FBI Releases File Of Inquiries Into Kurt Cobain’s Suicide

It's been nearly three decades since the death by suicide of Kurt Cobain, but conspiracy theories and speculation about the nature of the Nirvana frontman's death continue. Now, the FBI has released its file of the requests it has received over the years to open a formal investigation.  

Last month, with no announcement, the bureau released the file via The Vault, its Freedom of Information database. Within the file are letters calling on the FBI to open a federal investigation into Cobain’s death, with one claiming “his killer is still out there,” responses sent from officials to those seeking a new federal probe, and a memo from production notes from the company that created “Unsolved Mysteries” that raises questions about his death.

The release of the report, which was first reported by Rolling Stone, comes 27 years after Cobain’s death in April of 1994. It’s unclear what prompted the FBI to give the public access to these files at this time. 

The collection of messages sent to the FBI reiterate details that have been called into question over the years since Cobain was found dead on his Seattle property, after leaving a rehab facility in southern California in 1994. These include possible discrepancies in the police report on his death, the large and possibly incapacitating amount of heroin in his system, and the content of and handwriting on his suicide note.

“Millions of fans around the world would like to see the inconsistencies surrounding the death cleared up for once and for all,” one email in the file reads. “It is sad to think that an injustice of this nature can be allowed in the United States.”

The FBI responded to these letters by saying the case is out of its purview. 

“We appreciate your concern that Mr. Cobain may have been the victim of a homicide,” they said in one reply. “However, most homicide/death investigations generally fall within the jurisdiction of state and local authorities. … Based on the information you provided, we are unable to identify any violation of federal law within the investigative jurisdiction of the FBI.”

Public fascination and speculation around his death have been the subject of multiple documentaries over the years. While the names of those who contacted the federal government about the case are redacted in the FBI file, one message suggests reaching out to an address at the domain name cobaincase.com. That website belongs to retired private investigator Tom Grant.

Grant was hired by Cobain's then-wife Courtney Love to find him after he disappeared from rehab just before his suicide. He has said that the Cobain case is "filled with lies, contradictions in logic, and countless inconsistencies” and blamed Love, along with her lawyers and supporters, for an alleged cover-up. Grant’s probing of the case has been mocked by a detective who investigated the case. He sells his case file on the website and offers to consult about the Cobain case with members of the public for a fee.