Country singer Kellie Pickler has come under fire from the family of her tragic late husband, who may demand that his body be exhumed to determine what really killed him.
Kyle Jacobs was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside the home he shared with Kellie, and his grieving parents, Reed and Sharon Jacobs, have obtained a court order to review the death scene photos.
Court documents reveal that they are also demanding their son’s iPhone records and threatening to get the police on the 37-year-old American Idol alum if she refuses to give up Kyle’s gun and sword collections, several guitars, his laptop, iPhone and other items.
“The family is trying to reopen the death investigation,” renowned private investigator Paul Huebl exclusively tells In Touch. “They’ll look at everything, and if there are signs of foul play they can file a lawsuit or even try to prosecute Kellie. If a further examination of the remains is necessary, then they can get an exhumation.”
The body of Kellie’s 49-year-old songwriting husband was found in an upstairs closet of their suburban Nashville home on February 17, 2023, and the death was ruled a suicide.
Kellie told homicide investigators she last saw Kyle at 5:15 a.m. chatting on the phone with his father, then she went to sleep and woke up at 1 p.m. to notice he wasn’t in bed. According to the police report, Kellie said she walked upstairs to Kyle’s office, saw blood coming from under the closet door and “had a bad feeling.”
Kellie also noted that Kyle was a recovering alcoholic who suffered from depression but had never attempted suicide before, and that she’d threatened to divorce him if he didn’t seek help for his alcoholism.
Police didn’t find a suicide note, and Kyle’s father told investigators that “his son sounded normal over the phone and never mentioned … hurting himself.”
In fact, just one day before his death, Kyle was celebrating the success of his new song “Hey World,” which was recorded by country singer Lee Brice. “Platinum?! SWEEEET!!!” he posted on Instagram. “Thank you, Jesus!!!”
Kellie reportedly skipped Kyle’s memorial service, and the family feud erupted in August after his parents became the administrators of his estate and began subpoenaing his emails and text messages.
“It’s been more than a year since Kyle died, and his family is still searching for answers about what happened,” says a friend. “It still makes no sense to them that Kyle was riding high in his career but chose to end his life.”
