The FBI has made the 10-page file pertaining to the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain available to the public, with minimal redactions, for the first time.
Although the case file is thin, it does confirm that friends, fans and one private investigator, named Tom Grant, do not agree with the official ruling of suicide, a determination made by the Seattle police department following Cobain’s controversial 1994 death.
The file includes official government responses that were issued to a pair of letters received in 2006. The authors of the letters, whose names were redacted, express concern with inconsistencies in the investigation by the police and request the investigation be re-opened.
Both replies from the FBI – with a few negligible differences between the two – stated:
However, most homicide/death investigations generally fall within the jurisdiction of state and local authorities. In order for the FBI to initiate an investigation of any complaint we receive, specific facts must be present to indicate that a violation of federal law within our investigative jurisdiction has occurred. Based on the information you provided, we are unable to identify any violation of federal law within the investigative jurisdiction of the FBI. We are, therefore, unable to take any investigative action in this case.
Also present in the case file is a tax from Cosgrove/Meurer Productions, the documentary company behind the TV series Unsolved Mysteries. Communications between the producers of the show and the Los Angeles and Washington D.C. FBI offices note inconsistencies with the investigation, and which was observed by private investigator Grant, who believed Cobain’s alleged suicide note was instead a “retirement letter” to fans.
View the Kurt Cobain FBI case file for yourself.