The trial of Philadelphia teacher Ellen Greenberg, whose death in 2011 was ruled a suicide after a medical examiner’s report ruled her death a homicide, will be heard in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
This is the bombshell news that parents Joshua and Sandra Greenberg have been waiting for.
Ellen’s death was initially ruled a homicide by authorities in 2011, but was later changed to a suicide. Since then, her family has been fighting for justice.
This meant getting the court to change the verdict from suicide to murder or an undetermined manner of death. Armed with a team of experts, they conducted an investigation that refuted the suicide finding, which they claimed had been changed at the insistence of the police.
“It’s been 13 years and the city has fought us every step of the way,” Sandra Greenberg said. Independent In April. “Ellen was a Philadelphia girl, she deserved better from her city.”
Now they’re one step closer. Ellen’s case will now go to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
“This case could potentially have an impact on every citizen in this state, either their life or the lives of their family members,” said Joseph Podraza, the family’s attorney. Philadelphia Inquirer Following the order issued on Tuesday.
“We believe that if we are allowed to go to trial, the jury or the judge will decide that the evidence is so strong that they will believe that Ellen did not commit suicide, but rather committed a murder that will bring someone or more people to justice.”
Greenberg, 27, was found dead in their Manayunk apartment by her fiancé, Samuel Goldberg, on Jan. 26, 2011. She was leaning against a cabinet, her legs spread out in front of her. The beloved elementary school teacher had been stabbed at least 20 times. A 10-inch knife was lodged in her chest.
Philadelphia Medical Examiner Marlon Osbourne ruled the woman’s death a homicide, noting that there were multiple stab wounds, including 10 to the back of her neck.
However, police ruled the woman’s death a suicide because the apartment door was locked from the inside and her boyfriend, who said he found the woman by breaking the door, had no defensive wounds.
After police made their findings public, Osbourne changed the verdict to suicide without any explanation.
The Greenbergs have been fighting for more than a decade to have the woman’s death changed from suicide to homicide or undetermined, arguing in a civil lawsuit that it was reversed after a closed-door meeting with city police.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office reviewed Ellen’s case in 2019 and ruled her death a suicide. That decision was reaffirmed in 2022 after then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office reviewed the case again between December 2021 and January 2022.
Shapiro, who served as attorney general from 2017 to 2023, was elected governor of Pennsylvania in 2023 and is reportedly on Kamala Harris’ list of vice presidential candidates, along with Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.
The Greenbergs filed a civil lawsuit in 2019 against the Medical Examiner’s Office and pathologist Marlon Osbourne, seeking to change the manner of their daughter’s death.
However, a Pennsylvania appeals court ruled that the Greenbergs did not have standing to sue the City of Philadelphia over the investigation into her death. The commonwealth court did not rule on whether the manner of death could or should be changed, and criticized the investigation into Ellen’s death.
“We are fully aware of the deeply flawed investigation into the victim’s death by Philadelphia Police Department detectives, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office and the Medical Examiner’s Office, but we have no choice under the law,” the panel said, instead sending the case back to the lower courts for further action.
“Nevertheless, we believe that in the interests of justice, a thorough review of the Victim’s death and subsequent investigation is clearly justified, and we hold out hope that one day justice will be achieved for the Victim and her loved ones,” Justice Elaine Ceisler wrote in her Sept. 13 decision.
The “deeply flawed” investigation also included the cleaning up of a crime scene that took place before the forensics team arrived and closed the case, according to appeals court documents.
Nearly a year later, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court accepted the Greenbergs’ appeal of a Commonwealth Court decision that prevented their civil lawsuit filed last year against the City of Philadelphia from going to trial.
The state Supreme Court said it “will consider whether administrators and executors of an estate have standing to challenge an erroneous finding on a deceased person’s death certificate if the finding would preclude or substantially impede the recovery of compensation, restitution or wrongful death benefits for the victim, and will also consider special criminal complaints.”
Oral arguments will be heard in court at a later date.
The Greenbergs also filed a second civil lawsuit against members of the Coroner’s Office, Police Department and District Attorney’s Office seeking monetary damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress. That lawsuit is ongoing.