3/12/2004

Carolina Taylor

Authors suggest, if she didn't, somebody did.

Ten years ago, Kurt Cobain shot himself, in an apparent suicide attempt. As lead singer for Nirvana, a group that served as the voice of an angst-ridden generation, his death caused a nation to mourn, and notice. Now on the anniversary of his passing, a new book has come out, that explores another possibility for his death. The lifestyle he lead at the time of his death, of drugs and fast moments, made news, and captured the music world for years. Now what's making news is that his death may not have been what it appeared. Courtney Love, his widow, who has made news lately for her own exploits, in and out of courtrooms, is bearing the brunt of the latest accusations in this book. In a press conference in Hilton Times Square in New York, there were charges levied against her that she may have contributed, and ultimately paved the way to his death. Considering Love has been facing misdemeanor drug and disorderly conduct charges, going through a custody battle, and hopping in and out of jail, many are looking at the singer a little more closely.  
  
The book titled "Love and Death: The Murder of Kurt Cobain" is bringing back the notion that circulated originally at the time of Cobain's death; that the rocker did not kill himself. At the press conference today, April 5, authors of the book, Max Wallace and Ian Halperin, appeared alongside Love's former private investigator, Tom Grant. Audiotapes were played, that are allegedly from Love's conversations with Grant. Grant was hired when Love first reported Cobain missing, and he has told reporters repeatedly, that something "was not right" about Love's version of the event of Cobain's "suicide".  
  
Both authors pointed to Love's behavior and statements at the time as being suspect, and thatmysterious "circumstances" surrounded the death as a whole. According to the audio at the conference, Love talked at length about another suicide note that wasn't put into evidence; one that Love told Grant, Cobain was leaving her. According to the tapes, Love also told Grant she had no idea where her husband was, which contradicts the evidence that she actually received a phone message from him and he had been seen earlier that day at their Seattle home.  
  
Halperin and Wallace are trying to prove these tapes somehow link to the forensic evidence and are accusing the singer of murdering her husband, and staging the event to look like a suicide. As was originally rumored at his time of death, they bring back to life the theory that Cobain would not have been able to pull the trigger of the gun used to kill him, due to the excessive amount of heroin in his system. They bring to light the fact that no "legible" fingerprints were ever found on the shotgun, so how could he have killed himself? They claim the suicide note itself appeared to be a forgery.  
  
NBC's "Dateline" aired a story on Friday arguing many of Halperin and Wallace's conclusions; claiming they interviewed five medical examiners, two of which said that Cobain had an admittedly high level of tolerance for heroine, and was therefore, quite capable of pulling the trigger that ended his life. They also agreed that it is possible for prints to be smudged off a gun when it recoils on firing. The three other medical examiners told "Dateline" that the information provided was found to be "inconclusive". Handwriting analysts that were showed the suicide note said the sample was inconclusive, and may have been similar to samples of Cobain's handwriting. Love has, and still does, maintain her innocence, and in this instance, the authors don't actually accuse her of murder, but the inference is there for all to read. Wallace was quoted as saying, "We spent eight years looking for a smoking gun, and nothing proves Courtney Love killed Kurt Cobain. We searched, and we searched hard." But they still make the accusations seem pretty compelling. And they are asking Love to come forward, and clear up any lingering doubts, by explaining why she allegedly filed two false police reports, and by allowing the release of the medical examiner's file on Cobain's autopsy results. According to Wallace, "she's sabotaged every effort to get it."  
  
The authors also insist that if she is not guilty, the killer is still out there, and that Love, "should get on the trail and find out who really killed her husband."