SOAKED IN BLEACH Exposes the Bullshit of Cobain’s “Suicide”

On By C.H. NewellIn Benjamin Statler, Celebrity, Courtney Love, Crime, Crime Documentary, Docudrama, Documentary, Fake Suicide, Heroin, Hole, Kurt and Courtney, Kurt Cobain, Kurt Cobain murder, Kurt Cobain suicide, Montage of Heck, Nick Broomfield, Nirvana, Police Incompetence, Private Investigator, Rock n Roll, Soaked in Bleach, Tom Grant

Soaked in Bleach. 2015. Directed by Benjamin Statler. Written by Donnie Eichar, Richard Middleton, and Benjamin Statler.
Starring Tyler Bryan as Kurt Cobain, Sarah Scott as Courtney Love; featuring, as themselves, Tom Grant, Brett Ball, Max Wallace, and Norm Stamper. Daredevil Films.
Rated PG. 100 minutes.
Documentary/Drama/Crime.

★★★★★
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Admittedly, even though I’ve always thought Courtney Love is bat shit crazy, I never believed she (or anyone else) might’ve been covering anything up or hiding information concerning Kurt Cobain’s suicide. As much as I loved Cobain, worshiped Nirvana as a young musician with a bad attitude and even worse fashion sense, I just took what the media fed me about his depression and how he’d always seemed suicidal, that he took his I.D out and put it on his wallet so that when he shot himself they’d be able to identify his body easily… and so much more.
After watching this, the other reviews and articles touting this documentary as a ‘conspiracy theory’ are way off base. There’s too much in this film to deny, from actual police documents, the tapes Private Investigator Tom Grant has with Courtney Love on it saying some downright incriminating things and even some with Rosemary Carroll (the Cobain/Love lawyer) saying things against Love. See for yourself. Judge on your own. But here’s my take..

The first thing we hear is a conversation between Tom Grant and Courtney. She hired him to investigate after Kurt went missing, this was only briefly before his alleged suicide. On this first tape, Grant questions Courtney about where she’d found some other letter, supposedly from Kurt, and she is telling him it was under the pillows on her bed. Grant, being there the night before Kurt was found dead, knew different; he’d tossed the bed and found Rohypnol, which Kurt had a prescription for. He knew the difference, and yet Courtney tried sticking to her guns even when Tom told her otherwise. So right off the bat, we get this very real, raw version of Courtney – outside of the media, outside of other celebrities and what they think of her or the general public and their view – right from a tape. It’s damning.
From there, we learn a little about Grant whose life story reads much like a lot of police/military officers. The thing I kept wondering is, for those who don’t believe the man or doubt he is credible – what does he have to gain from this? He’s pretty much haunted with what he sees as the facts. He’s not exactly a celebrity himself because of Kurt or Courtney; most people pass him off as just another conspiracy theorist. Yet, as he mentions later, Tom still gets letters, e-mails, all sorts of communication asking about Kurt, wondering why nothing has been done when there’s actually a lot of evidence suggesting he did not die by suicide. It isn’t only Tom who believes, but unfortunately the police seem to be the real roadblock.
soaked-in-bleach-1It becomes very clear that police negligence really had a hand in what came to pass. On top of that, Courtney Love set the stage for this “suicide” – when she hired Tom Grant, filed a police report (and did so in fake fashion using Cobain’s own mother’s name – the media promptly reported his mom was worried he was suicidal and filed a Missing Persons), and then perpetuated the myth of Cobain being frequently suicidal. What really troubles me is this idea of the myth – that Kurt really wasn’t a suicidal person. Yes, he was depressed. Yes, he had killer stomach pains that put him in agony. But he was happy with his friends and people around him. After the stomach pains were cleared up and doctors put him on the correct medication after many stressful years, Cobain himself told an interviewer he felt the best he’d ever felt and he was plenty happy. Sure, no one knows what’s going on in the mind of someone behind closed doors – ultimately, we never know. I had a friend who killed himself and none of us in our circle of friends ever expected it. Yet so many close friends claim Kurt never ever talked about suicide once.
Furthermore, he’s not in the movie but Buzz Osborne knew Kurt, and the rest of Nirvana, from the beginning – he and Kurt went to high school together, he knew him before and after Nirvana hit the bigtime. Buzz claims Kurt was never suicidal, it was all a lie. He has harsh words for the other Cobain documentary that recently came out, Montage of Heck, because aside from the suicide myth it portrays other stories that are not actually true (the story that Kurt supposedly had sex with an overweight, mentally handicapped girl when he was young is a total fabrication, according to King Buzzo). So during Soaked in Bleach, we get a lot of other opinions from people very close with Cobain that jive with that of Osborne – that Kurt could be quiet, shy, but the idea that he was a suicide case is untrue.
What really drove this home is Courtney Love. When Cobain accidentally overdosed on his Rohypnol prescription after having a glass of champagne, the incident was not called a suicide at the time. At first people speculated it was an attempt, but it was confirmed as being accidental afterwards. Love did not, at the time, claim Kurt tried to kill himself. Nobody did. Then, after Kurt was found dead, immediately Courtney began telling the media how he tried it in Rome, he tried before, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise. This is categorically untrue. Max Wallace brings up the fact they even talked with the doctor who attended to Kurt that night in Rome, and the doctor also denies to the bone it was a suicide attempt confirming it was most certainly an accidental overdose. It isn’t hard to see Love helped the media run with the image of Kurt as a suicidal persona.
news-cobain-2Once things get to the real down and dirty faces, looks at the crime scene and all that, it’s even more of an affirmation that Tom Grant is not just some ‘conspiracy nut’. The tapes are one thing, hearing Courtney go on about how maybe Kurt disappearing and all that before his death would be good for publicity on Hole’s next album and hearing her just lie to Grant over and over, but the crime scene is a whole other beast. I don’t want to say too much more because the evidence is some of the real knock-out stuff in this film.

I did like the little drama recreations they did with actors playing Love, Grant, Cobain, and others involved. Some of it was pretty decent. Not that she doesn’t deserve it after seeing this movie, but they really went hard at Love with their portrayal. However, I don’t see it as being that far off base. If you didn’t think Love was crazy before, you absolutely will after watching this. It’s hard not to. A lot of the evidence presented makes you wonder how this case isn’t being re-opened and investigated again. Truly. This was an eye-opener of a documentary. Even worse, it’s coming out that apparently Courtney Love has bought Twitter followers, et cetera, to help tank ratings on websites for the film; IMDB is usually bad for ratings, but the skewed low rating for this was ridiculous as about 1,000 ratings of 1 before the release drove it down. Suspicious? Make up your own mind.
kurtcourtneyfrancesbigThis is absolutely a 5 star documentary. I love Cobain, his music, all of it, but to see this was truly fascinating. I can’t get over it, honestly. I want to watch it again several times just to take in all the information. The whole thing is spooky. I’ll say no more other than – the directing is great, this whole film is put together well, and Tom Grant is a saint for offering himself up all these years as “that conspiracy guy” who has actually been fighting the fight for real justice.
One thing resonated with me deeply. Tom brought up how there have been tons of suicides that have been copycats of Kurt – either they did what he did exactly, or their suicide notes quoted Nirvana and related to the late rockstar – and he just wants the truth out there. Because it’s a shame for any kid to kill themselves, but if it’s partly due to the fact Kurt supposedly did, when he might not have, then there is a real need to have the truth known. Not only for all those kids, future kids possibly, but also for Kurt, for Frances Bean, and for all the people of a generation who related to him through his music.

35 thoughts on “SOAKED IN BLEACH Exposes the Bullshit of Cobain’s “Suicide””

  1. Jerry Hauck

    Hey, great job here, I think. It’s refreshing to read a review that is based on unbiased opinion, logic, and common sense. Couple that with good writing and ya got a pretty nice read. Very helpful. Thanks!

    Liked by 3 people

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  2. Laurie McAllister

    This is the best review Ive read, not only about Soaked In Bleach, but the whole Kurt Cobain case situation. It was nice to see an unbiased story just state facts. And I absolutely agree. The case needs to be reopened and settled for Kurt, those kids who took their lives and to put all the unknowns and doubts to rest.

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    1. Thanks for reading, Laurie!
      I’ve long felt the way this documentary CONFIRMED I ought to feel. This film just pointed things out so well. That part about kids who’ve committed suicide and referenced Kurt, yet it’s very likely he didn’t – just hit me hard to think of it that way. Tragic.

      Again, thanks for taking the time to check out my review. Cheers!

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  6. Garrett

    First off, I agree 1000% the case should be reopened and something is rotten in Denmark regarding Courtney’s potential involvement – BUT – I still wonder why it Tom Grant had evidence, physical, audio, or otherwise that suggested criminality why he did not turn ALL of it over to authorities such as DOJ, SPD, etc. that to me, while mutually exclusive of the case itself, is fishy…like criminal evidence was being withheld and/or Good Samaritan laws require it be trend over to any or all authorities, years ago.

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    1. I think from the beginning he didn’t particularly trust the PD. They were immediately calling it suicide, when it often takes days/weeks to fully determine cause of death. Just my opinion, however, I think his distrust of the PD affected his decisions.
      At one point in the film he says he was at the crime scene, saying he has info, and they basically just sent him away saying “Come see us another time”.
      Ultimately I think it was smart, in a sense, to not just dump it in the lap of police/et cetera. They clearly weren’t handling it appropriately from the get-go.

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      1. Zoso

        Agree with “the police weren’t handling it properly” statement above. Just one fact is that the Seattle Police told Grant (after he asked to see death scene photos) that they “don’t develop photos from a suicide.” 20 years pass and it turns out the police did develop photos. SPD eventually released a few in “anticipation of the 20th anniversary of Kurt’s death.” Grant was prudent in his decision to not voluntarily hand over crucial information and evidence (recordings etc) to a department that most likely wouldn’t handle it with care and may even destroy at the behest of Courtney…just as they did with the shotgun. She also had the greenhouse garage destroyed so it couldn’t be investigated in the future. BTW ALL of the tires on Kurt’s car, which was parked in the garage below where his body was found had their tires slashed. Kurt was leaving Courtney and she was desperate to prevent that. Cali, the Cobain’s nanny who was at the house and spoke with Kurt (perhaps one of the last?) was never interviewed by Seattle Police and Courtney went out of her way to ensure that Grant wasn’t able to interview him at length either.

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    2. jimjax4

      the movie explained that. the day that kurt was found tom grant asked to see the lead investigator at the crime scene so that he could share evidence. He said was hired by his wife to find him. The investigator said he wasn’t interested at the time and was told to call him later in the day. When they met Tom brought up many points and the investigator said flat out its a suicide and gave many reasons why they were not pursuing it. Tom has tried several times to work with the Seattle PD but they want nothing more said of it. They are as corrupt as many police departments. When Tom knew that the police were corrupt and did a terrible job, he no longer trusted them. even to this day they defend themselves and wont open the case.

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    3. Sia Morgan

      Garrett: Unless you are a law enforcement professional or a PI like Tom, your questioning of his handling of this whole thing, is what’s fishy. Had Tom Grant turned over everything he had to the corrupt, hostile PD, it would have gotten destroyed and Courtney would have won … AGAIN. Law enforcement ALWAYS holds back info from the public when investigating a possible murder. Sometimes, they even try to completely hide the investigation from the press. Your implication that Grant is jerking us around is offensive. I believe that Grant knows what he’s doing. There is plenty of blame to go around in this tragic case, but none of it belongs to Tom Grant, the only one who worked pro bono for more than 20 years and got harassed and taunted for his efforts to get justice for Kurt and all the kids that committed suicide because of Courtney’s heinous lies.

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  8. Hey, I felt the same way, couldn’t get enough, and since you couldn’t either, here’s something for you, it’s 51/2 hours and it follows Tom’s work and others, but this documentary came away with all the facts in one place. there was a lot of info, (details) left out of SIB because of the time limit, so if you want all the details, this is for you, enjoy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_lIHtMnszg&list=PL4CYeWgOnVqVufAuTpDbXYEyCXR-90EGS&index=1

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    2. Garrett

      Interesting link, Donna – thanks for sharing… Though whereas I certainly don’t have 5+ hrs to devote to watching this, and again, I agree that bottom line the SPD bungled the investigation and should reopen the case – WHY would Tom sit on evidence of criminality for over 20yrs? Profit? Lack of trust? No one in the Government could review the hours and hours of audio he has and be unbiased to investigate? Cmon. 2hrs SIB can convince you something’s not right, but again, why not turn EVERYTHING over to authorities who can investigate and take legal action to reopen OVER 20 YEARS AGO? It’s just odd, and no one wants to answer that question as to his motive for waiting and non-disclosure, even in light of everything he has posted public to date, it’s my understanding that not all of his audio has been released…

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      1. Well I think my last point makes it clear enough. He’s been telling his story for 20 years and it has not changed.
        Why would he want to rush to the police when they so clearly blew him off at the actual crime scene? People wanted so hard to believe he committed suicide that when his voice was finally heard everyone, including plenty of law enforcement, just dismissed him and called him a crazy conspiracy theorist. Why would he be so eager to just say “Here take all this evidence out of my hands” when nobody else on the case seemed to really care about finding another angle? The cops never cared about Kurt. To them, he was another junkie. Grant is one of the only people who gave a shit and still does in terms of “authorities”, so I can completely understand why he would withhold things he had just so he could be sure someone competent could take it all on with him. What else does he have to gain? He’s been yelling his story for 20 years and nobody wanted to listen. He’s not exactly getting fame and fortune from it. I don’t see him becoming some star or anything because of this documentary, either. I understand why you’d be curious, I just don’t think there’s any nefarious intentions on Grant’s part at all.

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      2. Garrett

        I appreciate the rational discourse, that’s my only purpose here, as I’m not making allegations, only asking questions…

        To me it suggests Tom, for some reason unknown, has no faith in any authorities such as the FBI, DOJ, SPD, or possibly the Washintgon state Attorney General to hand copies of all evidence he possess and no one but he can be trusted for 20+ years to shepherd this evidence for unbiased review and investigations toward justice? Sorry, it just seems strange to me that other agencies couldn’t be trusted with ALL the evidence to review it and conclude the case should be reopened… Not including if you have evidence of criminal behavior you should be morally and ethically obligated to to disclose it to all proper authorities.

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      3. Well I also appreciate that you’re a civil and respectful person who states their opinion instead of attacking like so many seem to do these days!
        I can totally see your point of view, Garrett. And to some degree, I agree. Ultimately I think it’s just tough when someone is in that position. Just to compare, though this is an EXTREME comparison, look at how whistleblowers are treated in America- Snowden went to hideout in Russia of all places, Karen Silkwood was basically tortured into silence and (as far as I see it) murdered. So again, very extreme comparison, but maybe Grant was fearful there was corruption in the PD, et cetera, to a high degree and that going the way of slowly bringing things out in a public fashion might have been a safer route for him? We’ll never know, unless he himself could give us a straight answer.
        But once more I go back to Grant’s initial attempts to involve himself – they blew him off. He recognized immediately that police didn’t seem to think there was ANY possibility Kurt did not commit suicide. Maybe he felt there would be no one to take it seriously even if he went above the PD, and that once all the evidence was out of his hands perhaps that wouldn’t benefit Kurt/the truth as much as if he was working behind the scenes.
        As I said, we’ll never ever know this answer. But really, does it matter in the end? He’s been trying to get this investigated properly for years. It was no secret he had information. Why didn’t authorities press him for what he had? That, to me, is the bigger question. Grant wasn’t hiding away with the evidence, he has been out in the open for 20 years, so I think the bottom line is no authority/agency is too concerned that Kurt was more than likely murdered. Again, they just see him as another member of the 27 Club, as some loser junkie, when he was a good man deserving of justice like anyone else. I think Grant is not the suspicious one, I think it’s a grander issue about the priorities of justice in America.

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      4. Zoso

        I believe part of Grant’s reason (he stated this on his web site if I remember correctly) for not releasing all of his evidence and recordings is due to the fact that if they were accidentally or purposely leaked to the public they would not be admissible in a court of law. Grant was holding out for the potential of an actual trial. Just the forensic evidence in this case is enough to draw suspicion as well as the fact Kurt’s body was cremated within a few days and then Courtney hired attorneys to force the police to destroy the shotgun so no private investigator would be able to examine it. On top off all this there isn’t a known case of anyone, anywhere in the world taking that amount of heroin and THEN shooting themselves. It defies logic, reason and precedent.

        Liked by 1 person

      5. jimjax4

        i’m totally shocked that you would wonder about that. in the movie it stated that tom tried to share information and questioned many things. the police had already called it a suicide and were not going to change their mind. Tom tried for years to get something done and he was called many things including a conspiracy nut. They have the evidence and the phone conversations have been online for a while now on Tom’s site that many of us have seen over the years. Tom’s evidence on his site has been up for many years so I’m not really sure how you think he was hiding anything. The police even now wont open the case. Seattle has a lot of police scandals in it.

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  10. Wonderful review! I appreciate an unbiased review that states the facts. I especially like how you actually did research and reference the interview where Kurt talks about how happy he is, in part because of his stomach ailment being resolved. That particular interview is why I first doubted that he had died. You see, we were travelling on a long road trip and didn’t have the radio on, my then boyfriend overheard kids talking about Kurt’s suicide and I totally brushed it off as another hoax (like how the Rome incident felt). I brushed it off because in my gut, I felt he wouldn’t have done it. I even said, “no, that can’t be true, we just saw that interview where he was talking about how happy he was.” Seriously, that conversation happened. No long after, I read about Tom Grant and began following the facts.

    I also appreciate that you don’t give away all the details in the movie. For people who haven’t followed the case, there is SO much evidence that points to why it couldn’t have been a suicide. In fact, the Seattle PD’s staunch refusal to allow outside, independent investigations has me wondering if it was just incompetence that they are trying to hide, or something greater. It’s really bizarre that after all these years and with so few people that worked that case still at the department, that they would still remain steadfast in their refusal to re-open this case.

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  11. I can answer some of this, cause I have communicated with him thru e-mails. Here is the first, and main reason that the SPD will not re-open the case, the fact that at least 68 other suicides have been related to Kurt’s alleged suicide and if they re-opened the case which would show, their incompetence, they would be looking at 68 lawsuits from parents that realize that there loved one may still be alive if they would,ve done there job right. As far as Tom still having evidence that he has never revealed, is very smart for the fact he doesn’t want the killers to know everything he has because then they would be completely prepared for what Tom has. Another reason is when people tell him something that might be BS, he can use this knowledge, to rule out BS vs Truth, and he said it did tell him that one person was lying to him.

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  12. Considering the SPD gave Courtney back the smoking gun, which she actually had melted down, within a week of his death, they also gave her back the suicide note, and Kurt’s body which she had cremated. I can’t even fathom them handing her the smoking gun. She was friends with Det Terry and could call him and have anyone busted (WHAT?) Just the simple fact that the SPD blacked out full paragraphs on some pages of the police report. (REALLY?) That’s major tampering. Did you know the Medical Examiner also knew Courtney well and didn’t even have a licence. I know for a fact that if the FBI want ALL OF TOMS WORK ON THE CASE, HE WOULD GLADLY HAND IT TO THEM

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  13. Tatiana

    Hey guysss!!!!!! I really love this! Courtney deserves this shit and more, fuck her! Kurt was a beautiful person with a beautiful soul, and him deserves the true, and all this kids, and all this parents, and all need the true! I need the true, bcs I love very much Kurt, and I really don’t believe that he killed himself … I just search the true! Thanks for you post this! You know when the film leaves?? Kiss and hug, we love you Kurt

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  14. kathleen

    Great review! However, judging by her recent statements about “indescribable pain,” in her efforts to help her mother prevent independent forensics investigators from having access to the death photos, it is painfully clear that the daughter does not care about the truth, and we should not pretend otherwise.

    The burning question now is, what about the “indescribable pain” of the families of the the untold copycat suicides? Granted, it must be indescribably painful to realize that your own mother had everything to do with the murder of your father, but the truth must prevail. The corporate media’s 21+ year feeding frenzy over suicide (along with its 21+ year “go kill yourself” campaign) must come to an end. The conclusive proof of the hard forensics science -that having 3 times the lethal dose of heroin in his body makes it impossible for him to have shot himself- is not a “theory,” no matter how badly the suicide-romantics wish it to be.

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  15. Julie

    Thank you for sharing this. I have not yet seen SIB but would like to in the near future. I too believed that Kurt took his own life until recently when I came across Mr. Grant’s web site of cobaincase.com. There’s just too much evidence to suggest murder versus suicide. Sadly, the ruling of suicide is easier to accept among many folks because the possibility of murder is far too painful, too difficult to believe and so they don’t even want to hear or ask themselves ‘what really happened?’ We’ve heard and read through the past several years how depressed and suicidal Kurt was. My question is, why haven’t we heard more from his close friends who say that he wasn’t suicidal such as Kim Gordon and Dave Grohl? Why aren’t they speaking up? I wonder if they’ve checked out SIB. If they haven’t, I hope they do and I also hope that Frances Bean will too. My heart goes out to her. I can’t imagine what her life was like growing up having a mom like Ms. Love. She deserves the truth most of all about her father.

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  16. Billie

    Pls can someone tell me how get hold of soaked in bleach the film? UK are still not releasing it yet. The other film was shocking at best lol

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