New Kurt Cobain Death Scene Photos Released, But Police Not Re-Opening Investigation

New Kurt Cobain death scene photos were released this week, but the Seattle Police Department clarified that the investigation into the late rock star’s suicide was not being re-opened.

With the 20th anniversary of Cobain’s suicide coming up on April 4, public fascination with the enigmatic Nirvana frontman has risen. In response, Seattle Police Department’s cold case detective Mike Ciesenski said he recently pulled the Kurt Cobain suicide file to refresh himself about the details.

Ciesenski found four rolls of film in the file that were never developed, but after having them printed the detective said the Kurt Cobain death scene pictures were “benign, nothing that was new or anything that would change the outcome of the investigation,” spokeswoman Det. Renee Witt noted.

“Mr. Cobain is still deceased and the case is still a suicide,” she added. “We did not reopen the case.”

Kurt Cobain was 27 when he committed suicide with a shotgun. His body was found days later in a Lake Washington home.

Cobain was suffering from depression at the time of his death as well as debilitating pain in his stomach that doctors struggled to diagnose. He reportedly self-medicated with heroin, and later referenced the pain in his suicide note:

“Thank you all from the pit of my burning, nauseous stomach for your letters and concern during the past years. I’m too much of an erratic, moody baby! I don’t have the passion anymore, and so remember, it’s better to burn out than to fade away.”

Reports that Cobain’s death probe could be re-opened spread wildly on Twitter and Facebook this week after Seattle television station KIRO published a story on its website titled “Seattle police re-examine Kurt Cobain death.” The station teased unseen photos from Kurt Cobain’s death scene, the same ones later deemed “benign” by the Seattle Police Department.

Some of the Kurt Cobain death scene photos were released by police, including a picture of what appears to be needles on the floor next to sunglasses and a cigarette. Another showed a paraphernalia box closed next to what appears to be Cobain’s identification.