SEATTLE, March 18 (UPI) — Seattle police have released photos of the shotgun used by Kurt Cobain to commit suicide in 1994.
Authorities released images of Detective Mike Ciesynski holding the firearm at different angles Wednesday in order to dispel ongoing conspiracy theories surrounding the rocker’s death. The weapon has never been shown publicly.
Cobain was found dead in his Seattle home on April 8, 1994 with a bullet wound to the head and the 20-gauge shotgun laying on his chest. His death was ruled a suicide.
Conspiracy theorists have long claimed that police had destroyed the shotgun in order to cover up a murder. CBS News asked for the photos in a public records request in order to “dispel a rumor…that the shotgun had been melted down to hide evidence in a supposed…coverup of a potential murder.”
Seattle authorities released photos of evidence taken at the scene in 2014 on the 20th anniversary of Cobain’s death. Ciesynski also reviewed the case files determining that there was no information to question the ruling of a suicide.
No graphic images have been released however conspiracy theorist Richard Lee has filed a lawsuit against the department to show pictures of Cobain’s body. Cobain’s wife Courtney Love and daughter Frances Bean Cobain have spoken out against the request warning that the images “would encourage more disturbed stalkers and fanatical threats.”
Conspiracy theories surrounding Cobain’s death picked up steam in 2015 with the 2015 documentary Soaked in Bleach. In the film Los Angeles private investigator Tom Grant, who was hired by Love to find Cobain leading up to his death, questioned the suicide ruling.
