 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Kurt Cobain was a hugely influential rock star who changed the
face of music forever. So when he died suddenly at the age of 27,
it wasn't surprising that his untimely death would raise some questions.
The majority view is that it was suicide. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Nikolas Hartshorne
Kurt died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound
to the head. I have no doubt in my mind, not one shred of doubt,
that this is in fact a suicide.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
But there are some that believe otherwise. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Ian Halperin
I have to be inclined to think that there's a lot
of compelling evidence that points to a possible murder. |
|
|
|
|
| |
April 8th 1994, Kurt Cobain is found dead in the greenhouse at
his Seattle home. He had a shotgun wound to his head and heroin
in his blood. Medical Examiner, Dr Nicholas Hartshorne was among
the first called to the scene to determine the cause of Cobain's
death. |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
• Tom
Grant Audio Tapes
• Case
Photographs
• Case
Documents
• Crime
Scene
• Timeline
of Events |
|
|
|
Nikolas Hartshorne
This is probably one of the most classic cases
of suicide run on any textbook forensic medical examiner. The fact
that there was a suicide note left at the scene, point one. Point
two: the weapon is still at the scene and point three: the nature
of the injury. This was a contact shotgun wound to the mouth that
required the gun to be against the decedent's chest and with this
information makes it a classic textbook example of suicide. |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
But there are some who disagree with these conclusions. Authors Max
Wallace and Ian Halperin who wrote "WKKC?" believe that
Cobain's suicide may have in fact been a homicide. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Max Wallace
For us the most compelling evidence were three things.
First there were no legible finger prints found on the shot gun,
the box of shot gun cartridges or the pen to write the so-called
suicide note. Second there's a triple lethal dose of heroin found
in Kurt's system after he died and finally there were what seemed
to be two distinct sets of handwriting on the so called suicide note.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
• Television
• Radio
• Books
• Newspaper
• Links |
|
|
| |
Wallace and Halperin's skepticism about the lack of fingerprints
at the death scene is explained away by Dr. Hartshorne. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Nikolas Hartshorne
The lack, quote lack of fingerprints on the
gun is basically fallacy. The shotgun was examined by forensic
criminalists and there were latent finger prints on the gun. However
they were not legible. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Max Wallace
What they found were smudges of finger prints as if
somebody had tried to wipe these prints off. Dead men don't wipe
their finger prints off of their own shotguns. Unfortunately by the
time they determined this, by the time the finger print analysis
came back from the lab, they had already declared this as an open
and shut case of suicide and they refuse to comment on these discrepancies. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Another nagging problem with the suicide theory is the fact that
Cobain had an extremely high amount of morphine, the instant BI-product
of heroin, in his blood system. Proponents of the murder theory believe
with this excessive amount of morphine that actually killed Cobain,
possibly because someone he trusted gave him an extremely pure dose. |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Max Wallace
According to every forensic pathologist that we've
interviewed, it would've been impossible for him to have survived
this kind of dose for more than a few seconds. It would've been impossible
for him to have rolled down his sleeves, put away the heroin kit,
picked up a shot gun and shot himself. Dr. Hartshorne, the coroner,
admits that he's not an expert on heroin toxicity and I don't really
believe he understands the significance. |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
Ethics prevent Dr. Hartshorne from disclosing the amount of morphine
in Cobain's blood since that information is part of Cobain's private
medical records. However, Hartshorne's experience with similar cases
allows him to draw some parallels. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Nikolas Hartshorne
If an individual had that amount of morphine
in their blood would he be able to inflict a self inflicted shotgun
wound to the head? Absolutely. Recently I did a motor vehicle accident
where the decedent's driving down the road and either fell asleep
or drove off the side of the road but had a higher amount of heroin
on board than what the media is reporting Mr. Cobain had.
[Although Hartshorne cannot confirm the reported level his inference
suggests it is correct and in his opinion survivable] |
|
|
|
|
| |
But the most compelling evidence offered by Wallace and Halperin
lies in the alleged suicide note. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Max Wallace
The first part of the suicide note, if you read it,
it really doesn't refer to suicide at all. It sounds more like a
retirement letter from Kurt to his fans explaining why he's leaving
the music business. This makes sense. There were rumors that Nirvana
was in the process of breaking up at the time of Kurt's death. He
just pulled out of Lollapalooza and Dave Grohl recently admitted
Nirvana was breaking up at that time, so it makes sense that Kurt
would be writing a letter to his fans and that they would've felt
betrayed. The last four lines of the note definitely sounds like
a suicide. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ian
Halperin
It says "Please keep going Courtney for Frances for her life which would
be so much happier without me"
These apparent discrepancies caused the authors and others to suspect that it
wasn't a suicide note at all. |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Ian Halperin
If you see 'It would be so much happier', that part,
it looks to be added in a different pen. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Max Wallace
As two of the most renown handwriting analysts that
concluded this was written by somebody else not Kurt Cobain. This
was the only part of the note that actually would lead anybody to
believe that it was a suicide note. |
|
|
|
|
| |
But Hartshorne doesn't believe that the note has been altered,
and its content is proof of nothing. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Nikolas Hartshorne
Its irrelevant. I've read hundreds of thousands
of suicide notes which have talked about everything from not cleaning
the bathroom sink before they died to Aunt Agatha's cat. Everybody
writes their own suicide note in their own manner. |
|
|
|
|
| |
But beyond questions regarding finger prints, drugs and a suicide
note, there remains one underlying problem with the suicide explanation...
motive. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Ian Halperin
I heard at first a lot of innuendoes, a whole lot
of all kinds of theories being bandied about but the most common
one is that Kurt Cobain was very happy with his life at the time
of his death. He had a baby daughter, Frances Bean, he had reason
to live. He even made plans with his grandfather to go fishing a
week after he had died and he had cut down his drug usage quite a
bit. |
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Max Wallace
Nobody ever heard him talk
about suicide in the last few months of his life which is why I think
his best friend says that he's has changed. He wasn't suicidal anymore.
He told Rolling Stone magazine a few months before his death that
he had never been happier in his life. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Despite Dr. Hartshorne's conviction in the suicide declaration, he
is willing to reconsider if someone brings him solid evidence but
he says the murder theorist have only made unsubstantiated claims
so far. However Halperin and Wallace disagree claiming there is more
than enough evidence to reopen the case and both will continue their
fight until a thorough investigation is completed. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Ian Halperin
If they do a thorough investigation and say this was
a suicide, I'll accept it, but as we clearly point out in the book,
the police didn't do their homework. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 ........... |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
