KURT Cobain died of a massive heroin overdose and could not have shot himself, according to an award-winning documentary maker who is calling for a new murder probe into the case.
New York Times bestselling author Ian Halperin says he has evidence the Nirvana frontman had 70 times the lethal dose of heroin in his system when he was found with a gunshot wound to the head at his home in Seattle in April 1994.
It means that it is “scientifically impossible” that Cobain, who died aged 27, could have turned the gun on himself, according to Halperin.
The 58-year-old writer says that another telltale sign that someone else was involved is that, allegedly, no prints were found on the shotgun.
Halperin claims to have spoken to Seattle law enforcement sources who believe the case was “steered away” from murder and wrongly dismissed as just another drug addict death.
And he also points to ex-Seattle police chief Norm Stamper’s previous admission that a new investigation should be launched.
Speaking following the release of his new book, Case Closed: The Cobain Murder: The Killing And Cover Up of Kurt Cobain, Halperin exclusively told The U.S. Sun: “Cobain was murdered based on the evidence I have.
“He had 70 times the lethal dose of heroin in his system.
“Forensic pathological experts say it’s impossible for anybody to withstand that much heroin for more than a second, let alone turn around, lift a shotgun, turn the shotgun, and try to blow their head off.
“It’s scientifically impossible that Kurt killed himself with the shotgun based on the forensics and pathological evidence.
“There is no precedent in humankind of anybody taking 70 times the lethal dose of heroin for a normal person.
“The smoking gun is the heroin intake. Nobody would be able to withstand that amount.
“To be clear, the heroin was 70 times more than a normal person, who had not used before, could withstand and three times the amount the most severe junkie with a long-term problem and tolerance could withstand before dying.
“There is no precedent for this.
“Kurt had been off drugs.
“He came back from rehab and wanted a new start in life. Someone shot him up. Most probably two people.
“Also I write there were no fingerprints on the gun they found. Dead men do not wipe their own prints.
“Cops who have been off the record sources for 25 years think the investigation was steered away from murder.”
In the 2015 documentary Soaked in Bleach, Seattle’s former police chief Stamper – who served in that role from 1994 to 2000, including the time of Cobain’s death – said: “If I were the chief today, I would reopen this investigation.
“We should in fact have taken steps to study patterns involved in the behavior of key individuals who had a motive to see Kurt Cobain dead.”
Stamper adds in the documentary: “If in fact Kurt Cobain was murdered, as opposed to having committed suicide, and it was possible to learn that, shame on us for not doing that.
“That was in fact our responsibility.”
Pointing to the former top cop’s comments, Halperin said the case must “one hundred percent” be reopened.
He said: “Especially with the former police chief of Seattle now saying that they got it wrong, I think it really warrants a reopening and reinvestigation.
“Why is it so important?
“Because Kurt Cobain was the greatest star we’ve seen in the last 40 years.
“He’s in the same breath as John Lennon, a game changer, the voice of a generation and his fans and his people deserve to know how he really died instead of being under false pretenses.
“Many of them have no idea still about the murder theory.”
In a previous interview with The U.S. Sun, Halperin offered the rock star’s widow Courtney Love a chance to set the record straight after years of speculation about her husband’s death.
He challenged actress and singer Love, 58, to take a polygraph test to answer questions about Cobain’s death, which is widely understood to have been a suicide.
Love has always strenuously denied any suggestions of being involved in Cobain’s death or wanting him dead if they split.
Halperin also said that he has new evidence that Cobain did not write all the lines in the suicide note that was found at the scene.
But the writer explains that beyond who might have been involved, he has other reasons for wanting to establish that Cobain did not kill himself.
The investigative journalist, who has been working on the story of Cobain’s death since the mid-1990s, explained: “This has been a long crusade of mine.
“It is mandatory that the world knows he didn’t commit suicide and in some ways who did it doesn’t matter.
“The fact is there are still copycat suicides and Kurt would not have wanted that.
“He was a man of truth.”
Case Closed: The Cobain Murder: The Killing And Cover Up of Kurt Cobain is available on Amazon.
