‘This Is a Homicide’: New Forensics Dispute Kurt Cobain's Suicide

CONTENT WARNING: The following article discusses matters of suicide

A new independent forensic report is once again challenging the long-standing ruling that Kurt Cobain died by suicide, with researchers urging authorities in Seattle to reopen the case nearly three decades on.

The Nirvana icon was found dead at his Seattle home on April 5, 1994, aged 27. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled his death a suicide, caused by a self-inflicted shotgun wound, a conclusion that has remained in place despite decades of public speculation.

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Now, forensic specialist Brian Burnett and researcher Michelle Wilkins claim elements of the autopsy and crime scene raise serious questions. Burnett – known for re-examining disputed cases including the death of Marine Colonel James Sabow – reportedly joined Wilkins’ independent review in late 2025.

According to Wilkins, (via The Daily Mail), their review highlights what they describe as organ damage more consistent with a heroin overdose than an immediate shotgun death. “The necrosis of the brain and liver happens in an overdose. It doesn’t happen in a shotgun death,” she said, arguing Cobain may have been incapacitated prior to the gunshot.

The pair also questioned the physical mechanics of the scene, including whether Cobain would have been capable of firing the weapon if he were in a compromised state. Additional concerns raised in the report reportedly include blood patterns, hand placement, the arrangement of drug paraphernalia, and the positioning of receipts and ammunition at the scene. The researchers allege the scene may have been staged to resemble suicide and have also cast doubt on the authenticity of the note found at the property.

In the independent review, veteran forensic specialist Brian Burnett reportedly reached a stark conclusion early in the process. According to researcher Michelle Wilkins, Burnett stated: “This is a homicide. We’ve got to do something about this.”

NB: the comment reflects the opinion of the private-sector team conducting the review, not a formal finding by law enforcement or the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.

However, authorities have pushed back. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office said it remains open to reviewing new evidence but has “seen nothing to date that would warrant re-opening of this case and our previous determination of death.” The Seattle Police Department has likewise declined past requests to revisit the investigation.

Importantly, the independent report does not call for arrests, instead encouraging transparency and further examination of the evidence. “If we’re wrong, just prove it to us,” Wilkins said. “That’s all we asked them to do.”

For now, Cobain’s death remains officially classified as a suicide. But as one of rock music’s most scrutinised and mythologised tragedies, renewed challenges to the ruling continue to resurface – ensuring the conversation around his final days is far from over.