by Max Wallace
Although he declines to elaborate on the new evidence he has gathered, a hint may be found in an interview Harrison granted to a Nirvana Internet fan site in 2000. Asked whether he thinks Cali might have murdered Kurt because he was the only person known to have been at the house at the time of Kurt’s death, Harrison responds,
That’s just bullshit. Who told you that? Grant? Did you know that the alarm was turned on and off seven times between Easter Sunday and the time the body was found? Also remember that the body was located by the alarm system employee, Gary Smith, who was dispatched to the house because Courtney put a rush order in for lights on Tuesday night after she got out of jail the 6th. Kurt was dead by that time and about five people knew where he was. Tom Grant and Dylan Carlson only account for 2 code entries and neither Tom nor Carlson had the code unless you think maybe Tom Grant did it. I have the alarm service records. Cali left town by car on Monday and did not stay at the house after Sunday. He crashed at his father’s house in Seattle because his father is a contractor. In fact, Cali’s father was the same contractor who did the tear down and refurbish job two years later. So Cali may have slipped him the GHB or Rohypnol but probably did not do the shotgun part. Whoever did the shotgun part knew all about guns, but what you must remember about the alarm code is that whoever did it had the code. Several people had the code…. Kurt died in the house, probably in the living room and was dragged out. They took him up to the greenhouse and shot him, but the thing is that by the time they got him up there hours and hours went by.
Though Harrison’s comments cry out for elaboration, he declines to say anything further about what he has found, claiming he is saving the evidence for his as-yet-unpublished book. But he does disclose that he recently found a letter that Courtney sent him when she was a teenager—a letter that convinces him more than ever that she had something to do with Kurt’s death. In it, she writes, “I’m going to marry myself a rock star, and kill him.” As revealing as this letter might be about Courtney’s teenage personality, it hardly constitutes proof of her guilt. But for those who find meaning in such writings, it may be instructive to look at the lyrics of a 1990 song Courtney wrote called “Turpentine”—the first song Hole ever recorded: “Now you’re mad and you’re snubbing me / Stinks of metal in the junkie tree…. / Rip it in turpentine /Put your leg up over your head / I better walk you to your suicide.”
One of Harrison’s arguments is particularly compelling: Why were there no legible fingerprints found on the shotgun? As Harrison says, “Dead men don’t wipe fingerprints off their own guns.”
Indeed, the lack of fingerprints has always been one of the anomalies of the case. When the police dusted for fingerprints, they actually found four latent prints. But, according to the deputy medical examiner, Nikolas Hartshorne, “We know those prints belonged to Kurt because we had to pry the gun out of his hand when we found him.” Yet nowhere else on the shotgun was there a single print found, legible or otherwise.
SPD spokesman Sean O’Donnell had a ready explanation for the lack of fingerprints: “I think it’s clear that anyone who is familiar with firearms and their use would know that as they hold a weapon, that frequently that weapon will move in their hand. Additionally, when that weapon is discharged, that causes a jerking motion, which causes the hands to move over the surface of the weapon. And all of those factors could cause any fingerprints that may have been left on the weapon to be unusable.”
We consulted a retired FBI fingerprint specialist named Max Jarrell to ask him whether O’Donnell’s explanation made sense. He was not convinced. “You’re more likely to have trouble lifting prints off a handgun than a shotgun,” Jarrell explained. “With a shotgun, there’s a much larger printable surface. You’re much more likely to find some usable latent prints. I find it unlikely that his hand would have wiped off all the fingerprints after he fired it.”
Moreover, Hartshorne himself had declared that, because of the cadaveric spasm, Kurt’s hand immediately gripped the barrel of the gun after firing it. Therefore, it couldn’t have slid over the surface of the weapon as O’Donnell described. Also unexplained is the fact that the police found no prints on the pen thrust through the so-called suicide note.
But, according to Jarrell, the absence of prints alone does not prove that a murder took place. “Whether a person leaves fingerprints or not depends on a number of factors. A lot depends on how much oils are on your hands. If someone has just washed their hands, for example, they might not leave prints. I’ve certainly seen cases where somebody left no fingerprints on a surface that we know they touched.”
However, we know that the shotgun was handled by at least three separate people: the salesman who sold Dylan Carlson the gun on March 30, Dylan himself, and, finally, Kurt. Yet none of the three men’s prints were found on the gun. Is it possible that each of these people had washed their hands just before handling the gun?
In the end, argues Colorado deputy coroner Denise Marshall, there is a lot of very convincing evidence to call the suicide verdict into question, including the lack of fingerprints, the triple lethal dose of heroin and the postmortem credit card use: “There is certainly enough evidence in this case to have the medical examiner’s verdict changed from ‘suicide’ to ‘undetermined,’ and I think that’s exactly what should be done,” she explains. “I’ve worked on a number of cases where we’ve had the verdict changed to ‘undetermined,’ and with less compelling evidence than I’ve seen here. This would serve to reopen the case and ensure a proper investigation is finally undertaken.”
But Marshall adds a big disqualification: although there is enough evidence to change the verdict from “suicide” to “undetermined,” none of this evidence will conclusively prove that Kurt was murdered. Only the crime scene photos will do that, she explains. Marshall has consulted a number of experts about this case, including one of America’s most respected forensic pathologists, who insisted that, before anyone can say for certain that Kurt’s death was a staged suicide, a pathologist would have to examine the photos taken at the scene. “The photos should tell the story,” she says. “He’d be looking at the blood splatter. You see, if somebody actually held Kurt’s hand around the gun and pulled the trigger, some of the blood would probably have splattered on their hand, leaving a void on Kurt’s. You can analyze that void in the photos and determine whether or not it was a staged suicide.”
This echoes what the former Bronx Homicide Task Force commander Vernon Geberth told us: “I’d have to see the photos. The photos tell you everything.”
Could the importance of these photos possibly explain a letter we obtained from the Seattle Police Department under a recent Freedom of Information request? On February 13, 1995, less than a month after Tom Grant first went public with his murder theory, Sergeant Don Cameron sent the following internal memo to his superior, Lieutenant Al Gerdes, commander of the SPD Homicide Division:
As you are aware, the suicide of Kurt Cobain has once again become a media issue. Allegations by a California private investigator Tom Grant have rekindled the concerns of Courtney Love over the preservation/security of the crime scene photos. Grant is alleging Courtney was responsible for her husband’s death and we covered up the murder. Because of the rekindled media interest in her husband’s suicide, Courtney Love has gone to her attorney with concerns over the release of any crime scene photos. Courtney’s attorney, Seth Lichtenstein, called and asked if the photos could be destroyed to prevent any mistaken release. I have advised Mr. Lichtenstein the 35 mm film had not been developed, nor would it unless it became necessary…. I am not sure Mr. Lichtenstein is satisfied with this but I explained, with Grant still running amuck, we would look foolish and certainly unprofessional if we destroyed the only photographs of the crime scene. Mr. Lichtenstein may go higher on the chain of command so I thought I had better let you know.
The Seattle Police Department refuses to confirm or deny whether the photos remain in their files today.
10
Five months after the death of her daughter in June 1994, Janet Pfaff received a call from the producers ofThe Oprah Winfrey Show with an invitation to appear. They were planning a segment about the parents of drug addicts and wanted Janet to come on and talk about Kristen, who had died of an apparent heroin overdose.
Janet politely declined. She told the producers that she just wasn’t emotionally ready to talk about her daughter so soon after the tragedy. Only now is she prepared to admit the real reason she refused to appear: “I am not convinced my daughter’s overdose was accidental, so how could I go on the biggest show in the world and talk about it?”
Kristen Marie Pfaff was born in the Buffalo suburb of Williams-ville, New York, on May 26, 1967. Her parents divorced when she was young, and her mother remarried shortly afterward. When Kristen was nine, her half brother, Jason, was born.
Kristen was educated in Buffalo’s Catholic school system, where she became proficient in classical cello and piano at an early age. Her mother recalls that, while other girls her age were playing with dolls, Kristen was recording Girl Scout songs that she adapted to her own lyrics.
She graduated from Sacred Heart Academy in 1985 and then briefly attended Boston College before receiving a scholarship to study in Holland. Two years later, she enrolled at the University of Minnesota, where she majored in women’s studies, became a committed activist and worked as a crisis counselor for rape victims. After earning 150 credits, Kristen decided to leave college to pursue her lifelong dream of a music career. “I graduated myself,” she told a Minnesota newspaper. “I just decided to start a band and forget about school.”
Kristen soon immersed herself in Minnesota’s underground music scene, where she decided that she preferred playing hard rock to the staid classical music she had performed since the age of five. She taught herself to play bass guitar, which she mastered quickly. Her first project, Drool, featured members of the notorious Minneapolis garage bands, the Cows and God’s Bullies; shortly afterward, Kristen teamed up with two local musicians, Joachim Breuer and Matt Entsminger, to form a new trio called Janitor Joe, with Kristen on bass and keyboards. “Kristen was an incredibly driven person,” recalled Breuer. “Whatever she set her mind to, she could accomplish.”
Within a year, Janitor Joe was the talk of the Minnesota music scene. In 1993, the respected indie label Amphetamine Reptile Records released the band’s debut album,Big Metal Birds, to great acclaim.
Kristen’s musicianship was beginning to attract attention beyond the Minnesota indie scene, but her fame had not changed her gentle personality. “She was the most peaceful, friendly person you could meet,” recalls former Janitor Joe music producer Pat Dwyer. “Kristen had a beautiful presence. And she was one damn talented musician and artist.”
One night in 1993, after Janitor Joe finished a gig at a small L.A. club, Eric Erlandson and Courtney Love came backstage and introduced themselves to Kristen. Hole had just signed with Geffen Records, and they were about to head into the studio to record a new album. Their bassist, Leslie Hardy, had recently left the band, and they needed a replacement. Saying they were “blown away” by Kristen’s assertive style, they told her she would be a perfect addition to the group.
Kristen had a good thing going with her own band, which was beginning to attract widespread attention. “She agonized over that decision for a long time,” says her father, Norm Pfaff. “Janitor Joe was just getting rolling, but she recognized the opportunity of being in a successful band on a big label.” After some convincing, and a generous financial offer, she agreed to join Hole on a temporary basis.
“I wish to God she would have never made that move,” says her mother, Janet. “I was totally against it. I never trusted Courtney and Eric. They were deeply into drugs. I thought that Kristen was better off in Minnesota. I tried to convince her not to go, but she didn’t want to let such a big opportunity slip by.”
Kristen rented an apartment in Seattle, where the band rehearsed before heading to a studio in Atlanta to record their new album,Live Through This. Before long, Kristen had hooked up with the band’s guitarist, Eric Erlandson, Courtney’s ex-boyfriend, who told friends he was taken with Kristen’s stunning long jet-black hair and striking figure. Within weeks she became hooked on heroin.
Janet tried to persuade her daughter to quit the band and enter a detox center, but there was little she could do with Kristen so far away. Jason, however, saw the depth of his sister’s addiction first-hand: “I think she might have already tried heroin before she met Courtney, but in Seattle, Courtney got her addicted. She would always make sure that Kristen was supplied with as much heroin as she needed. I was there at the time. Kristen had asked me to move to Seattle to be with her for support, so I witnessed a lot of the crazy things that went on. One time, Kristen showed me a purse Courtney gave her. It had needles inside that Courtney had put in it. Courtney and the rest of the band pushed Kristen into drugs beyond control. Of course, Kristen had a mind of her own, so she has to take some of the responsibility.”
According to Kristen’s close friend Kathy Hewitt, Kristen and Courtney got along well at first, but the relationship went rapidly downhill after the band flew to Atlanta to recordLive Through This. Kristen was a formally trained musician with strong opinions about the song arrangements. Courtney could barely play an instrument. Hysterically defensive about her musical abilities, she did not take well to Kristen’s suggestions and threatened to fire her more than once.
Hewitt believes Courtney set out to break Kristen emotionally, an experience that left her friend traumatized: “Courtney yelled at Kristen all the time. She wanted to make sure Kristen knew who was boss. I think Kristen was afraid of Courtney. She thought she was out of control. She said Courtney was the most egomaniacal, insecure and power-hungry person she had ever met. Kristen was interested in making good music. Courtney was more interested in making headlines for all the crazy stuff she did every day.”
To make matters worse, Kristen had established a deep bond with Kurt. They spent hours talking together. As Jason recalls, “Kurt was extremely fond of Kristen. It made Courtney very jealous. Courtney kept a close eye on them. I don’t think that they were involved—in fact, I’m pretty sure they weren’t—but Courtney was jealous because Kristen was so beautiful and smart. And she had a lot in common with Kurt. They used to talk a lot about books, art and music. I don’t think it made Courtney very happy.” Courtney once complained to Jason that Kurt and Kristen were “connecting too much.” Two weeks later, when Kurt gave Kristen a copy of the novelPerfume, Jason says, “Courtney hit the ceiling.”
Around Christmas 1993, Kristen broke up with Eric, a relationship Kathy Hewitt describes as “nightmarish”: “It’s hard to say whether Kristen was ever in love with Eric. I think it was more a relationship of convenience. Kristen had just arrived in Seattle, and Eric was right there to greet her with open arms. I think the relationship eventually dissolved because Kristen wanted a change from the seedy life of drugs and booze.” Soon after the breakup, Erlandson began to date Hollywood actress Drew Barrymore.
The album completed, Kristen moved back to Minneapolis in February to await the start of Hole’s summer tour. It was there that she received the news of Kurt’s death. “She was devastated,” Janet recalls. “It was a big loss for her. She lost someone she really respected. They had a lot in common. It was a big wake-up call for her. Kristen stopped doing drugs the day Kurt died.”
Reeling, Kristen entered a Minneapolis detox center and began the job of straightening out her life. In May, she told the local alternative paper the MinnesotaNightly how happy she was to be home: “I’m really having a great time doing the things I’m doing now here, getting back to friends, playing music together, which I really missed. I couldn’t get going in Seattle because the local scene was so stagnant. There’s a lot more going on in Minneapolis.” Kurt Cobain, she told the interviewer, “broke my heart.” She failed to elaborate.
Meanwhi
le, she had made the decision to rejoin her old band, Janitor Joe. Revitalized, the Minneapolis band flew to Europe in May for a brief tour. Kristen was adamant she would never go back to Hole.
“I met Courtney for the first time at the Phoenix Festival in England in 1993,” says Janet Pfaff. “She was never able to look me in the eye, and I could never figure out why. I thought she was very rude. I never trusted her, and I could see how she treated Kristen. When Kristen told me she was quitting Hole, she told me that she would never rejoin them, no matter how successful the album was. She wasn’t really quitting Hole, she was quitting Courtney. She just couldn’t stand to be around Courtney anymore, especially after Kurt’s death. I think she was scared of her. She wanted to make a new start.”
As Kristen told her Janitor Joe bandmate Matt Entsminger, “These people are all crazy. Let them find another idiot to play the bass. I’m history.”
Courtney was livid when she heard the news.Live Through This had just been released to great acclaim, and many critics were crediting Kristen’s bass playing for the band’s unique new sound. She was being hailed as one of the top female rock bassists in the country. “The day Kristen joined Hole is when we took off,” Erlandson toldSpin magazine. “All of a sudden, we became a real band.” To quit just as Hole’s long-anticipated tour was set to begin was to plunge Courtney’s carefully ordered plans into disarray.