His death shocked fans and sent ripples through the music world, but decades later, Kurt Cobain’s final moments are under renewed scrutiny.
The Nirvana lead singer died on April 5, 1994, at age 27, from a self-inflicted shotgun wound at his Seattle home.
At the time, the King County Medical Examiner ruled his death a suicide by a Remington Model 11 20-gauge shotgun.
Now, an unofficial private sector team of forensic scientists has 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.
Independent researcher Michelle Wilkins, who worked with the team, told Daily Mail that after just three days looking into the evidence with fresh eyes, Burnett said: ‘This is a homicide. We’ve got to do something about this.’
She said the conclusion followed an exhaustive review of the autopsy findings, which revealed signs inconsistent with an instantaneous gunshot death.
The peer-reviewed paper presented ten points of evidence suggesting Cobain was confronted by one or more assailants who forced a heroin overdose to incapacitate him, before one of them shot him in the head, placed the gun in his arms and left behind a forged suicide note.
‘There are things in the autopsy that go, well, wait, this person didn’t die very quickly of a gunshot blast,’ Wilkins said, pointing to organ damage associated with oxygen deprivation. ‘The necrosis of the brain and liver happens in an overdose. It doesn’t happen in a shotgun death.’
Burnett has decades of experience analyzing crime scenes and interpreting complex evidence.
He has earned national recognition for his expert analysis in controversial cases like Marine Colonel James Sabow’s death and the investigation into Billey Joe Johnson Jr, where his meticulous forensic reconstructions challenged official findings.
A spokesperson for the Medical Examiner’s Office told the Daily Mail: ‘King County Medical Examiner’s Office worked with the local law enforcement agency, conducted a full autopsy, and followed all of its procedures in coming to the determination of the manner of death as a suicide.
‘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 re-opening of this case and our previous determination of death.’
The Daily Mail reviewed Cobain’s autopsy, which described how his body was found on the floor of the greenhouse above his garage.
‘Examination of the miscellaneous papers in the left front pocket [of Cobain’s jeans] reveals some writing in black ink, reading ‘Remington 20 gauge 2-3/4 shells or shorter setup light shot 10888925,’ the June 20, 1994 autopsy reads.
Wilkins said: ‘To me, it looks like someone staged a movie and wanted you to be absolutely certain this was a suicide.
‘The receipt for the gun is in his pocket. The receipt for the shells is in his pocket. The shells are lined up at his feet.’
Hellbound and Down 