile with Courtney, via a heavy-handed message seemingly placing blame and guilt on the missing rock star. The note appears in graphic novel style handwriting and seems out-of-place as it indicates that Kurt had come and gone from the property overnight but there was no evidence to suggest that. We must remember that Cali had been in and out of the house during that time, as Dylan and Tom noted his bed had been unmade in the room he stayed. Cali was also in constant contact with Courtney and from the timeline we know – he listed as the last person to see Kurt alive on April 2nd.
IMAGE: Some document examiner’s have suggested that Courtney wrote this letter and not Cali but being that she was in Beverly Hills at the time, that would have been nearly impossible to prove. Could it be that Cali was instructed to write this letter in Courtney’s style of writing, to further confuse authorities, as well as Tom Grant?
Dylan and Tom search the entire house but allegedly Dylan neglects to direct Tom to the greenhouse. Later when questioned about this, Dylan claimed that he didn’t think to tell Tom because it was a dirty storage room. However, it has been said that Cali had even roomed there before and did not appear to have much storage or be dirty. Dylan, was also in contact with Courtney during that time and had often stopped to check in with Courtney during the search with Tom. Wendy O’ Connor, Kurt’s mom, allegedly questioned why Dylan hadn’t looked in the greenhouse on April 14th when talking to Tom Grant as he had visited to talk with Courtney. Tom tried to have a conversation with Wendy on April 15th but she apparently declined.
In a May 1994 issue of the Seattle Times, Dylan told a reporter that he was completely unaware of the greenhouse:
“For all the times I’d been there, I didn’t even realize there was a room above it associated with the house”.
Why would Dylan say this just weeks after he had already admitted to Tom that he knew about the greenhouse room?
Dylan blatantly fabricated revision is alarming and she be taken seriously.
Did Dylan know about Kurt’s body prior to it being discovered, purposely directing Tom away from it and if he did know, to what extent could he have been involved in the potential cover-up?
According to Rosemary Carroll one of the Cobain’s attorney’s, Courtney asked Dylan to check her closet and to check the greenhouse during the search at Lake Washington on April 7th. This was later denied by both Courtney and Dylan.
Tom Grant has been on record stating that although he believes Dylan was used in Courtney’s scheme, he doesn’t think that Dylan personally had anything to do with Kurt’s death. No one can deny there is suspicion of Dylan though, at times he has been seen as evasive, misleading and defensive when discussing this case in interviews, doing little to put the theories around him to rest. In the documentary Kurt and Courtney in 1998 by Nick Broomfield, Dylan was said to be living with a drug dealer who was also in possession of an Uzi.
The strange reality was that even though Kurt’s band was a multi-million dollar success, he was still tapped into a mainline of junkies, drug dealers and unsavory characters in the underbelly of Seattle. The other reality is, that Kurt’s Hollywood overlords were not much better than the seedy culture he knew in Seattle, with Courtney Love’s legal team seemingly holding this story hostage for many years through apparent threats to radio hosts and journalists who were looking to expose the truth. 
IMAGE: April goes dark in Seattle - Kurt’s body is taken by authorities on April 8th, 1994, following his death at least three days earlier. There was said to be thousands fans gathered nearby to mourn is his death.
The burden of proof
Forensic evidence strongly suggests that the initial ruling in the Kurt Cobain case should be altered and many now believe that it should be reopened due to the findings of several field experts as well as Tom Grant, who has tirelessly worked over the details of this case for the better part of twenty years now. I should also mention Ian Halperin and Max Wallace, two Canadian journalist’s who covered Kurt’s death extensively, have said to have been harassed during the making of their books and their multi-media presentation’s on the Cobain case.
The cast of characters who may or may not have had a hand in the singer’s demise are most likely on a short list, especially when you consider those who stood to benefit the most financially from his untimely end.
Should Seattle authorities change the listed cause of Kurt’s death to that of – undetermined and not suicide?
This is a reasonable question when you consider the facts in the case, there were many anomalies at the crime scene, as police were seemingly caught trying to wrap this case up the moment they arrived at the Lake Washington residence. According to the SPD’s initial reports, they listed the crime scene as being consistent with that of suicide, before the homicide team had even had a chance to compile all the necessary information or process any of it, as an excerpt from the incident report confirms:
“They are requesting a homicide team at 171 Lake Washington Blvd. E. They are on the scene of a suicide.”
IMAGE: The Cobain’s Lake Washington residence seen here on April 8th, 1994 – This photograph depicts the entrance in to the greenhouse where Kurt’s body was discovered on the opposite side of the room to the left.
Incredibly, police had apparently determined Kurt’s ’cause of death’ before a full investigation had even begun. You can clearly see in the incident report below, that Seattle authorities had suspected the case to be a suicide from the onset, strongly setting the tone for how it would be viewed from that point forward.
On the second page of the police report, it outlines how Kurt could not have been barricaded himself in the greenhouse room, as the french doors that were near his body had been closed and unlocked with a stool close by and some garden supplies placed in front of them. There never had been anything lodged or pushed up against the doorway to impede access to the room from that side.
The elements of the police report directly contradicted an observation of the crime scene by Seattle Police Department officer Von Levandowski, suggesting that Kurt had locked and ‘barricaded’ himself in the room before supposedly committing suicide, this one line was later echoed in early media reports without retraction across the country.
Here is the line added at the bottom of the report referencing Levandowski’s observations at the scene that appeared after the initial report had ended:
“Levandowski observed that the French doors at the opposite end of the room were blocked by a stool, preventing access.”
IMAGE: ’Now you have many legs to Stand on’ – the gag stool in the greenhouse where Kurt’s body was found. It was placed in front of the French doors leading to the small balcony that overlooked the front driveway of the property. The SPD has recently released over 30 photos following the release of the first two unseen photos.
The french doors that were near the body did not provide access to the greenhouse, as they only opened to a small balcony overlooking the driveway and front of the main property at the Lake Washington residence. This was another crucial detail in understanding the layout of the scene and how it was distorted by police and media to better fit the overall narrative.
The doors at the rear of the greenhouse had been locked by a regular push and twist door lock that anyone could have locked when leaving the room or entering the room. There were no signs of Kurt being barricaded in the room, as it had been inaccurately reported.
Additionally, at the bottom of the same report, they had already concluded their was a ‘suicide note’ left at the scene, without it being examined by handwriting experts, or any other forensic persons. We should also remember the note from Rome later referenced as another suicide note, was destroyed by Courtney, as she has been on record stating Sgt. Don Cameron told her to do so.
The so-called suicide note penned in red, appears to have been mostly written by Kurt but when analyzing its contents it appears to be a letter to his fans telling them he would be leaving the music industry not referencing suicide. Tom Grant believes that a small but significant portion was added to the end of the note that was written in larger print. Handwriting experts have been conclusive in some cases as to parts of the note being written by someone else’s hand, and in some cases the results have been inconclusive.
The most notable examination took place on Unsolved Mystery’s by Forensic Document Examiner Marcel B. Matley, who had serious doubts as to who wrote the last four lines of the note:
“As to the last four lines, there are more than a dozen differences that should give us pause and we would have to reasonably explain these differences before we could conclude it was written by Cobain.”
Another document examiner Reginald Alton of Oxford University, also came to the conclusion that there was something amiss with the apparent suicide note, stating:
“There are many indications that there could be a second hand at work.”
Below is a close-up of the bottom of the note which appears much larger than the rest of the text. It was also written after Kurt had signed his own name, seemingly after the end of the letter.
Tom Grant had also received a contractual note from Courtney looking strikingly like the handwriting above. According to reports, Rosemary Carroll had discovered a handwriting practice sheet for forgery in Courtney Love’s bag shortly after Kurt was found dead.
Do you notice some of the similarities in the lettering?
There have been so many inconsistencies in the SPD’s investigation of Kurt’s death and entire the scene at Lake Washington residence. Perhaps the most glaring and bizarre inconsistency was Kurt’s death scene itself.
Kurt’s Remington 20 gauge was found on his chest as he was laying on his back with the barrel pointing upwards towards his mouth and head. The scene forensically seems to have many difficulties proving that Kurt was the trigger man in his own death as he would have had to be sitting up in order shoot himself.
How would this have been possible after injecting such a large amount of heroin?
Additionally, it has been said that the amount of heroin in his system would have given him between 10-20 seconds to pack up his drug box neatly and then get into an awkward position laying on his back with his head tilted up, then firing an apparent kill shot.
King County medical examiner Dr. Nicholas Hartshorne had overseen examining Kurt’s body. It was found out later that prior to becoming an examiner, he had been a punk band promoter and had even booked Nirvana’s third gig at the Central Tavern in Seattle. It’s fair to say, he probably should have removed from the case, considering how well he knew the deceased. He was also said to be a close friend of Courtney Love’s and they were reported as having contact over the years. Hartshorne later died in a BASE jumping accident in Switzerland, on August 6th, 2002.
Hartshorne, had been quoted as saying this case was a “classic suicide,” only to later say, it was a highly “unusual case.”
Here is a YouTube video depicting the documentary Kurt and Courtney. The film while interesting, fails to make any revelations in Kurt’s death. It also, gets some of the forensic details inaccurate surrounding Kurt’s heroin blood level.
Murder for hire
A twisted and abrasive character known as Eldon Hoke (aka El Duce) the singer for the over-the-top sadomasochistic band The Mentor‘s was said to have been offered 50,000 by Courtney to “whack” Kurt. Eldon stated that Courtney had pulled up in a limousine as he waited for a friend outside a record store in Hollywood called the Rock Shop, a few days prior to New Years Eve in 1993 around 8:30pm:
“I think Kurt was getting ready to divorce her for adultery charges,” claimed Eldon. “She had to have him whacked right away so she could get the money.”
IMAGE: Eldon Hoke aka El Duce – The depraved drug addict and alcoholic was also featured on a controversial and episode of Jerry Springer.
The deviant rocker was said to have passed a polygraph by one of the country’s best polygraph examiner’s Dr. Edward Gelb, Eldon passed with an extremely high rate. Dr. Gelb was also said to be the examiner who had logged O.J. Simpson‘s failed polygraph during his heavily publicized trial. Dr. Gelb has performed over 30,000 polygraph examinations since 1969. Eight days after appearing in the Documentary Kurt and Courtney, Eldon was found to have died of an accidental death after being hit by a train in Riverside, California. In Nick’s documentary, he mentioned that he knew who performed the hit on Kurt. He also referenced a con-man by the name of Allen Wrench who has fraudulently gained notoriety for claiming to have killed Kurt. There is nothing to substantiate that claim.
During Kurt’s intervention prior to rehab Nirvana’s manager and Atlantic Records vice president Danny Goldberg, was apparently quoted as discussing the star’s well-being “ (Kurt) denied that he was doing anything self-destructive,” also adding that Kurt was “extremely reluctant.” Danny is married to the Cobain’s attorney Rosemary Carroll, who was said to have been the ex-wife of famed writer James Carroll of The Basketball Diaries, also a well-known addict. Danny was also the person who unceremoniously removed Nick Broomfield from a podium at an ACLU event that Courtney was speaking at, she was subsequently discussing free speech in all forms of media.
The picture becomes clearer as to why Rosemary backed down helping Tom Grant so many years ago, when you consider her marriage and the industry she was up against. Record executives no doubt seizing the opportunity to turn the crisis into something profitable, apparently looked to Courtney to replace the image of her dead husband in female form. The sales would go through the roof for the supposedly grieving widow, who had just released a best-selling album days after Kurt’s death. She also inherited the entire Cobain estate and one-third of the Nirvana fortune. She was also said to have made millions from packaging Kurt’s notebooks for public consumption in 2004. If she had divorced Kurt she would have had a pre-nuptial to contend with making a large financial outcome unlikely.
Tom Grant taped many conversations between himself and Courtney Love and even though it’s illegal to record phone calls in the state of California without notification, Tom has been prepared for years to bring his information forward in a court of law to make a case that Kurt’s death should be looked at again. Many of these shocking audio recordings are on his website the Cobain case. Tom has maintained this case has always been in part about the large amount of suicides related to Kurt’s death and that future generations need to know the truth to put a stop to them.
Tom Grant has never been sued for any of the information he has released regarding this case, that should tell you something.
There are many theories surrounding Kurt’s death, some involving certain lowlife’s in the Seattle drug scene, some suggesting his opportunistic wife Courtney, as well as those the record industry who had a lot riding on the star. We may never know what happened to the iconic singer as he has seemingly been logged with all the other suspicious celebrity deaths over the years but this was a case that shattered a generation to its core and there are those who continue pour over its case files 20 years later.
Investigator Tom Grant claims to have even more damning information to prove foul play in this case but is waiting for this case to be re-opened by the Seattle Police Department. He’s been involved in the feature film ‘Soaked In Bleach’ that discusses the final days of Kurt Cobain’s life and the events surrounding his death. The film is apparently due to be released sometime in 2014.
Here is the trailer to Soaked In Bleach, featuring noted pathologist’s and private investigator, Tom Grant…
READ MORE HOLLYWOOD NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Hollywood Files
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Source: http://21stcenturywire.com/2014/04/12/death-is-not-the-end-investigating-the-kurt-cobain-case-after-20-years-part-two/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=death-is-not-the-end-investigating-the-kurt-cobain-case-after-20-years-part-two
