Major update in case of Ellen Greenberg's 'suicide' death after body found with 20 stab wounds

A medical examiner says the death of a Pennsylvania teacher found with 20 stab wounds should be ruled as 'something other than suicide' after learning new information that impacted his opinion.

Ellen Greenberg, 27, was found dead on the kitchen floor of her apartment in Philadelphia in the middle of a blizzard on January 26, 2011. 

Former assistant Philadelphia Medical Examiner Marlon Osbourne initially ruled her death a homicide, but changed it to suicide after a meeting with police and prosecutors. 

In a bombshell new legal verification on Saturday, Dr. Osbourne changed his submission - a major step forward in the family's decades-long fight to change Ellen's manner of death from suicide to either homicide or undetermined.

'It is my professional opinion Ellen's manner of death should be designated as something other than suicide,' Dr. Osbourne stated in the filing.

Osbourne said the determination was made after he became aware of new information that drew the initial ruling into question. 

'For example, whether Ellen's fiancé was witnessed entering the apartment before placing the 9-1-1 call on January 26, 2011; whether the door was forced open as reported; and whether Ellen's body was moved by someone else inside the apartment with her at or near the time of her death,' Osbourne wrote.

Osbourne also cited the findings of MD Lindsey Emery, who conducted a neuropathological evaluation of Ellen's cervical segment sample.

The new ruling is a huge development in a civil lawsuit filed by Ellen's parents, which accused the city of Philadelphia of falsely labeling their daughters stabbing death a suicide as a way to cover up a botched homicide investigation. 

A judge ruled on Friday that their emotional distress civil case against the city can officially go to trial.

The new ruling also orders that medical examiners Osbourne and Sam Gulino as well as homicide detective John McNamee must testify as all of them took part in orchestrating the the alleged cover-up.

'I'm hoping we're going to prove that Ellen did not commit suicide,' Josh Greenberg, Ellen's father, told NBC10. 'That's what this is all about. Justice for Ellen.' 

On January 6, 2011, Ellen was found dead by her fiancé in the kitchen of her apartment on Flat Rock Road.

The first-grade teacher had suffered 10 stab wounds to her neck and the back of the head, and 10 to her stomach, abdomen and chest - with a 10-inch knife still plunged into her heart.

The knife went through her chest and pierced her liver, slashed her aorta and severed the dura mater, the membrane surrounding her spinal column. 

Another wound was more than three inches deep, near the base of her skull, and caused a bleeding stroke.

Samuel Goldberg, Ellen's fiancé, called 911 saying he found her in a pool of blood after forcing his way inside the apartment when she wouldn't answer. 

Both the Philadelphia Police and the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office investigated her death.

Because the apartment door was locked from the inside and her fiancé - who claimed to have broken down the door - had no defensive wounds, police determined her death to be a suicide.

Despite her death originally being ruled as a homicide - citing the large number of stab wounds - police publicly challenged the findings. Osbourne ultimately switched the ruling to suicide without any real explanation. 

For the last decade, Josh and Sandee Greenberg, Ellen's parents, have sought to change the ruling back to homicide. They filed a lawsuit against the city, which the city objected.

They argued that state law 'makes clear that a medical examiner can be wrong as to the manner of death yet cannot be compelled to change it,' according to NBC.

From then on, the fight to get justice for their daughter was in limbo. In 2018, the investigation was turned over to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office for review.

In 2022, the investigation was turned over to Chester County detectives as a way to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

After interviews and discussions with an independent forensic expert, the DA office announced that they could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime was committed - placing the investigation as inactive.

In December of 2024, Ellen's parents appeared in court for the first time and listened as their lawyer presented the arguments made in the lawsuit against the city. 

Judge Michael Erdos told the family that the decision to switch the death ruling had baffled him as well.

He said: 'I don't think anyone disagrees the crime scene should have been handled differently. The fact the death certificate lists the cause of death as suicide is puzzling.'

As the years have dragged on, pathologists, crime scene experts, law enforcement and lawyers have expressed doubts over the suicide ruling. 

Goldberg has spent the past decade as a target of suspicion by those convinced Ellen was murdered. 

For the last 13 years, Goldberg has always stuck to his story that he returned from the gym in the building and realized he had locked himself out. 

In December of 2024, it was revealed that Goldberg sent his fiancée nine messages over the course of 22 minutes while she was lying dead on the other side of the door.

In order, he texted her: 'Hello', 'open the door', 'what r u doin', 'I'm getting p*****', 'hello', 'you better have an excuse', 'what the f***', 'ahhh', and 'u have no idea'.

Ellen earlier texted her friend Alycia Young about 3:40pm and mentioned ongoing trouble in her work as a teacher, which according to friends was causing her stress, a CNN Investigation reported.

Those were the last outgoing text messages sent from her mobile phone, with Goldberg's cell also going silent around then, according to records.

His phone data also showed frequent and regular call activity in the day before her death, other than a gap between 4pm and 7pm.

The routine of call-making continued the next morning and afternoon, but he was radio silent from 3:40pm until 5:30pm on the day she died.

Surveillance footage showed him getting off the elevator and walking towards the gym in the building at 4:50pm where he told cops he used the elliptical for a half hour.

At 5:26pm he was then seen walking towards the concierge desk to check his mail before he then returned to his apartment and realized he was locked out.

When asked by detectives why he didn't force the door right away, he said: 'I thought she was in the shower, doing her hair, or doing work with her headphones on, or even taking a nap.'

As 5:32pm came around, his text messages started to gather up on Ellen's unanswered mobile. He then resorted to calling her mother Sandee.

Neighbors recalled to officers that they heard him in the hallway banging on the door. He even went downstairs to ask for a tool to undo the latch on the door.

In the hour before he managed to gain entry, he also spoke with his cousin Kamian Schwartzman and his uncle James Schwartzman - both of whom are attorneys.

They said that they had been on the phone with Goldberg as he forced the door of his apartment - which didn't stack up with surveillance footage and his phone records.

Goldberg told officers he forced the door at 6:29pm. At 6:26pm, phone records indicated that he got a call from Schwartzman which lasted one minute and 12 seconds.

At 6.30pm, he placed a call to 911 where he can be heard telling the operator, who had to urge him to perform CPR: 'She fell on a knife. Oh no, her knife's sticking out.'  

Ellen's parents have said that their daughter began feeling nervous and anxious in the months before her death. They ended up making her a deal that she could come home if she saw a psychiatrist about what was troubling her, to which she agreed. 

Psychiatrist Ellen Berman saw Ellen three times, diagnosed her with anxiety, and prescribed her Ambien and Klonopin - but was very clear that she wasn't suicidal. 

Goldberg is increasingly in the minority in his insistence that Ellen killed herself, particularly given the number and location of her stab wounds. Yet, he has never been suspected by authorities of foul play. 

The civil case accusing the city of emotional distress for allegedly mishandling Ellen's death investigation and covering it up goes to trial next week. It is one of two civil cases filed by Ellen's parents. 

The second lawsuit, which is pending before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, aims to change the ruling on their daughter's death certificate, NBC reported.

Jury selection will begin Monday morning at 9am for the emotional distress civil case.