Seattle Police investigate allegations regarding Kurt Cobain death case

The Seattle Police Accountability Service is investigating a complaint against former Police Chief Sean Barnes regarding the handling of new forensic evidence in the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.

Independent researchers, including Michelle Wilkins and former King County Prosecutor Mark Larson, claim that Cobain’s 1994 death may have been a homicide staged to appear as a suicide. Their findings, based on a peer-reviewed study released in February, involve an analysis of bloodstain patterns, firearm evidence, and toxicology reports.

Investigators allege that Chief Barnes failed to conduct a substantive evaluation of these findings before the department decided not to reopen the case. While researchers claim to have presented 180 pages of new evidence to Barnes in November 2025, official police and medical examiner conclusions maintain that the death was a suicide.