Neil Low, a retired Seattle police captain who spent 50 years with the Seattle Police Department and was asked by his chief to audit the Kurt Cobain death case in 2005, has publicly stated he believes the original investigation was mishandled and that the evidence does not support a suicide ruling.
Low, who was given full access to Cobain's case file and physical evidence during his 2005 audit, now says he believes the April 5, 1994, death of the Nirvana frontman was a homicide and that the case should be reopened, a position echoed by independent researcher Michelle Wilkins, who is actively reanalyzing the case alongside forensic scientists.
According to the Daily Mail, Kurt Cobain was found lifeless in a greenhouse attached to his Seattle home on April 8, 1994, three days after his death on April 5. He was 27 years old. An electrician installing security lighting at the property discovered his body. The King County Medical Examiner ruled the death a suicide, citing a self-inflicted wound from a Remington Model 11 20-gauge shotgun found in Cobain's arms. A note was discovered nearby, and the ruling has remained in place for more than three decades.
Police spokesman Vinette Tishi left shortly after Cobain's body was found and spoke publicly alongside Medical Examiner Dr. Donald Reay. "It was obvious this man is dead from a shotgun wound to the head… Now there was a suicide note left inside the house," Tishi said in a recorded interview at the time.
Low did not work on the initial investigation, and the case was not handled by his precinct. However, after being directed by his chief to review the file, he gained complete access to all evidence and documentation. His conclusions, reached years after the original ruling, diverge sharply from those of the original investigators. Critics of the original investigation argue that the early public framing of the death as a suicide — before the medical examiner's office had formally concluded its work — may have shaped how subsequent steps were taken. Low has pointed to this dynamic directly, noting that homicide units typically do not revisit deaths ruled suicides.
"I think they went in with their mind made up. It was a suicide," Low said. He also acknowledged a measure of professional humility: "They were led astray. I might have fallen for it, too, but now I think it's a homicide, and I do think the case should be reopened." That kind of candor from a 50-year law enforcement veteran deserves to be taken seriously.
Among Low's central concerns are blood patterns and the condition of Cobain's hands in photographs taken at the scene, which he described as appearing unusually clean. He argued that the violence of the wound would have produced far more visible evidence on Cobain's hands and body than what the photographs appear to show.
"All the pellets were accounted for, but the impact would have been so forceful that it would have produced a significant spray, not just a little, a large spray."
Low also raised questions about whether standard forensic procedures were followed, including DNA collection, nail scraping, and proper scene preservation. According to an internal report, at least 12 officers entered and exited the room where Cobain's body was found, raising concerns about possible evidence contamination.
Discrepancies between the original 1994 police report and a 2014 report released by police have drawn additional scrutiny. The 1994 report noted a Gray Top Cabs driver who picked up a passenger from Cobain's residence who "did not match with the residence" and who could not locate a store to purchase ammunition. The 2014 report omitted both details.
Independent researcher Michelle Wilkins, working with forensic scientists on a fresh review of the case, highlighted that omission. "The original report explicitly says the passenger didn't match the residence. That alone suggests it may not have been Kurt," she said. Wilkins also noted that Cobain, described as an experienced gun owner, would likely have known where to purchase ammunition.
The autopsy references a handwritten note found in Cobain's pocket mentioning ammunition and the Remington shotgun. The 1994 police report, by contrast, noted only a receipt for the weapon with a friend's name on it. Low discussed these inconsistencies alongside missing notes and omitted witness observations throughout the available documentation.
Low, who retired from the Seattle Police Department in 2018 after a 50-year career and has written a book titled "Crazy Love" addressing his conclusions, has been direct about what he found. "I've read the case, and I can tell you what the evidence says because that's what I did for a living, and it does say not suicide," he stated.
As of this reporting, no formal decision to reopen the case has been announced. The King County Medical Examiner's original ruling from 1994 remains the official record. Whether law enforcement authorities will respond to Low's public call for a review remains an open question — one that more than 30 years of unresolved questions have made harder to dismiss.