WARNING: The following information deals with the condition of Kurt Cobain's body when found at the Lake Washington residence in April of 1994. It is graphic in nature. There's no other way to discuss this without using some of the blunt and descriptive terminology already being used by others. If you're sensitive to reading graphic details, you may want to skip over this section.
The visual images created and promoted by Courtney Love and others are actually much worse than the true images left in the wake of Kurt's death. Contrary to popular belief, the shotgun blast resulted in VERY LITTLE VISIBLE DAMAGE!
This was an intra-oral discharge. The shotgun barrel was placed in the mouth against the hard pallet. The pellets from the shotgun blast remained inside the head. This was a "penetrating" shot that DID NOT EXIT.
As a result, there was no blood or tissue "splatter" typical in most shotgun blasts to the head. There was a pool of blood on the floor from seepage, and damage inside the mouth could be observed, thus the police report indicates, "obvious trauma to his head."
But, unlike the fake photos being passed around, and the grossly exaggerated visual images deliberately planted in the minds of Kurt's fans, THERE WAS NO GAPING EXIT WOUND.
Although drawn and slightly distorted due to the beginning effects of decomposition, KURT'S FACIAL FEATURES WERE ALL LEFT INTACT AND RECOGNIZABLE. He was fingerprinted for identification as a matter of procedure -- not necessity, as was falsely reported in the press.
The shotgun was a 20 gauge. This is a less powerful weapon than the more common 12 gauge shotgun. This shotgun, even with its "light load" set-up, would normally cause much more damage.
The lack of extensive damage was simply an aberration -- a fluke! It happens in a small percentage of shootings of this type. But there's no way anyone could have known in advance that this shotgun would not leave a much uglier mess. The fact that it didn't had as much to do with angle of discharge and skull thickness as anything else.
The Seattle Police and the Medical Examiner's Office are allowed to keep this information from the public because in the State of Washington the reports describing the condition of the body and the cause of death are considered "medical records." As a result, they are not released to the public or the press. This is done in order to provide the surviving family a certain amount of privacy and to protect the dignity of the deceased.
In many cases, the law is a good one. In this case however, this law has assisted in covering up the truth while the authorities, the media, and the"family" continue feeding the public false information.
Courtney Love consistently exploits the death of her husband. During interviews, she usually points out that she's wearing some article of Kurt's clothing, while she tells tall tales about the events surrounding her husband's death and his "suicidal" personality.
Courtney promotes false visual images by planting inaccurate and horrific details in the minds of already confused fans.
Responding to a question about writing lyrics during an interview inthe December 1994 issue of Rolling Stone, Courtney comments, "When you've had your husband's blood on your face, how can you write about it? When you walk around in the coat that he shot his head off in, how canyou write?"
During another interview, Courtney cries hysterically as she talks about the prospect of Frances ever seeing "a picture of him with his f__kin head blown off."
Courtney has known from the beginning that her husband's head was NOT "shot off" and any photos of a man with his head "blown off" are NOT photos of Kurt Cobain!!
So why all the drama? Why all the hype? Why does Courtney insist on promoting the ugliest, most violent image of the man she claims to have loved...an image she KNOWS to be untrue?...
No one has spread more "suicide" hype than Courtney Love.
No one has exploited and capitalized on Kurt's death more than Courtney Love.
No one has exploited Kurt's daughter more than Courtney Love.
And when it comes to the "privacy" of the family, no one has violated the dignity of Kurt Cobain more than his "professional widow."
Some readers have written to say they believe Courtney may have deliberately hounded and pressured Kurt to get him to commit suicide.This is a reasonable conclusion based on what we've seen and the limited information available to the public as of this date.
I seriously considered this possibility for several months after Kurt died. If this truly was a suicide, it became obvious from what I was learning, that Kurt desperately wanted to get away from Courtney. Maybe he just gave up and decided to end it all?
Inconsistencies, contradictions, and additional investigation eventually excluded this theory. This was NOT a suicide.
Aside from Courtney's hype about suicide, how much did you really hear from Kurt, his friends, and some of the writers who interviewed him?
In an interview in the January, 1994 issue of Rolling Stone, Kurt DID speak of being suicidal at one time. He DID say he thought about killing himself every day! But read carefully and you'll discover he was talking about a PREVIOUS PERIOD OF TIME.
"For five years during the time I had my stomach problems." After describing his physical torment, he concludes, "This is no way to live a life. I love to play music, but something was not right. So I decided to medicate myself."
Five years of agonizing pain!... and when it really came down to it, Kurt Cobain did NOT choose suicide as an option!
But there's more...
"I don't want people telling her, (Frances) that her parents were junkies." (Are we to believe he didn't care if she was told her father "blew his head off?")
"Carlson said Cobain did not seem suicidal."
"He was prepared to deal with things facing him."
"He said he wanted the gun for protection ..."
"Kurt was concerned if he bought the gun in his name, the police would come and get that gun too."
The gun WAS purchased in Dylan's name. One would have to wonder why Kurt would CARE that the police might eventually confiscate this gun if he was just buying it to kill himself with?
What about his condition while he was at the rehab in Los Angeles, just days before his death? According to an article in the Rolling Stone book, "Cobain," Neil Strauss reports, "Joe Mama, a longtime friend of the couple's who was the last to visit Cobain at Exodus: 'I was ready to see him look like sh_t and depressed. He looked so f__cking great. ' "
Kurt met with several psychologists at the rehab. In spite of Courtney's suicidal hype, none of these psychologists believed Kurt was suicidal!
Kurt was either fooling everyone... or Courtney was! Who should we believe?
It's interesting to me that the police fail to mention the countless INCONSISTENCIES here. For every item the police claim to be "consistent with suicide," I can list many more details surrounding Kurt's death that are NOT "consistent" with suicide.
Here are just a few:
Contrary to what you've been told by Courtney Love and the manipulated media reports we've all been force fed, Kurt Cobain had no motive for suicide!!
"When you do hard drugs, you're capable of doing anything," many have said.
Blaming Kurt's death ENTIRELY on his drug use is a display of ignorance and defies logic. If drug use was actually the ONLY reason this man allegedly killed himself, drug addicts who are a lot worse off than Kurt Cobain would be killing themselves by the thousands every day!
Drug addicts often don't care much whether they live or die. Many die from an accidental overdose because they get careless. But very few drug addicts DELIBERATELY kill themselves simply because they're addicts.
Whether on drugs or not, people who commit suicide have a reason...a "motive."
Occasionally some sadistic bully will post in one of the online folders simply to harass Kurt's fans. "Listen to his lyrics. 'I hate myself and want to die.' He's dead. He killed himself, people. Get over it!"
If you believe lyrics are to be taken literally, you're not paying attention to most of the music you listen to. If lyrics were meant to be taken literally, nearly every song writer would be either divorced, in prison, or dead!
What did Kurt have to say about these lyrics?
In the interview with Kurt published in the January, 1994 issue of Rolling Stone, David Fricke asks, "One of the songs that you cut from 'In Utero' at the last minute was 'I Hate Myself And Want To Die.' How literally did you mean it?"
KURT ANSWERS - "As literal as a joke can be. Nothing more than a joke. And that has to do with why we took it off. We knew people wouldn't get it; they'd take it too seriously. It was totally satirical, making fun of ourselves. I'm thought of as this pissy, complaining, freaked-out schizophrenic who wants to kill himself all the time. 'He isn't satisfied with anything.' And I thought it was a funny title. I wanted it to be the title of the album for a long time. But I knew the majority of the people wouldn't understand it."
Kurt was right. They didn't!
So to the sadists behind the harassing posts, I have to reply, "These are JUST LYRICS, people... Get over it !"
You may not agree with everything I've got to say, but if you're looking for simple answers in order to avoid a real evaluation of all the facts of this case... look no further. Go on about your business. This whole thing maybe over your head.
Kurt Cobain has been convicted by the police and the media of committing suicide. There has been no PROOF, only opinions... and those opinions have been BASED ON FALSE AND MISLEADING INFORMATION.
Look at what little evidence you've been given by the police. Besides being inaccurate, it's pretty weak, isn't it? Would a jury convict someone on this kind of weak evidence and speculation?
"Well, the POLICE say he's guilty, so... he MUST be!" Try pulling that off in a court of law!
The worst thing is that Kurt isn't even here to defend himself. He has no lawyer to act as his advocate against these accusations. He's totally at the mercy of the police, the media, and those who are exploiting and capitalizing on his death.
I've been criticized by some because they feel what I'm doing is going to hurt Frances.
For the past eleven years I've worked closely with a nationally known expert on child abuse. I've donated countless hours of my time consulting,and since becoming a private investigator, I've been paid for my work on several child abuse cases. As a father of three grown daughters and grandfather of seven, my concern for kids stems from the work I do and from my own life's experiences.
Unlike the majority of those who immediately pre-judged my motives, I've met Frances and watched her at play. How can I help but think about this little angel every day as I work on this case? With all the negative press condemning Kurt for his alleged "selfish act," Frances needs to know her father loved her too much to have done what he's been accused of doing.
Although many of you are already convinced Kurt was murdered, if you read the introduction to the Summary Of Events carefully, you'll notice I made it clear from the beginning that THIS information is not intended to"PROVE" murder.
When I say "Kurt Cobain was murdered," this is clearly MY opinion. But I'm trying to give you enough ACCURATE information here to explain WHY this is my opinion.
Additional information will be revealed when this case is re-opened that will lead the investigators down a path of discovery and this house of cards will fall.
The "proof" will then be presented in a court of law, not in the media... not on the Internet.
I've received information from a reporter that the Seattle Police Department is saying I was never employed as a detective with the L.A. County Sheriff's Department. If this is true... if this is what they're really telling the press, then whoever did the research on this one is either a bold faced liar, or a really poor investigator. From what I've seen so far, it's probably a combination of both!
During conversations with one of the Seattle detectives, I was reminded of the "years of experience" shared by the members of the homicide team. This detective said something to the effect of, "I think we know a suicide when we see one."
Experience can be a double edged sword. It often creates a cynical know-it-all attitude that can result in sloppy work and hastily reached conclusions. The Seattle Police Department seems to rely a little too much on the "experience" of their investigators, and not enough on the thoroughness of a legitimate investigation.
When a reporter from the Orange County Register asked detective Sgt.Cameron about Kurt's missing credit card, he responded, "We're not going to comment until we figure out what the hell Grant's after."
What the hell Grant's after !
What the hell IS Grant after?
The truth.