Kurt Cobain’s Death at Age 27 Could Have Been a ‘Homicide,’ Independent Researcher Suggests

The death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, which was ruled a suicide at age 27 in 1994, is being looked at with fresh eyes.

According to a Tuesday, February 6, report in the Daily Mail, an unofficial private sector team of forensic scientists have reviewed the singer and guitarist’s autopsy as well as materials from the scene and have come to new conclusions.

The famed musician’s body was discovered on April 8, 1994, at home with a suicide note nearby. It was later determined that he died days earlier (around April 5) from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

However, independent researcher Michelle Wilkins, who worked with the team of forensic scientists, told the Mail that a specialist reviewing the case said, “This is a homicide.”

Wilkins told the publication that the team came to this conclusion after a review of autopsy findings, which had signs inconsistent with an instantaneous death caused by a gunshot.

According to the Mail, the team’s report suggests that Cobain was confronted by a person (or people) who incapacitated him with a heroin overdose, shot him and staged the scene — complete with a forged suicide note.

In the days leading to his death, Cobain was heavily addicted to drugs and overdosed about a month prior.

Still, Wilkins claimed, “The necrosis of the brain and liver happens in an overdose. It doesn’t happen in a shotgun death.”

“To me, it looks like someone staged a movie and wanted you to be absolutely certain this was a suicide,” Wilkins said. “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.”

Wilkins pointed out numerous details that the team believes doesn’t add up, including how his syringes were capped after apparently being used and how his left hand was relatively clean after the gun was fired.

“There is no universe where that hand is not covered in blood,” she said, claiming that “this was a very clean scene” for it to be determined a suicide.

The suicide note was also brought into question, with Wilkins believing that “the text is a little bit different” towards the bottom while “the top of the note is written by Kurt.”

Requests to reopen the case have been declined. Wilkins told the Mail that the team is not suggesting they look to make an arrest; they just want the “extra evidence” to be reviewed.

In a statement to the Mail, a spokesperson for the Medical Examiner’s Office said, “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 spokesperson added.

Cobain was married to Courtney Love from 1992 until the time of his death, and the pair share daughter Frances Bean Cobain, now 33.