Encyclopedia Brown and the case of the tinfoil hat

Me: So, who killed Kurt Cobain?
Him: (dodge, spin, weave, followed by rant about MTV, corporate media)
Me: Tell me again, why did they kill him?
Him: For his money, obviously.

Lather, rinse, repeat. So it went for about 15-20 minutes.

I took a field trip to Kurt and Courtney's house in Seattle where KC's body was discovered on April 8, 1994. It was on my to-do list since moving to Washington, and I figured the 12th anniversary would bring out some interesting folks to the former Cobain estate.

We couldn't find it at first, so I ducked into a bike store on Lake Washington, right across the street from where we thought it should be. I walked it and told the guy I had a weird question for him. Without missing a beat, he said, "You're looking for Kurt's house aren't you?" Yep.

We started driving again. We rounded a corner and looked to the right. There it was. Right next to a park. The park where Courtney wandered around in the days after, wearing Kurt's bloody clothes, and handing out some of his personal possesions to fans. People have actually worn a dirt trail in the grass in a big circle around the lot. It comes within about 5-10 feet from the fence that separates the park from the house.

The house looks different. It think it used to be gray. Now it has wood-colored shingles as siding. And the greenhouse/garage where he died is gone. Courtney had it knocked down in 1996 or 1997. I'm still shocked that the city let her do that, considering the house has historic value. It belonged to the Denny family (famous in Seattle; I'm not sure why) back in the day.

We noticed the bench in the center of the park right away. It's covered in markered scribblings, candles, cigarettes and two Miller High Life tallboy cans. (Classy. I bet the people across the street in the $10 million brick home that has instant access to Lake Washington are *THRILLED* with the park and the parade of deviants every April.) And then I noticed a man holding a video camera -- with himself partly in the picture -- narrating his footage.

I walked closer to get a look at the bench. And I then I talked to the man.

Me: Hi
Him: Hi
Me: What are doing with that camera?
Him: Oh, I've got a public access show. I film a documentary about Kurt Cobain being murdered. It's the longest-running documentary in history. (Laughs) Even longer than the entire Perry Mason series.

Whoa! This guy knows how long the Perry Mason series is ... in hours, I thought. Freaky.

I kept talking to him, and he started filming me. It turns out his name is Richard Lee. He's had a show on public access since 1994 in King County called Kurt Cobain was Murdered. He seemed offended that I didn't know who he was. I told him I was relatively new to the area. Plus, I don't live in Seattle, and I generally don't watch public access shows where dudes talk about their conspiracy theories.

Richard and I continued to talk. I found out he hates: MTV, the Democrats, Courtney Love, MCA Records, Seattle police, the county medical examiner's office, the media, etc. Additionally, he believes: Cobain was murdered, Courtney was in on it, the police and the medical examiner's office covered it up, the media followed along.

It was all run-of-the-mill "Kurt was murdered, Courtney's the devil" stuff. Except for this: he says there was no blood around Kurt's body. That Kurt wasn't shot in the head. And that he's seen tape of the scene -- with the body and everything -- that proves this. He refused to tell me where he got this footage.

Today, I spent some time on Richard's web site, trying to figure out who this guy is. It turns out he's been harassing Courtney, Krist Noveselic, et. al. for 12 years now. He was arrested a while back at an L.A. County courtroom where Courtney had her court apperance du jour. She even mentioned him *by name* on Howard Stern's show.

This guy's a major player in the Kurt Cobain was murdered machine. All I expected to find were some mopey teenagers bashing out "On a Plain" in honor of Kurt's death day.

Yesterday completely exceeded my expectations.

Today: nothing
Tomorrow: 60 minute walk

P.S. Thanks to Cassie for the photos. And for not laughing in Richard's face.