Kurt Cobain's Death Should Be Reinvestigated, Says Former Seattle Police Chief

Former Seattle Police Chief Would Reinvestigate Kurt Cobain's Death
(NO TABLOIDS) Kurt Cobain of Nirvana during Nirvana in New York, New York. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)
(NO TABLOIDS) Kurt Cobain of Nirvana during Nirvana in New York, New York. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

Spoiler alert: Director Benjamin Statler's docudrama "Soaked In Bleach" ends with former Seattle Police chief Norm Stamper saying he would reopen the investigation into the death of Kurt Cobain, if he were calling the shots today.

But Stamper was the guy in charge from 1994 to 2000, including the time of Cobain's death. He now insists that Seattle Police should "have taken steps to study patterns involved in the behavior of key individuals who had a motive to see Kurt Cobain dead."

He went on to to say that, "If in fact Kurt Cobain was murdered, as opposed to having committed suicide, and it was possible to learn that, shame on us for not doing that. That was in fact our responsibility. It’s about right and wrong. It’s about honor. It’s about ethics.”

Stamper hammered home his point, adding: “If we didn’t get it right the first time, we damn well better get it right the second time, and I would tell you right now if I were the Chief of Police, I would reopen this investigation.”

The movie, which is told from the perspective of private investigator Tom Grant, (who was hired by Cobain's wife Courtney Love to find her husband after he went missing from a rehab center in Los Angeles), is woven together through reenactments of the the hours of recorded conversations between Grant and Love, and interviews with experts who refuse to believe Cobain died by suicide.

The present-day Seattle Police Department do not share their sentiments. Last year, just before the 20th anniversary of Cobain's death, rumors began flying that authorities were about to reopen an investigation after it was reported they had developed four rolls of film from the crime scene that had been sitting in an evidence vault.

While the photos were released to the public, the Seattle PD made it very clear they were not reopening the case. “No change, no developments, no new leads,” a police spokeswoman said, while the department tweeted, "Our detective reviewed the case file anticipating questions surrounding the closed Cobain case as the 20 yr anniversary approaches."

The movie addressed the undeveloped film and reenacts a scene in which Grant is told the photos will probably never be developed because they "don't develop photos on suicides." "Soaked In Bleach" goes on to claim that "by their negligent death investigation," the Seattle Police:

  • Allowed Kurt Cobain to be cremated 6 days after being discovered.
  • Waited 30 days to process the shotgun for fingerprints.
  • Gave Courtney Love the shotgun to have it melted down.
  • Allowed the greenhouse crime scene to be torn down and destroyed.

Before You Go

Kurt Cobain

Kurt Cobain In Pictures

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