Handwriting Review Questions Kurt Cobain Note Lines
A new handwriting review is renewing scrutiny over the final message left at the scene of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s 1994 death in Seattle. Cobain, 27, was found with a shotgun wound at his home on April 5, 1994, and the King County Medical Examiner ruled the death a suicide. The note, written in red pen on a restaurant placemat and pinned into soil with the pen, has long been cited as key evidence supporting Seattle Police’s conclusion.
In the new assessment, Daily Mail reported that a private forensic team believes the final four lines of the note—where Cobain appears to address Ms. Courtney Love and their daughter—show handwriting differences that suggest they may have been written by someone else.
Independent researcher Ms. Michelle Wilkins, who worked with the team, told the outlet the handwriting in the last lines looks “different, larger and more scrawled,” and said, “We don’t believe Kurt wrote those lines.” The disputed section includes phrases such as “Please keep going Courtney,” “for Frances,” and ends with “I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU.” Handwriting analyst Ms. Mozelle Martin said the main body of the note aligns with Cobain’s known writing, but argued the final lines display anomalies in letter formation and rhythm; she characterised her conclusion as probabilistic rather than absolute.
The renewed focus on the note follows prior debate over the case, including claims of investigative gaps and family concerns, which Cobain’s relatives have raised in the past while calling out “sloppy police work” tied to the original ruling.
Seattle Police, however, have not indicated any shift in their position. A department spokesperson previously said detectives concluded Cobain died by suicide and that remains the department’s view. Document examiner Mr. James Green also noted that while some letter shapes are consistent, differences in size and rhythm could indicate the lines were added later—either by Cobain returning to the note or by another writer.
The claims are likely to keep circulating given Cobain’s cultural impact and the decades of speculation around his death, but as of now the official finding remains unchanged and no reopened investigation has been announced.
