A new report has been released regarding the shocking death of then 27-year-old Kurt Cobain, the lead singer and member of the famous music group known as Nirvana. On April 5, 1994, Cobain was found dead in his Seattle home with a reported self-inflicted shotgun wound. 

At the time, his death was ruled a suicide by the King County Medical Examiner. However, with a new team of forensic scientists intensely investigating his death, officials are now assuming he may have been a victim of homicide. However, Seattle police are standing firm on their original findings that it was a suicide.

Intense Reinvestigation 

Forensic scientists who are a part of an unofficial private sector team have looked at Cobain’s autopsy and crime scene materials, and brought in Brian Burnett, a specialist who previously focused on cases involving overdoses followed by gunshot trauma. 

After just a few days of looking through the evidence with a fresh set of eyes, Burnett confidently said, “This is a homicide. We’ve got to do something about this.” Independent researcher Michelle Wilkins said his conclusion led to a complete, comprehensive review of the autopsy findings, and it was discovered there are signs of inconsistencies with a sudden gunshot death. 

The new report, a peer-reviewed paper, listed ten points of evidence suggesting Cobain’s true cause of death. It alleges, based on the facts given and expert opinions, that Cobain was confronted by one or more assailants and was forced to overdose on heroin so he would be incapacitated when one of them shot him in the head with a Remington Model 11 20-gauge shotgun. The shotgun is assumedly placed into his arms afterwards with a forged suicide note to insinuate he did it of his own accord.

“There are things in the autopsy that go, well, wait, this person didn’t die very quickly of a gunshot blast,” Wilkins said, pointing out the organ damage that is associated with oxygen deprivation. “The necrosis of the brain and liver happens in an overdose. It doesn’t happen in a shotgun death.”

Evidence Points to Homicide

Burnett’s team looked at the evidence provided and concluded that Cobain’s death was misruled and is, in fact, a homicide. The Seattle Police Department challenges the expert’s statement, claiming their initial ruling of a suicide is correct. “Our detective concluded that he died by suicide, and this continues to be the position held by this department,” a police spokesperson told The Daily Mail.

A researcher on Burnett’s team claims the scene looked as if it were “like someone staged a movie.” They described that the gun was properly placed, a shell’s receipt in Cobain’s pocket, and a heroin kit placed neatly near his body, suggesting that there was more to Cobain’s death. Wilkins furthered the researcher’s statement, saying the writing on the supposed suicide note does not fully match the deceased. 

“The top of the note is written by Kurt. There’s nothing about suicide in that. It’s basically just him talking about quitting the band,” Wilkins said. “Then there are four lines at the bottom. If you even look at the note, you can see that the last four lines are written in different … the text is a little bit different. It’s bigger, it looks more scrawly.”

Case Remains Closed

The Seattle Police Department and the King County Medical Examiner’s Office are refusing to reopen Kurt Cobain’s case at this time, despite the irrefutable evidence and statements made by Burnnett and his expert team.

“Our office is always open to revisiting its conclusions if new evidence comes to light, but we’ve seen nothing to date that would warrant reopening of this case and our previous determination of death,” the medical examiner’s office said.

Cobain was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) when he was young, and later in life with bipolar disorder. He began heavily using heroin to combat the pains of his illness and suffered several drug overdoses in his lifetime. Therefore, his history of drug use and mental health is likely the reason officials assume this was an open and shut case, ruling it a suicide.