By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-10-19 18:21:37 | Updated at 2026-10-19 19:19:16
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Seattle’s 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, according to bombshell claims being probed by the city.
The city’s Office of Police Accountability recently began probing the shocking allegation: that former Chief Shon Barnes “acknowledged evidence collected” when the Nirvana frontman died was “contradictory” to what had been stated in the original police report, people involved with the investigation told The Post.
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.
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 — a potentially crucial issue with the suicide determination.
Barnes’ shocking admission is alleged to have come during a November 2025 meeting that the then-commish had with “Who Killed Kurt?” — a group of volunteer researchers who believe Cobain’s death was a homicide staged to look like a suicide and have been campaigning for the case to be reopened.
Barnes met with the group’s 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.
“Who Killed Kurt?” claims that during the meeting, they discussed forensic evidence which shows an apparent absence of blood on Cobain’s left hand, which the musician is supposed to have used to hold the shotgun’s barrel near his mouth.
Larson suggested that a possible implication was Cobain’s hand was placed on the gun after he was shot, prompting Barnes to allegedly respond, “So that’s the explanation — the hand is placed after the blood-spatter event.”
When the group discussed its concerns over how quickly Cobain’s death had been ruled a suicide, Barnes reportedly told them, “A determination happens after an investigation.
“Although I wasn’t here at the time, as a trained investigator, we investigate every death as if it’s a homicide, and then we make a determination,” he allegedly said.
In January, the SPD announced it would not reopen its investigation into Cobain’s death, standing by the outcome of a 2014 cold-case review which also ruled there had been no foul play.
Barnes resigned as SPD chief in July 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.
The OPA began its investigation into the Cobain case after receiving a complaint June 28 from a follower of the work of “Who Killed Kurt?”
Wilkins recently told The Post that she hopes that the the watchdog’s probe will establish what the SPD did after receiving the researchers’ new forensic analysis.
“We provided SPD with new evidence that could and should have been subjected to testing,” Wilkins also told the OPA in an email Oct. 5.
“From what we currently know — and we do not know everything SPD did or did not do internally following the meeting — it appears that testing or further investigation did not occur.
“If that is the case, Mr. Larson’s position is that it represents a dereliction of the duty owed to the public.
“Our position is not that we conclusively proved homicide during that meeting. It is that the issues we presented demand a thorough and fresh look.”
Cobain’s widow Courtney Love had demanded that the entire police file on his death be handed over to her in 1995, with no copies left at the Seattle Police Department.
Love, who believes her husband committed suicide, argued that ghouls had tried to make money off the files. The department rebuffed her request.
Bev Ireland — researcher and media liaison for “Who Killed Kurt?” — said it is “encouraging” that OPA is looking into new matter involving Barnes.
“The multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed report presented to former Seattle Police Chief, Shon Barnes, during Michelle’s meeting with him on November 4, represented extensive new research, scientific and forensic analysis and independent ballistics testing,” she said.
“Work of this nature deserves careful scrutiny and a considered response, not perfunctory dismissal.”
Neither Barnes nor OPA or the SPD responded to Post requests for comment.
