When Kurt Cobain passed away at his home in Seattle on April 5, 1994, at the age of 27, fans were left with plenty of questions. That includes the uncertainty around the cause of his death, which is still being disputed today.
In fact, “Cobain’s death investigation [has taken a] new turn over cop’s shocking claim casting doubt on suicide,” the New York Post reported on Monday, October 19.
Former Police Chief ‘Admitted There Were Contradictions’
Following Cobain’s passing, his death was ruled a suicide. However, The Post has now reported that “Seattle’s ex-top cop admitted there were contradictions between key evidence and what was concluded in the police report on the 1994 death of Kurt Cobain, according to bombshell claims being probed by the city.”
A new look at the star’s death by Seattle’s Office of Police Accountability has led to a “shocking allegation: that former Chief Shon Barnes ‘acknowledged evidence collected’ when the Nirvana frontman died was ‘contradictory’ to what had been stated in the original police report,” people working on the investigation said while speaking with The Post. The “shocking admission” from Barnes is alleged to have been made in November 2025, when he was meeting with members of “Who Killed Kurt?,” a volunteer group who believe that Cobain was the victim of a homicide.
According to the group, when members brought up the fact that forensic evidence showed that there was no blood on Cobain’s left hand following his death despite that hand supposedly being used in a certain way, “Who Killed Kurt?” legal adviser and former local King County senior prosecutor Mark Larson reportedly “suggested that a possible implication was Cobain’s hand was placed on the gun after he was shot,” The Post notes. This “prompt[ed] Barnes to allegedly respond, ‘So that’s the explanation — the hand is placed after the blood-spatter event.'”
Some Private Forensic Scientists Suspect Homicide
This isn’t the first time that the cause of Cobain’s death has come into question. In February, “an unofficial private sector team of forensic scientists…put fresh eyes on Cobain’s autopsy and crime scene materials, bringing in Brian Burnett, a specialist who previously worked on cases involving overdoses followed by gunshot trauma,” according to The Daily Mail. The team went over autopsy findings, and reportedly found details that led them to believe that Cobain’s death could not have been “an instantaneous gunshot death.”
Instead, the group’s peer-reviewed paper suggests that Cobain was attacked by one or more people, incapacitated by herion and shot, before his suicide was staged.
Independent researcher Michelle Wilkins worked with the scientists and spoke to The Mail, noting that it only took three days for Burnett to form a firm opinion and state, “This is a homicide. We’ve got to do something about this.”
* Please note, if you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available:
- In the US and Canada, you can call or text 988 for the Suicide Crisis Helpline.
- In the UK, you can call the NHS mental health services at 111, or call the Samaritans at 116 123.
Cop Makes ‘Shocking Claim Casting Doubt’ on Cause of Kurt Cobain’s Passing