The city of Philadelphia settled Monday with the parents of Ellen Greenberg, a teacher whose 2011 death was ruled a suicide after she was found with nearly two dozen stab wounds and covered in bruises, and the city’s medical examiner’s office will take a new look at Greenberg’s manner of death, their attorney Joseph Podraza confirmed with Fox News Digital.
It has been 14 years since 27-year-old Greenberg was found in her kitchen on January 26, 2011. She had 20 stab wounds and a knife in her chest, and there was a half-made fruit salad on the counter during a storm.
On Friday, a judge decided that a lawsuit from 2022, brought by her parents against the city of Philadelphia, can go to trial. Additionally, Dr. Marlon Osbourne, the forensic pathologist from the city medical examiner’s office, changed his earlier decision and no longer stands by his ruling of suicide, as stated in legal papers.
“I believe that Ellen’s cause of death should be classified as something other than suicide,” Osbourne stated.
A former doctor in Philadelphia first decided that Greenberg’s death was a murder in 2011, based on court records. After a private meeting with the police, he changed his mind and formally declared it a suicide.
“Since I issued the updated death certificate, I have learned new information that I didn’t have before, and this might have changed my opinion,” he said in his latest statement.
On Monday morning, the Greenbergs went to a courtroom in Philadelphia to start their trial. They are accusing local officials and the medical examiner’s office, including Osbourne, of hiding the truth about their daughter’s death and being part of a plan to make it look like she committed suicide instead of being murdered, according to court papers.
The city will pay Dr. Josh and Sandee Greenberg an unknown sum in a settlement on Monday, according to Podraza.
Judge Michael Erdos stated during court arguments in early December that he believes everyone agrees the crime scene should have been managed better. Podraza shared this with Fox News Digital. “It’s confusing that the death certificate still says the cause of death is suicide.”
“We’re supporting her,” Sandee told Fox News Digital after the December hearing. “We are getting closer to getting justice for Ellen.” We are very determined and will not give up.
The Greenbergs have been involved in legal disputes with the government since their daughter died. They contest the ruling that her death was a suicide and claim there is a “conspiracy” to hide the fact that she was murdered to cover up the authorities’ poor investigation, according to court documents.
When she died, Greenberg had already sent out save-the-date invitations for her wedding to Sam Goldberg. He came home from the gym, broke down the door, and found her body in their apartment in Manayunk, a peaceful area in Philadelphia.
Greenberg had 20 stab wounds, 10 of which were from behind. At least one of these wounds might have happened after she was dead, as stated in court papers. The autopsy report showed that she had bruises in different states of healing, suggesting she had gotten them over time.
The Greenbergs and outside investigators are asking why officials let the crime scene be cleaned and sanitized before detectives came with a search warrant. They also wonder why Goldberg’s uncle, James Schwartzman, a well-known judge from Pennsylvania, was allowed to go into the apartment and take some of Greenberg’s items, like her computer and cellphone, according to court documents.
A person speaking for Schwartzman told Fox News Digital that the cops allowed him to enter and collect Greenberg’s things. He confirmed that he took her computers and cellphones.
“A representative for Schwartzman said that the door was broken and not safe, so he took out items he believed could be stolen.”
The Greenbergs filed a new lawsuit recently and also filed another one in 2019 to change their loved one’s death record from “suicide” to “homicide” or “undetermined.” The case is currently with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
The Philadelphia cops did not quickly reply to Fox News Digital’s request for a comment. They have refused to talk about the case because there is an active civil lawsuit. Goldberg did not immediately respond for comment.
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