On April 8, 1994, at 8:40am in a quaint and quiet home in Madrona, Washington, Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana, was found dead with a shotgun wound to his head in the greenhouse above his garage. Also present was a cigar box containing drug paraphernalia, needles, lighters, etc. A "suicide" note was also discovered. From this scene, it is almost too obvious what happened; at least, that was the conclusion immediately drawn, and eventually made final, by the police. Yet, not everyone was so quick to close the case. Many remained skeptical on the issue. Some pondered the idea that maybe he was murdered, while others wish to leave it as is. I join the millions of people in the world that just don't buy into the suicide theory and that are curious about the details of the case, circumstances surrounding the murder scene, and the people closest to Kurt Cobain that could have been involved in his death.

"The voice of a generation was dead. Thus was the world ushered into a world without Kurt Cobain. For millions, April 8, 1994 became a day as indelibly branded into their memories as November 22, 1963, August 16, 1977, and December 8, 1980-the deathdates of JFK, Elvis, and John Lenno

To learn more, I gathered several resources to assist me in my study. Although I read each, most of my information comes from four resources. The book Kurt Cobain, Beyond Nirvana: The Legacy of Kurt Cobain, by Hank Harrison (father of Courtney Love, Kurt's wife), not only gives an excellent biographical story of Cobain's life, but also touches on subjects following his controversial death in '94. Hank Harrison examined the possible murder investigation alongside of Ian Halperin and Max Wallace, authors of Who Killed Kurt Cobain? The Mysterious Death of an Icon. Another source was not a book or movie, but a web site posted by Tom Grant, the private investigator hired by Courtney Love to find her missing husband that eventually turned against her based on his evidential findings. My final source was a controversial documentary banned from the Sundance Film Festival entitled Kurt and Courtney, which was a production of the BBC and directed by Nick Broomfield. It travels up and down the West Coast in search of answers, ranging from interviews in Seattle, Portland, and Riverside, to the Academy Awards and an ACLU Awards Dinner. Since all of my sources hover over relatively the same questions, this report will be a culmination of everything I have obtained in my readings from all three. The main points I will touch in this essay will be the various conspiracy theories surrounding Cobain's so-called suicide.

This paper is not aimed at pointing fingers at any particular person mentioned, nor do I fully believe each allegation made by Tom Grant or others. My only aim was to attempt to understand the situation and try to figure out why the case was closed without a rigorous investigation.

Halperin, Ian; Wallace, Max. Who Killed Kurt Cobain?: The Mysterious Death of an Icon. Montreal, Citadel Press, 1999.

n (Halperin 3,4)." Ian Halperin and Max Wallace tragically outline the day America was told another cherished icon had died. For many who did not know of Kurt Cobain, just another musician had emotionally crashed and killed himself. Some people, however, continued to explore other possibilities. Curiosity caught my attention after realizing how many others held the same speculations as I did.

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Approximate Word count = 1898
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)