Ellen Greenberg, a Philadelphia school teacher who was viciously stabbed in 2011, will have her cause of death reexamined after a pathologist who earlier declared her death to be a suicide changed his mind last week.
On January 26, 2011, Greenberg, then 27 years old, was discovered dead with a kitchen knife stuck in her chest. She was found in the apartment she lived with her fiancé, Samuel Goldberg, in Philadelphia.
That night, Goldberg had come home from the gym to find the swing bar lock was engaged from the inside, locking him out of the flat. The Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s investigative report states that he eventually managed to pry open the door, located Ellen, and dialed 911.
According to the autopsy report, she suffered 20 stab wounds, 10 of which were to her head and neck.
According to the police, Greenberg looked to have committed suicide because they did not witness any forced entrance into the flat, defense wounds, or signs of a struggle.
Her family disagreed with the ME’s office’s decision to reclassify her death as a suicide in March 2011 after it had previously declared her death a homicide.
Joshua and Sandra Greenberg, Ellen’s parents, have sued the city in two legal cases. Prior to jury selection, they came to an agreement on Monday that will reexamine Greenberg’s cause of death.
In a sworn verification statement submitted Friday, January 31, days before to the settlement, Marlon Osbourne, who conducted Greenberg’s autopsy, stated that he now thinks Ellen’s cause of death should be classified as something other than suicide, according to NBC Philadelphia.
According to the station, he clarified that he had reconsidered his choice after looking over more details in her police case file and consulting pediatric neuropathologist Dr. Lucy Rorke-Adams.
The Greenbergs’ lawyers told NBC Philadelphia that they were assured the new assessment would be completed quickly.
I’m hoping it will be a fresh inquiry. We will offer all of the data that we have gathered over the years. Additionally, Joe Podraza, the Greenberg family’s lawyer, stated, “I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t reach the same result that Dr. Osbourne gave.”
After the settlement was struck with NBC Philadelphia, Sandra Greenberg stated, “I hope we made Ellen proud of us today and we were definitely very proud of her as her parents.” We have been coping with this suicidal label for 14 years, and it is monumental.
The settlement includes an independent examination of the autopsy file and a specific waiver of any claims that may be made as a result of that process, according to confirmation from the City of Philadelphia Law Department.