Rock singer Kurt Cobain, high on heroin and Valium, shot himself in the head in the late afternoon or evening of April 5, three days before his body was discovered at his posh Madrona home.

The time of death, released yesterday by the King County Medical Examiner's Office, helps clear up some questions about Cobain's whereabouts after he left a California drug-treatment center.

Meanwhile, in another twist to the drama surrounding the Nirvana singer's death, police in Beverly Hills, Calif., reported yesterday that Cobain's wife, Courtney Love, was arrested on drug charges April 7 - the day before his body was found. Police and fire officials were called to the luxurious Peninsula Hotel early that morning and treated Love for a suspected heroin overdose.

She was charged with possession of a controlled substance, a felony, and misdemeanor possession of both drug paraphernalia and a hypodermic needle, police said. Love said last night she was unable to comment on the charges.

The 28-year-old lead singer of the band Hole had reported Cobain missing on April 4, three days after he walked away from the drug-treatment center in Marina Del Rey, Calif.

Cobain's suicide was not discovered until Friday morning, when an electrician spotted his body in a guest house above the garage of the couple's home. A shotgun lay across Cobain's prone body.

The level of heroin, as described by a source, was sufficient to have caused intoxication when he pulled the trigger to end his life, medical authorities said yesterday.

In an interview with KIRO television, Love yesterday acknowledged her own problems with drugs and said she wanted to send a message to Nirvana's fans that drugs don't solve anything.

"It's easier to get drugs in Seattle than in Los Angeles," she said hours before her own drug arrest was disclosed. "The availability of heroin on Capitol Hill is disgusting."

The Post-Intelligencer reported yesterday that Love had become increasingly frustrated by the inability of Seattle police to shut down Cobain's drug sources. Police say they are still pursuing his drug involvement.

Love has been under enormous stress over Cobain's repeated drug abuse; he was treated for an overdose, now believed to be a suicide attempt, in Rome on March 4.

"After Rome, I just couldn't take it," Love said Sunday.

After Cobain left the rehab center, Love tried to find her husband, filing a missing persons report with Seattle police on April 4.

On April 7, the day before Cobain was found, Beverly Hills police and fire agencies were called to the Peninsula Hotel.

"She was transferred to Century City (Hospital) on the basis of a drug overdose," Beverly Hills Sgt. Robert Smith said.

Three hours after charges were filed, Love posted $10,000 bail through a bond company and was released, Smith said. Arraignment was set for May 5.

A pathologist with the King County Medical Examiner's Office said yesterday that the 27-year-old Cobain likely killed himself in the afternoon or evening of April 5. He refused to discuss the toxicological findings.

The time-of-death estimate is based on the condition of the body and evidence at the scene, but the singer could have killed himself several hours earlier or later, said Nikolas Hartshorne, the assistant medical examiner who conducted the autopsy.

"We feel confident that this was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head," he said. "There's nothing suspicious about the scene or the circumstances that bothers me."

Although the medical examiner has determined that Cobain died April 5, Seattle police said they received reports that the singer contacted two friends the following day.

Homicide Capt. Larry Farrar said yesterday, however, that the reports haven't been confirmed and that the investigation on his whereabouts is continuing.

The toxicological tests determined that the level of heroin in Cobain's bloodstream was 1.52 milligrams per liter, the source said. There was also evidence of diazapan, or Valium, in his blood.

The heroin dose was "a high concentration, by any account," said Dr. Randall Baselt, who heads the Chemical Toxicological Institute in Foster City, Calif.

But he said the strength of that dose would depend on many factors, including how habituated Cobain was to the drug.

Dr. David Bailey, chairman of the Department of Pathology at the University of California, San Diego, called the dose "not insignificant."

"One could wonder about impairment of judgment," Bailey said.

Heroin levels as low as one-third the concentration in Cobain's blood have been fatal in certain cases.

"If a person was using more, they can tolerate more," said Glenn Case, an investigator with the Washington State Toxicology Lab.

Cobain had taken heroin, among other drugs, in the past. It was his continuing battle with drugs that led Love and many of his friends to persuade him to enter the drug-treatment center.

One longtime friend of Cobain's told the Post-Intelligencer yesterday that the rock star was driven to suicide by mysterious internal forces and that it was wrong to focus the blame on drugs.

"Just blaming it on smack (heroin) is stupid," said Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic.

"People have been taking smack for a hundred years. You can get smack in any town.

"This is just a Tonya Harding thing - all this talk about Seattle and smack. Smack was just a small part of his life."

Novoselic said he did not understand his friend's behavior.

"I don't have it all figured out right now," he said.

P-I Reporters Steven Goldsmith and Gene Stout contributed to this story.

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