Twenty-five years ago, on April 5, 1994, the artistic world lost one of its most unique figures, Kurt Cobain. At only 27 years old, the Nirvana frontman’s death has left as much of a void today as it did in the ‘90’s. Their debut album, Bleach (1989), helped redefine the music scene as one of pure anger at the establishment — not necessarily the government, but the status quo in general (which extended through multiple topics from feminism to art). Nevermind’s (1991) release brought Nirvana to the forefront of pop culture, which is ironic because of Cobain’s disdain for popularity amongst the masses. Songs like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Lithium” dominated the radio; others like “Polly” showed a softer side that was not present in Bleach, while keeping the same lyrical mastery. Their last studio album, In Utero (1993) was one that Cobain expressed more pride in, even though the masses also enjoyed it (though they did so less than Nevermind).
To this day, Cobain’s death remains extraordinarily controversial. It was ruled a suicide by Seattle’s police force, but many (admittedly mostly Nirvana fans and former bandmates) think that he would never have taken his own life. This has left room for various conspiracies. One that has gained the most traction considers the possibility of a murder orchestrated by his wife, Courtney Love. In honor of Kurt Cobain’s 25th deathiversary, I will briefly explore this conspiracy, particularly because I think it offers the best explanation of what really happened (even more so than the official ruling of suicide). All the information I will provide comes indirectly from a private investigator on the case; everything he found was made into a film and published online (link here).
DISCLAIMER: The rest of the article puts forth a conspiracy that only presents one side of the story — the case against Courtney Love. Take everything with a slight grain of salt, as nothing supporting this has been officially proven.
For starters, the shotgun that was used to kill Cobain had no legible fingerprints and the body did not have gloves. This would already make no sense if this was truly a suicide. Second, according to doctors, he had so much heroine in his bloodstream at the time of death that it would have been physically impossible to pull a trigger. Therefore, if his suicide was an overdose, it would make sense; but once again, something relating to the shooting does not quite add up. A self-inflicted shotgun wound — given the evidence — just does not appear comprehensible.
But even if he was murdered, who is to say that Courtney Love had something to do with it? First, to show a bit of Love’s character, her own father claimed that she read books as a child regarding manipulation. After his death, Kurt’s “suicide note” did not mention suicide or serious dissatisfaction with life at all. In fact, the last five lines of the note were just about how much he loves Courtney; but, suspiciously, these lines were written in different handwriting than the rest of the note. Furthermore, the private investigator found that days before the death, there were samples of different handwriting styles in Courtney’s backpack.
At this point, according to the theory, it seems pretty clear that Courtney probably had something to do with Kurt Cobain’s death, but what would be her motive? Apparently, Cobain was considering leaving her around this time — recorded telephone conversations support (but do not quite prove) this. Courtney may have known that he was about to divorce her, giving her an incentive to want him to die so that she could keep all of his possessions. This is where the conspiracy gets really chilling: a musician, El Duce — who famously despised Cobain — stated on camera (link here) that Courtney Love offered him $50,000 to “blow his f—ing head off” and “make it look like a suicide.” El Duce originally agreed, but had to go on tour with his band first. While on the road, he found out that Cobain had died, with his head blown off. On camera, El Duce said that Allen Wrench was the murderer. Two weeks later, El Duce was found dead, mysteriously hit by a train. Allegedly, Wrench was the last person to see El Duce.
Evidently, then, Kurt Cobain could not have very likely committed suicide. In all likelihood, given all the evidence in this conspiracy, Courtney Love hired Allen Wrench to murder him and stage a suicide. The only caveat is that one would really need to have little faith in Seattle’s police force to think this conspiracy is true. I tend to think it is. The police investigations only lasted a couple days, and the private investigator who spent much more time on the case came out with a much different result that is based on much clearer evidence. I do not expect this case to ever be reopened, but on his 25th deathiversary, I would like to think that more people will give him the dignity to leave open the possibility that he was totally uncontrollable and suicidal as is so often portrayed to be.
Article by Shayan Shirkhodai