Kurt Cobain: New Photos Of His Life And Death 20 Years Later
As the 20th anniversary of Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain’s death approaches, new photos from his life, and from his death, are being released. Cobain committed suicide in April of 1994 at the age of 27. Cobain had been missing since approximately April 1,1994. His wife, Courtney Love, hired a private investigator to find Cobain, who had battled drug addiction most of his life. His body was found on April 8, 1994 at his Lake Washington home when an electrician arrived to install a security system. The coroner estimated that Cobain’s suicide, via a fatal shotgun blast, took place on April 5, 1994.
Police have recently developed four rolls of film that were previously determined to be unimportant to the investigation. While fans and tabloids have advanced numerous conspiracy theories on the Nirvana lead singers death, police have always maintained that Cobain’s death was a suicide. Detective Mike Ciesynski has reviewed the new photos, as well as the original crime scene photos and stands by the original findings, saying in an interview with radio station KIRO, that it was the anniversary of Cobain’s death, and not any new evidence that prompted the release of the new photos.
“I was requested to look at the case because I’m a cold case detective, because it is 20 years later, and it’s a high media case. There were always these conspiracy theorists out there, and so I was asked to look at the case and review it.”
These new photos are the second set of Cobain death scene photos recently released. Coban’s death scene was noted to be extremely non-violent. Gary Smith, the electrician that found Cobain, told police that he originally thought that Cobain was sleeping. When Smith noticed blood coming from Cobain’s ear and a shotgun pointing at his chin, he then realized that something was wrong.
As will happen when the anniversary of a celebrity death happens, the photos and articles are joined by books extolling the dead celeb. Seattle music journalist Charles R. Cross has published “Here We Are Now: The Lasting Impact of Kurt Cobain”, which is his second book about Cobain. Cross published “Heavier Than Heaven”, a biography about Cobain, 13 years ago.
While the crime scene photos are intriguing, there are new photos of Cobain being released that are far more interesting. Photos of Cobain that were taken two months before his death by photographer Youri Lenquette are being displayed for the first time. Cobain and his Nirvana band mates were touring in Paris, and posed for the impromptu session with Lenquette, who was friends with Cobain. Most of the photos have never been displayed before, and feature Cobain posing with a gun that he brought with him to the studio. The exhibit, called The Last Shooting: Kurt Cobain will be showing at the Addict Gallerie in Paris until June 21, 2014.
