True Crime Society – Ellen Rae Greenberg – homicide or suicide?

The case of Ellen Rae Greenberg is one which has been within the media once more just lately with an enormous replace, so we determined to cowl it.  The story initially passed off in 2011.

We are going to begin with some background into Ellen.  She was born Ellen Rae Greenberg on June 23, 1983.  She was an solely youngster and her mother and father had been Joshua and Sandra Greenberg.  The household lived in New York Metropolis.

Ellen graduated from Penn State as a communications main, and thought of changing into a speech pathologist. She ended up going to Temple College to change into a trainer.  She had just lately obtained her Grasp’s Diploma and was licensed in Studying speciality.  

On the time of her demise, Ellen was 27-years-old and he or she was a primary grade trainer at Juniata Park Academy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  She lived together with her accomplice Samuel ‘Sam’ Goldberg in an condominium in Manayunk, Philadelphia.  Sam was a tv producer for NBC and later Golf.com.  I imagine the couple had been collectively for 3 years and had change into engaged in Summer time 2010.

On January 26, 2011, the climate was unhealthy and the college the place Ellen taught closed early, so everybody may get dwelling earlier than the blizzard.

There’s a actually complete web site referred to as gavinfish.com – a whole lot of official paperwork from the case are housed there.  A few of this details about the occasions of that night comes from there.  

Sam left the condominium at round 4.45pm to go to the fitness center.  From how the ME report reads, Ellen was dwelling  – it says he ‘left the decedent to go to the fitness center’.  Curiously, Sam was carrying Timberland boots to goto the fitness center – uncommon?

The advanced the place they lived seems to be very nice and the web site states there’s a health heart, so I assume that is the fitness center he went to?

Sam got here again as much as their condominium between 5.15 and 5.30pm.  He had his keys however was unable to unlock the door because it had been bolted from the within.  

He began to frantically attempt to get in contact with Ellen.  He referred to as her, despatched her textual content messages and emails for round an hour, with no response.

 Sam ended up forcing his approach inside.  He instantly found Ellen on the ground of their kitchen. Her higher physique was propped in opposition to the cupboards and her legs had been splayed out in entrance of her.  A name for assist was made at 6.33pm.  He was briefly advised to start out CPR however he stopped as soon as he seen a knife protruding of Ellen’s chest.   Medics responded and pronounced Ellen useless at 6.40pm.

You may hear the 911 name made by Sam right here

There are some stories that Samuel referred to as relations earlier than police arrived.  One member is reported to be Choose James C. Schwartzman, who’s chair of the Ethics and Skilled Accountability Group. Choose Schwartzman was additionally appointed by Governor Tom Wolf to the Courtroom of Judicial Self-discipline in Could 2018. 

In line with the podcast on this case by the Prosecutors, Sam referred to as his cousin after which his uncle – the decide we talked about above.  The Uncle arrived on the condominium advanced one minute after Sam ended the 911 name.

Simply to handle some information that’s on-line, some stories say that Sam requested a safety guard within the advanced to return to the condominium to assist him break in.  Some articles insinuate a guard was there on the door when Sam broke it down however I imagine this to be false.  The guard has spoken to reporters and I imagine the way it went down is that Sam requested for his assist and he refused to depart his put up as per the protocol of his job.  You may’t simply be serving to anybody break in to an condominium, I suppose.

Following an post-mortem, Ellen was discovered to have suffered 20 stab wounds, with 10 discovered on her again and neck. A knife with a 12.5cm  blade was present in her chest at a depth of 10cms.  The knife was a Cutco model steak knife.

You may view extra about Ellen’s wounds on the GavinFish.com web site

In line with the Technology Why podcast, the one DNA on the knife was Ellen’s. 

Police interviewed Ellen’s household about her way of thinking earlier than she died.  Her mom stated they’d final spoken at 7am on the day of demise, whereas they had been each going to work.  Sandra stated their dialog was nice.  

Sandra did say that Ellen had been ‘combating one thing’ for the reason that finish of 2010 and that she had urged her to get some assist.  It is usually believed that Ellen advised her mother and father she needed to maneuver again dwelling, a month earlier than she died. 

Ellen had begun seeing a psychiatrist, Ellen Berman.  To keep away from confusion, we’ll simply consult with Ellen Berman because the psychiatrist.  Ellen Greenberg attended solely three appointments with the brand new psychiatrist – January 12, 17 and 19 so simply days earlier than she died primarily.  One other appointment had been scheduled for January 27.  The psychiatrist stated that Ellen offered with extreme nervousness that she had been experiencing for 2 months.

The psychiatrist stated that Ellen was having hassle at work and that she felt pressured and overwhelmed.  Ellen had additionally been combating some troublesome college students and he or she wasnt certain whether or not she ought to give up her job or try to work it out.

The psychiatrist was within the technique of growing a remedy plan for Ellen.  Ellen’s mom had additionally been in contact with the psych, as she had expressed her considerations about her daughter.

The psychiatrist has stated that there have been by no means any suicidal ideas expressed by Ellen and that she had solely good issues to say about Sam.  The psychiatrist requested if Samuel had ever been abusive and Ellen denied that there had been any verbal or bodily abuse.

Ellen was uneasy about taking medicine and was first prescribed zoloft.  She then switched to Xanax.

I assume these will need to have been prescribed to Ellen previous to her partaking with this psychiatrist because the timeframe for attempting and switching medicines appears brief?  Ellen apparently had no success with both medicine and was prescribed ambien and Klonopin by the psychiatrist to assist her to sleep.

The demise investigation report into Ellen’s case notes that she was ‘anxious, insecure, undecided of herself and was not liking how she felt.’ 

Curiously, the day of Ellen’s demise was the identical that the college grades had been resulting from be handed in.

Police searched Ellen’s pc for any clues as to what occurred to her.

In December 2020 she (or somebody utilizing her pc) looked for or learn in regards to the following:

Suffocation

Suicide Strategies

Intercourse Fantasy Loss of life

Zoloft

Prozac

Sertraline

Sertraline Weight Achieve

Melancholy

Bathtub Loss of life

Electrocuted to demise attempting to twitter within the tub

Fast suicide

Euthanasia

Painless suicide

Following the post-mortem, the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Workplace initially dominated the case as a murder.

 Nonetheless, the following day, the Philadelphia Police Division backtracked and said that, “the demise of Ellen Greenberg has not been dominated a murder…Murder investigators are contemplating the style of demise as suspicious at the moment.”

The case was reversed and formally dominated a suicide in February 2011.

One yr after Ellen died, in January 2012, Cyril Wecht gave his opinion on the case.
Should you’re not conversant in Cyril, he all the time appears to pop up on true crime TV and media.  He’s in all probability finest identified his criticism of the Warren Fee’s findings regarding the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

There’s a 5 web page doc of his assessment and findings on the Gavin Fish site- we’ll simply assessment the conclusion for brevity.

Forensic Scientist Henry Lee (identified for testifying for the protection within the OJ Simpson additionally had the identical opinion as Dr Wecht:

“[t]he quantity and sorts of wounds and bloodstain patterns noticed are per a murder scene.

In October 2019, Ellen’s mother and father filed a civil go well with in opposition to the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Workplace and Dr. Marlon Osbourne, the pathologist who carried out the post-mortem, within the Philadelphia Courtroom of Widespread Pleas. They requested that Ellen’s method of demise be modified from suicide to murder or undetermined.

“We need to see justice prevail. She would by no means damage herself and he or she would by no means damage anybody else. She was a form, loving, ray of sunshine,” Sandra stated.

One of many key arguments within the go well with got here from new items of proof: a 3D anatomical recreation illustrating the dimensions, depth, and size of every wound, together with her spinal twine.

“The important thing wound on this complete factor is the spinal wound. And from what I do know, the spinal wound on the again of neck, was in an upward route severing the backbone, presumably damaging the mind,” Josh stated.

“Should you tried to do this your self and put it behind your again, very laborious to do,” he added.

In January 2020, a Philadelphia decide dominated that Ellen’s mother and father may transfer ahead with a lawsuit in opposition to town’s medical expert to get her official reason for demise faraway from the document.

“There’s a assassin on the market. A killer. Any person who brutally attacked someone, with a number of stab wounds and let her bleed to demise and left her for useless,” Josh stated.

The Greenberg’s retained an legal professional named Joe Podraza and he stated.  

“A number of the wounds are just about not possible to be self-inflicted and definitely not less than two of the injuries from behind are so devastating as to render Ellen incapable of defending herself and will have been by themselves ample to kill her.”

He additionally stated these two wounds are to the again of the neck and would have rendered Ellen paralyzed.

He plans to show that via expertise referred to as photogrammetry when the case heads to trial.

“What we now have finished is we now have actually transposed all of Ellen’s dimension; from peak, weight, every part and every of the injuries that she has sustained. From their precise size, their precise depth and precise angle of entry with the weapon,” Joe stated.

The legal professional additionally spoke in regards to the authorized course of. “In line with the trial court docket, a trial is required as a result of there are factual disputes which the court docket believes if are resolved within the Greenberg’s favor, has to require the demise certificates to be modified from suicide to one thing else,” Joe advised NBC10.

The Legal professional Normal launched a press release across the tenth anniversary of Ellen’s demise “Our hearts exit to the Greenberg household on the anniversary of Ellen‘s traumatic demise. On the urging of the household and following a battle referral from the Philadelphia District Legal professional’s workplace in 2018, our workplace reviewed the case and carried out an intensive investigation that didn’t uncover proof to alter the medical expert’s discovering of suicide. There is no such thing as a statute of limitation on murder, nevertheless, and if any new proof is introduced ahead we imagine it needs to be reviewed by the correct authorities. At the moment, no such data has been shared with our workplace.”

The trial for this was scheduled to start in 2021 however I don’t assume it ever occurred.  Joe Podraza stated in December 2021 that his workforce supplied “quite a few extra supplies to the AG’s Workplace in response to the AG’s assertion to the press that the AG would assessment new materials if the fabric was provided.”

This information from Dec 2021 is from Dateline:

Podraza advised Dateline that the supplies included the condominium constructing surveillance video, the declarations of two constructing staff, and the videotaped depositions of Drs. Gulino, Osbourne and Emery of the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Workplace. It was Dr. Emery, a pathologist within the Medical Examiner’s Workplace in 2019 educated in neuropathology, who beforehand testified {that a} specimen of Ellen’s cervical backbone retained from the unique post-mortem contained certainly one of Ellen’s stab wounds.

“In line with Dr. Emery, the preserved wound Emery examined in 2019 was administered when Ellen had no pulse – she was already useless,” Podraza stated.

He went on to clarify that “this wound was not the final stab wound Ellen sustained as a result of a knife was discovered embedded in Ellen’s chest when emergency personnel arrived on the scene.”

“We stay dumbfounded about how an individual may self-inflict not less than two separate stab wounds when useless,” he added.

Josh Greenberg advised Dateline that the proof clearly factors to the truth that his daughter was stabbed after she had died, and that she had not died by suicide.

“In the event that they’re postmortem which means they had been finished after demise and Ellen couldn’t have finished them,” he stated.

Joe Podraza additionally spoke to Fox and gave some related commentary:

“The neuropathologist…testified that the wound within the pattern that continues to be from Ellen’s backbone is a autopsy wound, or one which was administered after she was 

useless and had no pulse,” he stated. “Should you think about that was not the final wound, as a result of the knife was present in her chest, you’d need to then agree that Ellen, whereas she was useless, someway proceeded to stab herself at the back of the top, pull the knife out after which stab herself within the chest — all with no pulse.”

In August 2022, Ellen’s mother and father spoke to Fox information and gave some extra information about why they believed their daughter’s demise was murder.

She had defensive wounds on her wrist that went unacknowledged within the authentic post-mortem, her physique had been moved, and her left hand was gripping the knife in her chest – though she was right-handed. Proof additionally recommended she suffered stab wounds from two distinct knives, they stated, however solely the one caught in her chest was recovered.

There was proof that the scene had been staged and her physique had been moved – together with that the dried blood would have dripped sideways throughout her face if she’d died within the place she was discovered.

And in line with a press release from the previous constructing supervisor supplied by Brennan, the household’s personal investigator, a criminal offense scene cleanup crew got here in and washed the condominium – earlier than forensic investigators had an opportunity to look via it.

There’s additionally some attention-grabbing information within the Fox article about Dr Marlon Osbourne, the pathologist who initially dealt with Ellen’s case. 

Throughout a 2021 deposition as a part of a civil lawsuit Greenberg’s filed over the suicide designation, former Medical Examiner Dr. Sam Gulino testified that he’d obtained no complaints about Dr. Marlon Osbourne, pathologist in his workplace who dealt with Greenberg’s case.

However division information confirmed Osbourne was named in not less than three reprimands, in line with Brennan. In a single, his supervisor, Dr. Gary Collins, identified “critical and harmful flaws” in Osbourne’s post-mortem work, together with lacking the indicators of guide strangulation on a sufferer who, in pictures, clearly had been strangled, amongst different errors.

“Dr. Osbourne, these main discrepancies present an apparent lack of care to your work,” Collins wrote.

In September 2022, the Chester County District Legal professional introduced that it might be reviewing Ellen’s case.

In July, the Pennsylvania Legal professional Normal’s workplace launched a press release saying it may now not assessment a case due to an unspecified “look of a battle” of curiosity. The Chester County District Legal professional’s Workplace subsequently introduced the case is being reviewed by an investigator and a prosecutor.

“It’s no shock that the Greenbergs had been drastically dissatisfied with the AG’s dealing with of their daughter’s matter,” Legal professional Joseph Podraza, Jr., who represents the Greenberg household, stated in a press release to PEOPLE. “They’re hopeful the investigation by the Chester County DA will likely be thorough and goal. They are going to cooperate and supply no matter assurance that may to the Chester County DA if and when requested. They’re eager for justice for Ellen.”

The Pennsylvania Legal professional Normal’s Workplace assertion from July ends with a message to Greenberg’s household:

“We want Ellen’s household nothing however the perfect and our workplace regrets that, regardless of our in depth work, our extra efforts haven’t introduced extra closure to the questions round her demise.”

SOURCE LIST