Parents of teacher found dead with 20 stab wounds offer theory on how she died after ‘suicide’ ruling reversed

After 14 years, the City of Philadelphia will reexamine the case 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 her father believes investigators should be looking at strangulation as a possibility for his daughter’s cause of death. 

Greenberg, 27, was found in her kitchen with 20 stab wounds and a knife in her chest with a half-made fruit salad on the countertop during a blizzard Jan. 26, 2011. The forensic pathologist with the city medical examiner’s office at the time, Dr. Marlon Osbourne, initially ruled Greenberg’s death a homicide in 2011. Then, he reversed course after meeting with police behind closed doors and officially ruled it a suicide, according to court records. 

Just one week ago, Osbourne backtracked on his suicide ruling.

“It is my professional opinion Ellen’s manner of death should be designated as something other than suicide,” he wrote. “Since issuing the amended death certificate, I have become aware of additional information I did not have at the time of issuing the amended death certificate which may have impacted my opinion.” 

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Days later, the City of Philadelphia settled a lawsuit with Greenberg’s parents, Dr. Josh and Sandee Greenberg, that accused local officials and the medical examiner’s office, including Osbourne, of participating in a “concealed conspiracy for the purpose of disguising Ellen’s homicide as a suicide,” according to legal documents. 

“A settlement agreement between the City of Philadelphia and the family of Ellen Greenberg has been reached,” a representative for the City of Philadelphia’s Law Department confirmed with Fox News Digital. “The terms of the settlement include an independent review of the autopsy file and an express waiver of any claims that might be brought as a result of that process.”

The city will pay the Greenbergs an undisclosed amount as part of the settlement, their attorney, Joseph Podraza, told Fox News Digital.

“I felt like we made Ellen proud,” Sandee said alongside her husband in an on-camera interview with Fox News Digital. 

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“We have Osbourne now saying it should not be a suicide, the original pathologist who handled the case all the way through,” Podraza said.

“And regardless of what the city does with it, the key was Osbourne and his verification. If they continue to live in a fallacy that this is suicide, that’s a choice they make, and their credibility will be shot. We would hope that the city will do the right thing and also designate this case what it is — a homicide.”

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At the time of her death, Greenberg had sent out save-the-date notices for her wedding with Sam Goldberg, who said he returned home from a gym, broke down the door and found his fiancée’s body in their shared apartment in Manayunk, a quiet neighborhood in Philadelphia. 

“When Ellen took her own life, it left me bewildered. She was a wonderful and a kind person who had everything to live for. When she died, a part of me died with her,” Goldberg told CNN in December in his first public statement about Greenberg’s death. 

“Mental illness is very real and has many victims. … I hope and pray that you never lose someone you love like I did to a terrible disease and then be accused by ignorant and misinformed people of causing her death.”

When asked whether Goldberg has directly been in contact with the Greenbergs regarding Ellen’s case, Podraza said that he has not. 

“There has been no communication with Sam, nor has he ever reached out to us to assist or endorse our efforts,” Podraza said, adding that nothing has changed since Osbourne reversed his “suicide” ruling.

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Greenberg’s 20 stab wounds included 10 from behind, at least one of which could have been inflicted after she was already dead, according to court documents. 

“Nobody could possibly do this to themselves. It just doesn’t make sense,” retired forensic pathologist and medical examiner Dr. Michelle DuPre told Fox News Digital. 

“One of the first things that I always do, that most forensic pathologists or medical examiners do in cases like this, is we try to simulate the injuries. … I couldn’t take a 10-inch knife and stab myself in the back. The locations with the angles and everything that is described that I saw was just physically, anatomically impossible.”

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“As far as taking 14 years, I mean, this is egregious,” she added, in reference to Osbourne’s reversal of the suicide ruling. 

Greenberg was also found covered in bruises in different stages of healing, implying she had received them over the course of some time, according to the autopsy report. 

“This was a passion attack,” Podraza said. “You look at the bruisings, you look at the bruisings to her neck, you look at the bruisings to her wrists and the savagery of the stabbing patterns. To me, there’s no question that this was an attack of passion.” 

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While the many stab wounds have long been the focus of Greenberg’s death, her father shared a new theory about how his daughter may have died. 

“I think my daughter was strangled,” he told reporters in Philadelphia this week and confirmed with Fox News Digital. 

“All the training and everything that I’ve had, you have to consider everything,” Tom Brennan, who privately investigated Greenberg’s death for years, told Pennlive. “We have autopsy photographs which indicate there were wounds to the neck. There’s hemorrhage there … which indicates manual strangulation.”

DuPre agreed, adding, “There are obviously telltale signs of strangulation.”

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Greenberg’s father maintains she “was being abused” and that she had injuries on her body consistent with abuse.

While speaking with Fox News Digital after Monday’s settlement, he detailed what he believes took place in the moments leading up to his daughter’s death. 

“Ellen was confronting her abuser … and it got out of hand. He hit her on the head. That’s what the gash is from. And then he strangled her,” he said. “Suicides are the easiest way to cover up a homicide, so all those 20 stab wounds, even the deep ones to the back of the neck and the one in the chest were part of a cover-up.”

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As Greenberg’s death gets a new look by the city’s medical examiner for the first time in 14 years, former homicide Det. Ted Williams told Fox News Digital he believes “there is a need to determine who killed her.” 

“Whether ruled undetermined or a homicide, further investigation, it appears, is warranted,” Williams said.

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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who inherited Greenberg’s case after the suicide determination in 2011 as attorney general at the time, reacted to Osbourne’s new classification during a press conference Thursday, ABC 27 reported. 

Shapiro said his investigation as attorney general “pointed toward a suicide,” adding that it’s up to the Chester County District Attorney’s Office to decide whether Osbourne’s new determination is enough to push the case forward. 

“It has to have some evidence with it, not just someone feeling different. But, certainly, if there’s some evidence that this medical examiner has uncovered – I’m not familiar with that, I’m no longer the AG,” Shapiro said. “If they have new evidence, new information, they should share that immediately.”

An independent investigation by the Chester County DA was initiated roughly two years ago after Shapiro and Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner recused themselves from the case. 

The Chester County DA’s office announced in November that it was “currently unable to move forward with criminal charges” but was moving Greenberg’s case to an “inactive” status and leaving it open to reexamine if the DA gets new information.

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Before this week’s settlement with the city, the Greenbergs had been entangled in legal battles with the government ever since their daughter’s death, fighting the determination that it was a suicide and alleging a “conspiracy” to “cover up Ellen’s murder in order to hide the authorities’ grossly botched investigation,” according to court records.

Now, given Osbourne’s recanting, Podraza says “a criminal investigation should be automatic.”

“We would participate in who is going to handle it and how it will be handled to ensure that it’s objective, fair and effective,” he added. “We’re not going to let it just sit. It’s been 14 years. … We intend to cross that goal line and hold whoever is responsible for her murder … responsible.”

“Ellen was a person, a citizen of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, and she deserves to have justice,” Dr. Josh Greenberg said.

Philadelphia Police did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. They have previously declined to discuss the case, citing the ongoing legal dispute. Goldberg did not immediately respond for comment. 

Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.