The case for these allegations is based on about a half dozen disturbing and fundamentally unanswered questions: Where did Kurt Cobain go and what did he do in the last days of his life? How could his body have lain undiscovered in his house (well, in the upper room of a detached structure on his property) for nearly three days, a period during which he was being searched for and during which, according to police reports and other sources, the house was frequented by nannies, private eyes, friends and workmen installing a security system? Who stayed with Cobain in his second house in Carnation during the days between his leaving rehab and killing himself (which probably happened on Tuesday, April 5)? Who had possession of his credit card, with which, according to one newspaper account, an attempt was made to use it for cash as late as April 10, two days after Cobain's body was discovered and the media circus had erupted? How did this person come into possession of the credit card? And what's with Love's arrest that week in Beverly Hills on drug charges?

Sadly enough, it appears now that we will never get the answers to these questions, or that they will be a long time coming. But a lack of facts has not stopped Richard Lee, for one, from concocting a case of murder based on heavy innuendo and secondhand circumstantial information, such as an apparent lack of blood at the scene. Lee is the producer of public-access cable-TV's weekly show (yes, weekly hour-long!) "Kurt Cobain Was Murdered." When I asked him to describe his theory of the murder scenario (i.e., murdered elsewhere and the body transported), he said flatly, "It doesn't matter," and returned to ridiculing anyone who could be foolish enough to believe it was suicide. Lee's show plays like a cable access version of "Murder She Wrote" with a new suspect or motive each week.

On the other hand, Tom Grant, the Beverly Hills private detective hired by Courtney Love last April to find Cobain after he left rehab, brings more credibility to his charges. Based on his follow-up investigation, he claims to have voluminous evidence of a murder conspiracy. Unfortunately, he has made little of it available, saying he prefers to release only one or two items at a time. Grant is not clear about his reasons for this, and he declined to provide evidence for this story. His opening salvo, carried out largely on talk-radio since December, has been that Cobain's suicide note shows evidence of forgery in the section toward the end that is specifically suicidal, and that it was really just a note Cobain was writing to his fans explaining his decision to retire (remember, persistent rumors of the time had Nirvana likely about to break up). Given that it's based on the highly inexact science of handwriting analysis, and that Grant hasn't made photocopies of the note available to illustrate his allegations, it's a little underwhelming.

Though Grant has not officially released his papers to the media, a strange computer file of what purports to be notes from his investigation has begun to circulate on computer networks. This 25 page document provides a revealing and at times chilling look at the circumstances of Cobain's disappearance and death and contains several inflammatory and shocking accusations. One of the more eerie stories recounted is of hearing the news of Cobain's death over a car radio while en route to search for Cobain in Carnation with Cobain's best friend Dylan Carlson. Grant's investigative file also claims that Seattle Police Officer Antonio Terry was one of those investigating the Cobain death (he took the original missing person's report) and since Terry himself was murdered on June 4, this is but one element of a larger, darker conspiracy. The Seattle Police laugh at these allegations.

Still, other bits that have emerged of Grant's case on his talk-radio appearances and elsewhere remain disturbing and are still unanswered. Grant seems genuinely interested in uncovering the truth, having taken no money for his radio appearances and declining all offers to appear on tabloid TV. While much of Grant's case is based on Cobain being "as happy as he'd ever been with his life," obviously a questionable assertion when you're dealing with a drug addict, Grant's claim that his investigation was hindered by several significant figures does present, at the very least, a picture of the weird three-ring circus that encircled Cobain: drug dealers, drug buddies, industry heavies, sycophant fans, and the ever present media.

It's also interesting that Grant and Lee don't seem to like each other much. Lee calls Grant a "junior G-man" while Grant accuses Lee of operating from too little information. Another interesting point: In January, Grant appeared on Los Angeles' KROQ to discuss his allegations. A few weeks later KROQ broadcast a series of apologies and retractions, a remarkable development given the powerful position of KROQ in the Los Angeles market.

For those wondering, King County Medical Examiner Nikolas Hartshorne says all the evidence points to the cause of death being suicide. Hartshorne--whose ties to Cobain go back to the late '80s when he was a sometime concert promoter--booked Nirvana into the Central Tavern to open for the Leaving Trains in Nirvana's third-ever Seattle show in 1988 (ironically, Leaving Trains lead singer Falling James was Courtney Love's first husband). When Hartshorne gives his account of the events of April 8 last year (he was on the scene within hours of the body's discovery), his sadness and bewilderment are convincing. More importantly, so is his analysis of the physical evidence. "I've never seen a more open and shut case of suicide," he says.