Judge to hear conspiracy theorist’s Kurt Cobain murder claim

A Seattle conspiracy theorist, claiming the Seattle’s rock icon Kurt Cobain was murdered by government officials, is taking his theory to court.

Richard Lee hosts a public access show called Now See it Person to Person: Kurt Cobain was Murdered, which is solely dedicated, as the title suggests, to the conspiracy theory that Kurt Cobain did not commit suicide in 1994, but was murdered.

“Lee actually claims that there was no gunshot at all, that somehow he was killed by government officials, and the gunshot was just a made up idea,” said Tom Tangney on on KIRO Radio’s Tom and Curley Show. “He says the reason we haven’t seen [photos of Cobain’s body at the scene] is because they don’t exist.”

The show is largely Lee talking into the camera with a perpetual monologue, presenting disjointed commentary on his argument.

Cobain was found dead in his Seattle home on April 8, 1994. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office concluded that a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head was the cause of death, and also noted that he had a lethal dose of heroin in his system at the time, according to The Seattle Times.

But a conspiracy theory surrounding Cobain’s death has lingered ever since the ’90s, and Lee has been vocal about it the entire time.

“He’s obsessed with one particular issue, that Kurt Cobain was murdered,” Tangney said. “Nick Bromfield made a ridiculously bad documentary, as far as I’m concerned, also about who murdered Kurt Cobain. I think that all the police investigation seems to indicate is that there was nothing untoward.”

Lee is now suing the City of Seattle and its police department with the goal of getting the photos from the scene of Cobain’s death. He claims they will help prove the ’90s idol was murdered.

A King County Superior Court judge will consider his lawsuit on Friday, July 31. Cobain’s wife, Courtney Love, and his daughter, Francis Bean Cobain, have written letters to the court, asking for the photos not to be released. They say that they would cause severe emotional harm to their family.

“On the 20-year anniversary of this death just a few months ago, the Seattle Police Department looked at four unprocessed rolls of evidence [film] and they had a cold case detective look at it and found there was nothing new of note,” Tangney said. “From the city’s point of view, and the police department’s point of view, there is nothing to be seen here.”

While some could reignite debate over the conspiracy theory, others could more productively use their time to watch this classic footage of Nirvana in concert.