{"id":377223,"date":"2026-10-19T20:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T20:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/377223\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T20:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T20:50:10","slug":"kurt-cobains-death-investigation-takes-new-turn-over-cops-shocking-claim-casting-doubt-on-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/377223\/","title":{"rendered":"Kurt Cobain’s death investigation takes new turn over cop’s shocking claim casting doubt on suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seattle\u2019s 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<\/a>, according to bombshell claims being probed by the city.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s Office of Police Accountability recently began probing the shocking allegation: that former Chief Shon Barnes \u201cacknowledged evidence collected\u201d when the Nirvana frontman died was \u201ccontradictory\u201d to what had been stated in the original police report, people involved with the investigation told The Post.<\/p>\n

Grunge legend Cobain was just 27 when he was found with dead with a gunshot wound to the head in a greenhouse at his Seattle mansion in April 1994. Within hours, investigators declared his death a suicide.<\/p>\n

Kurt Cobain performs on stage with Nirvana at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 10, 1992 \u2014 two years before his shocking death. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Then-Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes (center) was last questioned in 2025 over his department\u2019s handling of the probe into Cobain\u2019s death. AP Photo\/Lindsey Wasson<\/p>\n

But Barnes allegedly noted during a sit-down with private investigators on the case last year that there was no blood found on the hand that Cobain supposedly shot himself with \u2014 a potentially crucial issue with the suicide determination.<\/p>\n

Barnes\u2019 shocking admission is alleged to have come during a November 2025 meeting that the then-commish had with \u201cWho Killed Kurt?\u201d \u2014 a group of volunteer researchers who believe Cobain\u2019s death was a homicide staged to look like a suicide and have been campaigning for the case to be reopened.<\/p>\n

Barnes met with the group\u2019s lead investigator, Michelle Wilkins, and its legal adviser, former local King County senior prosecutor Mark Larson, at cop headquarters to discuss the findings of a peer-reviewed paper which concluded Cobain was murdered<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho Killed Kurt?\u201d claims that during the meeting, they discussed forensic evidence which shows an apparent absence of blood on Cobain\u2019s left hand, which the musician is supposed to have used to hold the shotgun\u2019s barrel near his mouth. <\/p>\n

Forensic photos and a diagram detail Cobain\u2019s left hand from the investigation into his April 1994 death. Bryan R Burnett, et al. International Journal of Forensic Sciences<\/p>\n

Larson suggested that a possible implication was Cobain\u2019s hand was placed on the gun after he was shot, prompting Barnes to allegedly respond, \u201cSo that\u2019s the explanation \u2014 the hand is placed after the blood-spatter event.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the group discussed its concerns over how quickly Cobain\u2019s death had been ruled a suicide, Barnes reportedly told them, \u201cA determination happens after an investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough I wasn\u2019t here at the time, as a trained investigator, we investigate every death as if it\u2019s a homicide, and then we make a determination,\u201d he allegedly said.<\/p>\n

A police officer stands guard on the back porch of Cobain\u2019s garage where his body was found, April 8, 1994, in Seattle, Wash. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

In January, the SPD announced it would not reopen its investigation into Cobain\u2019s death, standing by the outcome of a 2014 cold-case review which also ruled there had been no foul play.<\/p>\n

Barnes resigned as SPD chief in July <\/a>after he was slammed for his handling of a mass shooting at a food festival at the Seattle Center which left two victims and one of the perpetrators dead.<\/p>\n

The OPA began its investigation into the Cobain case after receiving a complaint June 28 from a follower of the work of \u201cWho Killed Kurt?\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilkins recently told The Post that she hopes that the the watchdog\u2019s probe will establish what the SPD did after receiving the researchers\u2019 new forensic analysis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe provided SPD with new evidence that could and should have been subjected to testing,\u201d Wilkins also told the OPA in an email Oct. 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom what we currently know \u2014 and we do not know everything SPD did or did not do internally following the meeting \u2014 it appears that testing or further investigation did not occur.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that is the case, Mr. Larson\u2019s position is that it represents a dereliction of the duty owed to the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur position is not that we conclusively proved homicide during that meeting. It is that the issues we presented demand a thorough and fresh look.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cobain appears in New York in 1993. WireImage<\/p>\n

Cobain\u2019s widow Courtney Love<\/a> had demanded that the entire police file <\/a>on his death be handed over to her in 1995, with no copies left at the Seattle Police Department. <\/p>\n

Love, who believes her husband committed suicide, argued that ghouls had tried to make money off the files. The department rebuffed her request. <\/p>\n

Bev Ireland \u2014 researcher and media liaison for \u201cWho Killed Kurt?\u201d \u2014 said it is \u201cencouraging\u201d that OPA is looking into new matter involving Barnes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed report presented to former Seattle Police Chief, Shon Barnes, during Michelle\u2019s meeting with him on November 4, represented extensive new research, scientific and forensic analysis and independent ballistics testing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWork of this nature deserves careful scrutiny and a considered response, not perfunctory dismissal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither Barnes nor OPA or the SPD responded to Post requests for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Seattle\u2019s ex-top cop admitted there were contradictions between key evidence and what was concluded in the police report…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[23934,23935,9,24,55,54,56,1842,340,58],"class_list":["post-377223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-grunge","tag-kurt-cobain","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-seattle","tag-suicide","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}