Seattle police are facing scrutiny over claims they brushed aside new forensic findings that challenged the suicide ruling in Kurt Cobain's death.
The city's Office of Police Accountability (OPA) confirmed it has begun a preliminary investigation into a complaint against former Chief Shon Barnes concerning the department's response to the researchers' findings.
The researchers' peer-reviewed study, exclusively revealed by the Daily Mail in February, claimed that the Nirvana frontman's death was a homicide staged to look like suicide. The authors based that conclusion on analyses of bloodstain patterns, firearms evidence and Cobain's toxicology report.
Michelle Wilkins, an independent researcher and co-author of the study, said she and former King County prosecutor Mark Larson presented the findings to then-Seattle Police Chief Barnes during a meeting on November 4, 2025.
Sources familiar with the meeting alleged that Barnes acknowledged apparent contradictions between the new forensic evidence presented and the original police account.
However, Barnes told the Daily Mail: 'At no point during that meeting did I acknowledge or affirm that there were inconsistencies in the evidence concerning the investigation.'
Cobain was found dead in a greenhouse over a garage at his Seattle home at age 27. The medical examiner determined that he died from a self-inflicted shotgun wound and estimated that his death occurred three days earlier.
Seattle police have told the Daily Mail that the investigation has not been reopened and previously maintained that the suicide determination remains unchanged.
Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain died on April 5, 1994, at age 27, from a self-inflicted shotgun wound at his Seattle home. An official government agency is reviewing a complaint about how the Seattle Police Department handled new forensic findings
Barnes said he could not personally assess the original investigation.
'The original investigation occurred decades before my tenure with the Seattle Police Department,' he said.
'I have never personally reviewed the investigative case file, physical evidence, forensic findings, photographs, or other materials associated with that investigation.'
Wilkins said Larson received an SPD email on January 27, 2026, stating that it had 'decided not to reopen the case' following internal discussions and careful consideration of the submission, basing the conclusion on previous investigations.
Wilkins alleges police effectively shut the door on the case without explaining what testing or investigative work supported their decision.
Asked about how the review of the new evidence was conducted, Barnes told the Daily Mail: 'I cannot speak to the specific forensic assessments, investigative reviews or consultations... as I have no firsthand knowledge of those matters.'
He also said that he has maintained that facts and available evidence should guide investigative decisions.
'There is an important distinction between someone disagreeing with the outcome of an investigation and presenting credible new information that may warrant further review,' he said.
'I certainly wasn't suggesting that a case should never be reconsidered or that legitimate new evidence should be ignored.'
The city's Office of Police Accountability (OPA) is assessing a complaint against former Chief Shon Barnes (pictured) over the department's response to researchers seeking a fresh examination of the case
The Remington Model 11 20-gauge shotgun found at the scene was held by Detective Mike Ciesynski, who investigated Cobain's death. The gun was destroyed in 2022
During the November meeting, Wilkins and Larson presented 180 pages of findings concerning the shotgun's operation, Cobain's toxicology results and possible bloodstains visible in crime-scene photographs.
Barnes allegedly questioned aspects of the firearms evidence and described an investigative approach in which deaths are examined as potential homicides before a determination is reached.
Senior officers also reportedly questioned whether the firearms tests replicated Cobain's reported hand position.
The researchers acknowledged that a possible bloodstain identified in photographs would require further examination to establish what it was.
Barnes raised concerns about the availability of evidence more than three decades after Cobain's death and whether the singer's celebrity should result in different treatment from other families seeking answers.
In her recorded interview with OPA, Wilkins alleged that Barnes said reopening Cobain's case would mean having to 'reopen every case where someone thinks that their loved one's suicide was a homicide.'
When asked about those comments, Barnes said: 'I don't recall the specific wording of every comment made during our November meeting, so I wouldn't want to confirm or dispute a particular statement without that context.'
The King County Medical Examiner determined that Cobain died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and ruled his death a suicide. The researchers brought evidence forth that challenges the suicide ruling, claiming it was not properly reviewed
Investigators with the Seattle Police Department (SPD) recovered a suicide note, a shotgun and a nearby heroin kit, leading them to conclude that the 27-year-old Nirvana frontman had taken his own life
An email obtained by the Daily Mail reveals that the Remington Model 11 20-gauge shotgun found at Kurt Cobain's death scene was destroyed at the request of his family in 2022
Barnes also referred to 'my agency, and protecting our reputation' while questioning the weight of circumstantial evidence and whether assumptions could affect the researchers' interpretation, according to the meeting notes shared with the Daily Mail.
Responding to the characterization of those remarks, Barnes said: 'I reject any suggestion that reputational considerations would take precedence over the integrity of a criminal investigation. I do not agree with that characterization of my position.'
Barnes indicated during the meeting that he would discuss the submission internally.
'I will talk to my team about it, but I can't promise you we'll reopen it,' he said, according to the meeting notes that have been shared with the OPA for its review.
According to correspondence with OPA, the department's response to the researchers came in January, when Wilkins said Larson received an SPD email stating that it had 'decided not to reopen the case.' Police said the decision followed internal discussions and careful consideration of the submission.
But central to Wilkins' complaint against Barnes is whether police meaningfully examined the material before deciding against further investigation.
Wilkins argued that the response relied on the findings of an earlier case review conducted before the researchers presented their findings, and did not explain how the newly presented findings had been assessed.
OPA is assessing the allegations, with a decision on how the complaint will proceed expected next week.
Another file shows the date and location where the gun was destroyed
Cobain's body was discovered in the greenhouse above his garage by an electrician who had arrived to install security lighting three days after he died
Cobain shared daughter Frances Bean with singer Courtney Love
In the email exchange, OPA asked Wilkins what led her to believe Barnes had not tested, investigated or reviewed the material presented at the November 4, 2025, meeting, including whether anything he or other officials said supported that impression.
Wilkins told OPA that SPD's response did not identify 'any examination of our specific findings, any independent forensic consultation, or any additional investigative work.'
She also raised questions about the original Remington shotgun, which she said SPD property and evidence records showed had been destroyed at Nucor Steel on September 27, 2022.
Its destruction was authorized in correspondence dated June 29 that year. The weapon would therefore have been unavailable for physical examination when the researchers presented their ballistics findings in November 2025.
'How did SPD evaluate those findings, if the original firearm was no longer available for examination?' Wilkins asked.
She questioned whether police had tested a comparable firearm, consulted ballistics specialists or undertaken another forensic assessment.
Wilkins acknowledged that the firearm's destruction and the lack of investigative detail in SPD's response did not establish that no review had occurred.
She asked OPA to determine who examined the submission, what additional work was undertaken and whether internal records documented the basis for the decision.
'My concern is not simply that SPD declined to reopen the case,' she wrote. 'It is whether that decision followed a meaningful examination of the new evidence, rather than reliance on conclusions reached years before that evidence was presented.'
Barnes, however, has since left the SPD following an unrelated controversy, resigning on July 30, 2026, after Mayor Katie Wilson asked for his departure following intense public and political criticism regarding the SPD's handling of a mass shooting at the Bite of Seattle food festival days prior.
Barnes faced backlash for a multi-hour delay in public communication following the shooting, a tense public exchange with a reporter and scrutiny over spending nearly seven weeks out of town for work and personal travel in 2026.
Addressing the Cobain controversy, Barnes told the Daily Mail: 'I understand that questions remain about this case, and I respect those seeking answers.
'I simply want to make sure my comments and involvement are accurately represented.'
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