Love & Death: The Murder of Kurt Cobain

by Max Wallace and Ian Halperin

Book Overview

Draws on new forensic evidence, police reports, and the case tapes of a private investigator to explore questions surrounding the apparent suicide of Kurt Cobain. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743484835
• ISBN13: 9780743484831
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 294 Pages
• Weight: 1.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

The Other Side of the Story

I loved Charles Cross's "Heavier than Heaven" but was always a little disappointed at the overly-flattering portrayal of Courtney Love in the book. This book is an important follow-up to the large collection of writings and film about Kurt and Courtney. I was a major skeptic about the murder theory, but I must admit this book has at least prompted me to think about the possibilities - and to become even more convinced that Love is a sociopath much like Nancy Spungen before her. Spungen's biography, written by her annoyingly self-righteous mother, was an eye-opener about anger, hate and mental illness hiding behind a contrived persona. In Nancy's case, punk rock provided an outlet for her hatred, and I think the same thing happened with Courtney. Some psychopaths enjoy great success by posing as the guy-next-door, copying the lifestyle they see around them. Courtney emulated her surroundings, the alternative music scene, in much the same way. Did it allow her to get away with murder? To accept the murder theory means to shift my opinion of Love from a pathetic wannabe to a brilliant manipulator. I am not sure I'm ready to do this...yet.

Kurt Cobain did not commit suicide, and this book proves it.

I know that at first it sounds like a typically wacky conspiracy theory; I refused to even listen to those who suggested that K.C. was murdered until very recently, when I read "Who Killed Kurt Cobain?" and then this book. Perhaps what is most important about this book is that it establishes that everything everyone thinks they know about K.C.'s supposed suicidal tendencies comes straight from Courtney Love. She's the one who says he tried to kill himself in Rome; she's the one who called the police and said that he was threatening to shoot himself, which Cobain denied. Once you realize that Courtney is constitutionally incapable of telling the truth, this case begins to look very, very different.The evidence in favor of Cobain's death being a homicide and not a suicide is overwhelming. It starts with two primary facts about his death: (a) the "suicide note" doesn't much resemble a suicide note at all; mostly it talks about his leaving the music business, and only the last four lines -- which seem to be written in different handwriting than the rest of the note -- indicate an intention to kill himself; (b) there was WAY too much heroin in his system at the time of death for him to have rolled down his sleeve, put away the drug paraphernalia, pick up the shotgun and shoot himself. These are only the two most immediately striking reasons for a homicide verdict; there are many, many more details that show that K.C. did not kill himself.Tom Grant's website, www.cobaincase.com, is a good intro to this case, but if you want the argument for homicide laid out in detail, buy "Love and Death". It will completely change the way you see Cobain, Love, and the music of Nirvana as well. I know it is hard to believe at first, but K.C. DID NOT KILL HIMSELF. The book makes this fact clear as day.

Well done Halperin and Wallace. I salute you!

This book may not go in chronological order(...) This is not meant to be written like a fiction novel, but to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding Kurt's death. I'll let the quotes speak for themselves and let future reviewers who, after reading the book may still believe Kurt suicided, tangle with them. Crime scene and the note:Denise Marshall, a deputy coroner in Colorado says the body was touched when it should not have been and the judgement was rushed since it was reached at the death scene (78). She also complains that the note can hardly be classified as a suicide note(78). "Nowhere in the note does he say he wants to die. He just doesn't like what he is doing, and he wants to change his life...I think it was really unprofessional for them to judge on it so early."(78) The note is also examined in the latter half of the sixth chapter. Rosemary Carroll, who thought Kurt didn't write the note (Tom Grant has his own theory), found a piece of paper in Courtney's backpack where she had been practicing different handwriting styles: "It sure looked to us like she had been practicing how to forge a letter." (150)Heroin:Kurt's body had 1.52 milligrams per litre of morphine in it (79). Heroin almost immediately turns into morphine in the bloodstream. Denise Marshall could not find a single case that paralleled this amount (79). Although Nikolas Hartshorne (who knew Courtney and had a conflict of interest as one will see in the book), invoked the high tolerance argument, Marshall says, "I've seen some amazing amounts...but I`ve never seen anybody with his levels...If tolerance was that important, you wouldn't have so many heroin addicts overdosing all the time, and with levels significantly lower than what Cobain had in his blood." (80) This level is enough to kill a severe 150 pound heroin addict three times over, but Kurt didn't weigh that much so in his case, the maximal lethal dose is more than three times. (82) A study in 1996 showed that a "user experiences a state of acute shock `WITHIN SECONDS' after injecting the fatal dose. In all of the 26 known cases where the morphine levels were close or equal to Cobain's level, "the tourniquets were still in place when the body was discovered, and the syringe was still affixed in the victim's arm of lying on the floor next to the body...yet...the police reports describe no such scenario when Kurt's body was found...`I do not see how he could have injected himself with the amount of heroin to cause those levels, put the syringe and other drug paraphernalia away, folded his sleeve down, grabbed the gun, positioned it backwards in his mouth and pulled the trigger.'"(84) Also discussed is how Broomfield's film "Kurt and Courtney" does a terrible job of showing how someone can function with the amount of morphine Cobain had (85-87). When Halperin and Wallace break it down and show its errors, it brings one to laughter.Courtney:She has lied and behaved strangely. Cali, the male nanny saw Kurt

Not to be overlooked.

Like many other readers, I was initially skeptical towards this book. However I decided to pick it up just to see what the authors have to say. Now I seriously have misgivings as to what really happened. There are numerous inconsistencies with Courtney Love's public remarks in and around the death and actual evidence found at the scene, particularly the "suicide note." Also a private investigator found some very incriminating evidence in one of Love's purses shortly after Cobain's body was found. (You'll have to read it to see what it is). And just for you hardcore disbelievers, Love has admitted to a similar crime in the months after Cobain's death. She hired a PI to spy on a boyfriend of hers based on the assumption that he was cheating on her. The PI found that a psycho fan had broken a window to his apartment, splattered bloody tampons on the walls, and left a threatening note. A couple of weeks later, Love admitted to the whole thing just because she's vindictive. Her behavior that incident echoed what was found that fateful day; a strange crime and an even stranger note. And to contradict what that idiot from "planet earth" wrote below, these journalists are very credible. Yes, they're not medical or legal experts, but they've talked with the experts. All a journalist has to do is know what questions to ask and where to find the answers. Mr. Wallace and Mr. Halperin did an excellent job at presenting a very convincing case.

An Excellent read! Shocking and thought-provoking.

This well-researched and well-written book puts forward a very plausible scenario whereby Courtney Love hired a killer to murder Kurt Cobain and make it look like suicide. The evidence is plentiful and the motive is substantial. Kurt had begun the process of removing Courtney from his will and they were heading for divorce. Had he been able to follow-through, she would have been entitled to none of his millions. As a result of his 'suicide' she received everything. No fingerprints at the scene, a man with a triple-lethal dose of heroin in his body rolling down his sleeves, tidily putting away his paraphenalia and then shooting himself in the mouth is simply not a plausible scenario. Far more likely is that someone injected him (whoever brought him the stuff), killed him and then made it look like suicide. Read this book and the truth will be self-evident. Hopefully enough to reopen the case. The authors are investigative journalists, not Nirvana fan- fanatics. A very credible book that will surely cause great controversy. Buy it and read it - you won't be disappointed. This is serious journalism and a reminder that people do often get away with murder...