Camilla Jessen
An independent forensic review is disputing the long-standing conclusion that the rock icon died by suicide.
Nearly three decades after the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, fresh claims are reigniting debate over the circumstances surrounding his passing.
Cobain was found dead in his Seattle home on April 5, 1994, at the age of 27. Authorities ruled his death a suicide caused by a self-inflicted shotgun wound.
He had publicly struggled with depression and drug addiction.
Over the years, speculation and conspiracy theories have persisted, including claims that his suicide note was altered and scrutiny of his relationship with musician Courtney Love.
A 1998 documentary, Kurt & Courtney by Nick Broomfield, revisited some of those allegations and suggested that murder could not be ruled out.
Independent review
According to Euronews, a new independent investigation has presented a peer-reviewed study challenging the original findings.
The team claims Cobain may have been incapacitated by a forced heroin overdose before being shot, suggesting the scene was staged to resemble suicide. The authors argue that one or more individuals may have been involved.
Researcher Michelle Wilkins told the Daily Mail that forensic specialist Brian Burnett reviewed crime scene evidence and the autopsy report and concluded the death was a homicide.
Forensic questions
“There are elements in the autopsy that raise questions. This person did not die quickly from a gunshot,” Wilkins said. “It is absurd.”
Wilkins also pointed to what she described as signs of oxygen deprivation and organ damage consistent with overdose rather than a fatal gunshot wound.
She questioned how someone with what the team claims was a heroin concentration far above lethal levels could have handled a firearm and arranged drug paraphernalia.
Scene inconsistencies
The report also cites what it calls inconsistencies at the scene, including a reportedly “surprisingly clean” area and the absence of blood on Cobain’s hand, which was said to be gripping the gun barrel.
“If you look at photos of shotgun suicides, the images are brutal. There’s no situation where that hand isn’t covered in blood,” Wilkins told the Daily Mail.
The team has called for the case to be reopened.
Authorities respond
The Seattle Police Department and the King County Medical Examiner’s Office said the case remains closed.
“Our detective concluded it was a suicide, and that remains the department’s position,” a Seattle Police spokesperson told the Daily Mail.
A King County Public Health representative told Newsweek: “To date, we have seen nothing that would warrant reopening the case or changing the conclusion regarding the cause of death.”
As of February 2026, Cobain’s death remains officially ruled a suicide.
Sources: Euronews, Daily Mail, Newsweek, Seattle Police Department, King County Public Health
