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Investigator Claims Kurt Cobain’s Death Was Homicide; Seattle Police Stand by Suicide Ruling
KIRO7 ^ | February 11, 2026 | Natalie Dreier

Posted on 02/13/2026 12:04:58 PM PST by nickcarraway

A new report claims that the death of Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain was not by suicide, rather he was a victim of homicide. But police in Seattle are standing by their original findings.

According to a report in The Daily Mail, a private forensic team compiled by independent forensic specialist Brian Burnett said that Cobain’s death was a homicide.

Burnett’s team looked at the evidence and came to that conclusion.

But the Seattle Police Department disagrees, saying the suicide ruling 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.

One of the researchers on Burnett’s team said the scene looked like it was “like someone staged a movie” with the gun and shells receipt in Cobain’s pocket, a heroin kit neatly organized near his body.

Michelle Wilkins said that the writing on the note does not fully match.

“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.”

Despite Burnett’s team’s findings, neither the police department nor the King County Medical Examiner’s Office is reopening the case at this time.

“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 told The Daily Mail.

KIRO’s news partner MyNorthwest reported that Cobain and Nirvana had “instant success” with their 1991 album “Nevermind” and songs such as “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

He started using heroin to deal with an illness, MyNorthwest reported, and he had suffered several drug overdoses.

Cobain had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder when he was young, and eventually bipolar disorder.

He was found dead by an electrical contractor at his home in April 1994. Police said he had committed suicide by shotgun three days before he was found on April 8, 1994, KIRO reported.

Cobain last performed about a month before his death in Munich, Germany, according to KIRO.

This is not the first time his case has been reviewed. In 2021, the FBI released archival files that included a letter to the bureau to have officials investigate his death, Billboard reported at the time.

One letter from Nov. 20, 2006, claimed there were no fingerprints found on the shotgun, as well as the different handwriting in the suicide note. A second letter from 2003 asked to see “inconsistencies surrounding his death cleared up once and for all.”

Esquire reported that the FBI said it could not investigate, responding to the letters:

“In order for the FBI to initiate an investigation of any complaint we receive, specific facts must be present to indicate that a violation of federal law within our investigative jurisdiction has occurred,” the FBI wrote. “Based on the limited information you provided, we are unable to identify any violation of federal law within the investigative jurisdiction of the FBI.

“We are, therefore, unable to take any investigative action in this case.”

Read the entire file from the FBI vault here.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: 90s; antifadidit; brianburnett; kurtcobain; michellewilkins; music; nirvana; police; seattle; suicideishomicide; washington
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To: basalt

me either= i could appreciate his ‘innovation’ new style- but didn’t care for it myself- I like innovators- like Alice Cooper- He started rapping before rap was a thing- as well as soem other sttyles he pretty much innovated- A lot of rockers give him kudos for that reason-


21 posted on 02/13/2026 2:35:01 PM PST by Bob434 (NYWAYS)
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To: Bob434

funny, Randy Rhoads was a HUGE fan of Alice Cooper’s guitarist Glen Buxton. Another thing, Cooper hasnt released a new song in 40 years probably, yet EVERYBODY, of all ages, knows who he is. His early stuff, KILLER,.. LOVE- IT TO DEATH, are seminal recordings, outstanding.


22 posted on 02/13/2026 2:49:13 PM PST by basalt (Y ou new to this??)
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To: nickcarraway

Who cares?

I want to know who murdered Bobby Fuller


23 posted on 02/13/2026 2:57:35 PM PST by ChildOfThe60s (If you can remember the 60s, you weren't really there)
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To: nickcarraway

He’s looking for his 15 mins. He’s dead. He shot himself. Get a life.


24 posted on 02/13/2026 3:06:43 PM PST by TheGunny
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To: TheGunny

Like Epstein.


25 posted on 02/13/2026 3:30:23 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: basalt

Police have ruled a lot of homicides as suicides. Two bullets to the back of the head? Suicide. It’s about as believable as the shooter in Pennsylvania that almost took Trump out worked alone.


26 posted on 02/13/2026 3:36:38 PM PST by roving
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To: crusty old prospector

“Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

What does? And, what is it?


27 posted on 02/13/2026 3:55:51 PM PST by doorgunner69
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To: doorgunner69

Well, that was just me making a little joke about one of their most famous tunes. The name of the band he fronted was called Nirvana and he committed suicide around 1994, I believe. They were one of the first grunge bands out of the Seattle area.


28 posted on 02/13/2026 3:58:32 PM PST by crusty old prospector
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To: nickcarraway
Whaaat?


29 posted on 02/13/2026 4:01:17 PM PST by Bullish (My tagline ran off with another man, but it's okay... I wasn't married to it.)
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To: nickcarraway

It’s about time.


30 posted on 02/13/2026 4:07:18 PM PST by Blogatron (Brought to you by The American Frog Council - "Frog; the other green meat.")
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To: TheGunny

But he swore that he didn’t have a gun.


31 posted on 02/13/2026 4:13:07 PM PST by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: basalt

he did a Christian rock album (maybe more than one) I got it quite a few years ago- good stuff- got a few CD’s of his- play them from time to time


32 posted on 02/13/2026 4:52:28 PM PST by Bob434 (NYWAYS)
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To: TheGunny

Personally, I would be shocked if more than 50% of suicides really are suicides.
The real world is different from television and movies.


33 posted on 02/13/2026 5:05:00 PM PST by hoosierham (Freedom isnt free)
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To: nickcarraway

There’s a difference between “His wife drove him to it” and “She actually pulled the trigger.”


34 posted on 02/13/2026 5:07:32 PM PST by x
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To: crusty old prospector

No wonder I dew a blank.
Grunge, recall that whiny crap on the gym PA. Was so irritating I whipped up a FM jammer to blank it while at the gym. They would not change the channel, so....


35 posted on 02/13/2026 5:42:59 PM PST by doorgunner69
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To: nickcarraway

We’ve known this was homicide by Love since the time it happened. I thought this was just common knowledge.


36 posted on 02/13/2026 5:50:04 PM PST by Bulwyf
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To: nickcarraway
As a Gen-X'er, I should care about this story but I don't.

Did Courtney Love kill him? Don't care.

He would've undoubtedly become an insufferable libtard if he were still around.

RIP Kurt! If anything, you showed the world the effectiveness of a 20 gauge shotgun. And yeah, you had like two good songs, neither of which ever get played.

Here's one of them.

Sliver (YouTube)

37 posted on 02/13/2026 5:56:32 PM PST by Drew68
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To: nickcarraway

Here’s the documentary by the PI, who Courtney Love hired to find Kurt before his death. The investigator ends up thinking Courtney was responsible for Kurt’s death, because he was going to divorce her. She wanted him killed so she would inherit everything rather than a small award based on their prenuptial agreement.
https://youtu.be/cPWe049szcM.


38 posted on 02/13/2026 6:07:27 PM PST by ViLaLuz (2 Chronicles 7:14)
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