A newly surfaced document revealed that Courtney Love once sought to obtain the entire Seattle Police Department file on Kurt Cobain’s death via NY Post.
The letter was penned in 1995 by Love’s attorney Bryan Coluccio and addressed to then-Seattle Chief of Police Norm Stamper. It came to light during the ongoing ‘Who Killed Kurt?’ investigation. Coluccio formally requested that all investigative materials be transferred to his firm and no copies remained at the department.
“This letter is to request that the complete investigation file of the Seattle Police Department pertaining to Mr. Cobain’s death be delivered to me, with no further records or copies to remain with the Department,” Coluccio wrote.
The letter also included a statement on behalf of Cobain’s estate and Love, affirming their acceptance of the official findings.
“I confirm on behalf of Mr. Cobain’s estate and Ms. Love-Cobain that they are satisfied that the Seattle Police Department performed a complete and thorough investigation into Mr. Cobain’s death,” Coluccio continued.
“Our clients agree with and accept, without any reservation, the Department’s final determination that Mr. Cobain’s death was a suicide. The matter can be closed.”
The request attracted sharp criticism from retired Seattle police Captain Neil Low, who called it legally and procedurally improper.
“Attorney Bryan Collucio’s request that the SPD give his client all of the police records related to the Cobain investigation is totally absurd,” Low said.
“As an ‘officer of the court,’ you would expect Mr. Collucio to know that police agencies are required to document all of their official business and correspondence as a matter of public record. How could there be public record compliance if the police gave everything to this attorney and his law firm? Where would the accountability be?”
Michelle Wilkins is leading the ‘Who Killed Kurt?’ investigation. She also weighed in on the implications of such a request for cold case inquiries.
“Every cold case lives or dies on the evidence that’s preserved,” Wilkins said. “When lawyers are demanding investigative materials be removed from police custody, it doesn’t protect the pursuit of truth — it makes future scrutiny far more difficult.”
