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On January 26th, 2011, Ellen Greenberg left work because Philadelphia was getting hit with a blizzard. She got back to her apartment where she lived with her fiancé Sam Goldberg and she was later pronounced dead that evening. She had 20 stab wounds, and her death was ruled a homicide, but the manner of death was reversed and officially ruled a suicide in February of 2011.
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Recap of part 1: Is this a case of suicide or murder? Ellen Greenberg’s class got out early on January 26th, 2011 because a blizzard was heading their way. After all of her students were gone, she gassed up her vehicle and headed back to her apartment. Her fiancé, Sam Goldberg, went to the gym in their apartment complex at 4:45. When he returned about 30 minutes later, the door was locked with the swing bar latch, so he couldn’t get in. He went down to the first floor to ask the security guard for help, but it was against their policy to break the door down, so Sam broke it down and found Ellen dead, on the kitchen floor.
The police didn’t believe there was a sign of struggle or a break in, so they worked the case as a suicide, but Ellen had 20 stab wounds. The medical examiner ruled her death as a homicide, but the scene hadn’t been secured and they lost valuable evidence and on March 7th of 2011, the medical examiner’s office overturned Ellen’s death to a suicide, citing her alleged mental health struggles, and the fact that she was found in a locked apartment with no signs of a struggle. Her parents were stunned by this ruling and they decided to hire their own medical experts, lawyers, and law enforcement officials to look at Ellen’s case. They requested all documents, but the police refused to send anything. They finally agreed to allow the Greenberg’s to view the evidence, but they weren’t allowed to bring an attorney or any other experts, no photos allowed, and they couldn’t call to discuss the files with anyone.
Guy D’Andrea wanted to find the forensic neuropathologist report that the detective said was done on her spinal cord because it’s the reason the case was closed and changed to suicide. The report couldn’t be found. The police didn’t have it and the medical examiner didn’t have it. The Forensic pathologist said not only did she not have the report, she never saw the specimen. She said there was a remote possibility it was shown to her, but she has no recollection of it. There was no bill on file for this report either.....does that mean it doesn’t exist?
Esteemed forensic pathologist Cyril (sear-uhl) Wecht (we-kt), who disputed the single bullet theory of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, and Henry Lee, the forensic scientist who testified on behalf of O.J. Simpson’s defense, both authored independent reports questioning the manner of Ellen’s death. They both came to the same conclusion: Ellen’s death appeared suspicious, and they believed it was consistent with a homicide. Before I read some of the statements, I want to mention that Ellen’s stab wounds are labeled as letters of the alphabet, so that’s what Cyrill is referencing in his quote and we will be going through all of the stab wounds later, so it will all make sense.
Cyrill Wecht’s report mentions that “suicidal stab wounds can rarely be multiple. Suicides by stabbing are becoming less frequent, with simpler choices being drugs, hanging, or gunshot. Cutting of the wrist and throat is often associated with suicide, whereas stab wounds to the back are unlikley to be suicide. A murder usually involves multiple stab wounds to the side, back or stomach. In a suicide, there may be additional cuts across the wrist, or tentative stabbings to see if it will hurt, or to work up the courage. Then there will usually only be one wound and most likely in the chest.”
“The multiple stab wounds to the back of the upper neck and lower head found at autopsy were unlikely suicidal stab wounds especially the different directions that K, L, Q, R, and S with vertical direction left to right, straight vertical of M, N and T, and, right to left horizontal, O and vertical P. The locations of the stab wounds high up on the back of the neck and lower back of the head are also unlikely for self-inflicted wounds.”
“A suicide victim will frequently leave a note. There was none. There was also no indication that the decedent was suicidal from the standpoint of her own family, friends, professional associates and the psychiatrist who had evaluated her. There had not been any indication that she had the intention to commit suicide or was depressed during the day she was found dead. She seemed her usual self in the morning when she had a telephone conversation with her mother, and later at mid-day during her texting with a friend at approximately noon. It would be important to find out from the fiancé how she behaved barely half an hour before, when he left their apartment as he claimed.
A suicide victim will rarely stab herself through her clothing. Instead, she will open her shirt to expose the skin. Stabbing through clothing may indicate homicide. It is not known if fingerprints on the knife were taken and examined.
Following the review of all submitted documents, the results of the autopsy and the accounts from the investigation, based upon reasonable degree of medical certainty, it is my professional opinion that the manner of the death of Ellen Greenberg is strongly suspicious of homicide.”
Here is some of the information from Henry Lee’s report:
“After review of the photographs and reports sent to the Henry Lee Institute of Forensic Science, the following were observed.”
Assuming that all of the blood in the photos is Ellen’s, the bloodstain patterns indicate that she was standing when she received her initial injuries, and this caused the blood dripping on the sink, counter, cabinet and floor. She was on the floor with her head leaning forward, producing the blood drops on her pants and between her legs. There were two contact stains on the cabinet near her and this would be consistent with a wipe from right to left and the second swipe is consistent with a hair swipe. “The number and type of wounds and bloodstain patterns observed are consistent with a homicide scene.”
One of the primary reasons the detectives ruled Ellen’s death as a suicide was due to the lack of defensive wounds found on her body. Tom Brennan, a retired state trooper and a former detective, who also represents the Greenberg’s, says the theory just isn’t airtight and a lack of self-defense wounds, doesn’t necessarily mean her injuries were self-inflicted. He said it’s possible that Ellen was taken by surprise when she was stabbed, and he referred to this as a “blitz attack” which would have left her defenseless and it could explain the lack of struggle or defensive wounds. “The victim is taken by surprise and doesn’t have the opportunity to defend themselves. They’re confronted unexpectedly.”
Tom Brennan is a member of Philadelphia’s crime-solving organization the Vidocq (vee-dock) Society. This society serves law enforcement nationwide and they provide pro bono expert assistance to the law enforcement community in solving their cold case homicides. They do not conduct independent investigations, they will only help law enforcement agencies if they are invited to do so. It’s members include profilers, criminologists, forensic scientists, medical examiners, active and retired law enforcement agents, prosecutors, polygraph examiners, and others that are skilled in solving cases. The investigation remains under the full control of the investigating agency and the society will offer assistance on the case. Neither the Society nor its members will seek public recognition or compensation for their work.
The Society can’t accept all cases due to limited resources, but they do have specific criteria. The victim must not have engaged in criminal activity that caused their death. At a minimum, the case should have: a body, a known crime scene, and physical evidence.
Tom Brennan hired forensic pathologist Wayne Ross to examine a fragment of Ellen’s spinal cord, which the medical examiner’s office was still in possession of. In 2017, Wayne Ross concluded that Ellen’s cranial cavity had been punctured, which would have likely rendered her unconscious, which would have prevented her from stabbing herself so many times. Brennan recalled that, “You could plainly see the nerves were severed, she would have lost her motor skills and been in excruciating pain. She would have most likely passed out or died.”
The Inquirer also contracted their own independent medical experts to assess the evidence. Gregory McDonald, a Montgomery County coroner and the Dean of the School of Health Science at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, was one of them. But he found himself on the fence between suicide and homicide. He focused on Ellen’s stab wounds and how shallow they were. He said, “Typically, when we see a series of shallow stab wounds, they could be consistent with hesitation marks. When someone is self-inclicting these wounds, often times they’ll stab themselves superficially first to kind of see what it feels to them and then they’ll go deeper and deeper as they progress with their self-inflicted wounds.” He did say that shallow stab wounds are uncommon in homicides.
McDonald said, “Typically, if a person is stabbing you, they’re not going to stab you several times superficially and then start to stab you deeper. It’s possible, but that’s one of the things that struck me as not being consistent with homicide.” McDonald said he was conflicted though. He noted the deeper stab wounds, the number of punctures, and a gash that was also found on Ellen’s forehead, which complicated things because that would appear like she was attacked by a knife.
McDonald said, “You can stab yourself fairly deeply in a lot of different areas of your body. She could have done it physically, of course. But it’s unusual to stab yourself that many times that deeply in those areas.” McDonald also pointed out that Ellen's stab wounds were through her clothing which is not often indicative of suicide.
He said, “Most people who commit suicide don’t stab themselves through the clothes, they usually pull the clothes up and usually expose whatever area they want to target, so that was a little unusual for a suicide.”
He said that he has worked hundreds or perhaps thousands of suicide investigations and Ellen’s case is one of the most unusual he’s ever seen in his career.
Tom Brennan said, “The best way to get away with homicide is to have it ruled a suicide.” Tom is now a private detective. It’s nearly impossible for victims’ families to legally challenge a manner of death ruling by a medical examiner or coroner in Pennsylvania. He’s been pressing hard to get Ellen’s manner of death changed.
The Greenberg's are incredibly disappointed with the investigation. Ellen’s parents said that they found it strange that she would fill her vehicle up with gas before returning to her apartment if she was planning to end her life. Her father Joshua said, “It doesn’t sound logical, does it? It doesn’t fit.” They feel that the authorities failed them and the attorney general never reached out to them or any of their experts during the investigation. Her father said, “It’s very frustrating, very emotionally frustrating, emotionally hurtful. Sometimes I feel like somebody’s punched me in the stomach. We have these steel doors or walls that keep coming up in front of us every time we try to do something, every time we try to get an answer.”
Ellen's parents have filed two lawsuits, one of which is aimed at convincing a court to overturn the suicide ruling, allowing a full investigation of her death. If they succeed, it would be the first time a medical examiners’ ruling in such a case was successfully challenged in Pennsylvania, said Joseph Podraza, one of the Greenberg's attorneys.
In 2018, new computer forensic evidence that was not referred to in the 2011 findings, stated that there was a search history on Ellen’s computer which showed that she looked up things that included “suicide methods”, “quick suicide,” and “painless suicide.” In 2011, the investigators said that there wasn’t anything on Ellen’s computer related to suicide, now there’s a new search history in 2018? Does that mean they never looked at it in the beginning?
Brennan said that when he took the case, two years after Ellen’s death, he was intrigued by the photos from the scene showing the apartment’s internal door latch. Sam told the 911 operator and the police that he opened the door by breaking the latch. Brennan says it’s his professional opinion that the limited number of police and medical examiner photos from the scene say otherwise. “The state police sent me to lock-picking school. I used to do all the surreptitious entries. The only way you can open that lock is if one or the other piece is completely dismounted from where it’s mounted, okay? That bar isn’t going to open up for you any other way.”
In the photos, Brennan says the latch is only partially dislodged. Both sides of the latch are still fastened to the door and the jamb with multiple screws. “Three of those screws are still mounted. There’s one that’s out.” He concluded that the damage to the latch wasn’t extensive enough for the apartment door to have been broken open. Two separate crime scene experts hired by the Greenberg's came to similar conclusions after viewing the photos of the door latch.
The Henry C. Lee Institue of Forensic Science at the University of New Haven states in a written report, “Some damage appears to be in the area of this lock in the close-up photograph. There does not appear to be damage to the doorjamb or evidence of a break-in at the dead bolt lock from the other side of the door.”
A second report was completed by Detective Scott Eelman, a veteran detective and a court-qualified expert on crime scene analysis and blood spatter, states, “There is damage noted to the door side of the security latch which is still attached to the door. The screws are still present in the screw hole. The doorjamb side of the security latch does not appear to show any damage.”
Sam Goldberg and his family have declined for a long time to comment on this case. In August of 2022, a letter from their family attorney, Geoffrey R. Johnson, was sent in response to a media account that says the family has, “maintained a respectful silence on the terrible events of that day while law enforcement authorities have done their job and concluded correctly that Ellen’s death was a suicide.”
In his letter, the attorney wrote: “Ellen Greenberg was taking a variety of powerful psychotropic drugs which unfortunately caused suicidal ideation as a side effect.” How can you make a claim like that? We have no idea if the medication caused this type of side effect for her.
When the police arrived on the scene, they questioned Sam Goldberg for 3 hours at the scene and then later that night at the police headquarters and this was all done without an attorney present. In the letter, the attorney wrote, “At all times that night, and subsequently, Sam Goldberg has fully cooperated with the police investigation. He has never asserted any privilege and has never refused to speak with the police.”
Brennan looked through the photos of Ellen’s body taken by the medical examiner’s representative at the scene. Her body was slumped in a sitting position, but he noticed a horizontal line of dried blood on her face. Police and medical examiner photos taken at the scene show coagulated blood that runs straight across to her ear. The blood should have run down her face, based on her position when found. It’s not just Brennan that feels this way, either. Similar findings were made by the two independent crime scene and forensic analysts who reviewed the case for the Greenberg's.
Eelman wrote: “Ms. Greenberg was found in the corner of the kitchen area of the apartment between the sink and stove. Her back was leaning against the corner cabinet, she was slumped downward with her feet and arms extended. Her head was found to be tilted slightly forward and to the right, with her chin resting against her right shoulder. The bloodstains on her face are inconsistent with the position in which she was found. Specifically, the bloodstain flow pattern diagonally across her forehead from the right to the left and terminating in the left eyebrow would move against the law of gravity. It is my opinion that the bloodstain evidence in this case is inconsistent with the position in which Ms. Greenberg was found. The number and type of wounds and bloodstain patterns observed are consistent with a homicide scene.”
The autopsy showed that Ellen suffered 11 stab wounds to the back of her head and neck, which are not visible in the photos. Only a limited number of pictures were actually taken at the scene because they were not working it as a homicide. It’s important to know about all of the individual wounds on Ellen’s body. The stab wounds were done with a steak knife and the wounds are labeled with letters.
Wounds A and B, on her chest were 0.2 CM
C is 1.4 CM, slightly right to left stroke.
D is 0.2 CM
E is 10 CM, almost the entire blade went in, and it was left to right in a downward stroke. Her lungs would have been filling up with blood from this wound.
F=0.2 CM
G=0.2 CM
H=4 CM and 2.3 CM into the liver, leading to bleeding into the abdominal space and it was left to right
I=6CM, in the abdomen and left to right
J=6.5 CM in the scalp
K=0.3 CM left to right, back to front, so that’s a lot of motion
L=0.2 Cm left to right, back to front
M=0.3 CM back to front
N=8 CM deep which lead to bleeding on the brain and it was left to right, back to front and upwards. It’s not impossible, but it would be awkward and very difficult for Ellen to do this herself.
O=3 CM right to left and back to front
P=2.1 CM right to left and back to front
Q=2 CM left to right, back to front
R=1.9 CM left to right, back to front
S=2.1 CM left to right, back to front
T=7 CM deep, between the 2nd and 3rd cervical vertebrae, hitting the spinal cord
Bruises:
3 by 4 CM bruise on her upper right arm
3 by 1.5 CM of three round bruises on her right forearm
3 by 3.5 CM on her right lower quadrant of the abdomen
Vertical row of round bruises of 2.5 by 3 CM, 4.5 by 3 CM and 5 by 6 CM on her abdomen
4.5 by 3 CM area of 3 round bruises above the right knee
The police said her bruises could have been from contact sports....she didn’t play any. She did in college, but she didn’t at the time of her death..... she did yoga. You might want to know your victim’s background before tossing out such an asinine theory.
The Greenberg's consulted Dr. Wayne K. Ross, a veteran forensic and neuropathologist based in Lancaster who often conducts autopsies for county coroners. He reviewed the case and wrote, “It is my opinion that the investigating authorities should pursue this case as a homicide. It is further my opinion to a reasonable degree of medical certainty that the manner of death is a homicide. The scene findings were indicative of a homicide.”
Cyril Wecht said, “It is my professional opinion that the manner of death of Ellen Greenberg is strongly suspicious of homicide.” He cited the lack of suicide note, what he called “unlikely suicidal stab wounds” to the back of Ellen’s upper neck and lower head; the unlikelihood of suicidal stab wounds made through clothing; and the rarity of multiple wounds in a suicidal stabbing.
Brennan noted that he approaches death investigations with one rule: “You treat every death scene as a homicide until proven otherwise.” Should I say that louder for the people in the back?
The Philadelphia pathologist Dr. Marlon Osbourne’s autopsy, conducted the day after Ellen’s death, cited “multiple stab wounds by an unknown person.” He ruled her death as a homicide. By the time his ruling had changed the case, investigators had already left Ellen’s apartment on Jan 26th, without sealing it as a crime scene. The apartment was cleaned and sanitized the next day and that was before the detectives and their forensic team secured a search warrant and returned on Jan 28th.
Both the apartment management and Sam Goldberg’s father, Richard, called the police on Jan 27th asking for instructions on how to clean the bloodied apartment. The police referred both of them to a company that specializes in crime scene sanitation. James Schwartzman, Sam’s attorney uncle, also entered the apartment on Sam’s behalf, to grab him a suit for the funeral and while he was there, he took 3 laptops, Ellen’s cell phone, and credit cards belonging to Sam and Ellen to keep them safe. He did hand over the items to the police when he was asked. Submitting any of the removed items as evidence at a court proceeding could cause a problem since they were in someone else’s possession before the police got it.
On April 4th, 2011, Marlon Osbourne, the pathologist who performed the autopsy and ruled Ellen’s death as homicide, amended her death certificate, officially changing the manner of death to suicide. Ellen’s death ruling was changed after a meeting among police, at least one prosecutor and two medical examiner officials. This ruling was used to shut down the homicide investigation, but the Greenberg's didn’t give up and that’s what lead them to Tom Brennan in 2013. As he reviewed the case, he saw a number of inconsistencies right away. The door latch, the dried blood on her face and the bruises on Ellen’s wrists. The police said there was a lack of self-defense wounds, but Brennan said, “In looking at the autopsy photographs, I take a look at the victim’s wrists. Both wrists show trauma.” He believes he has overwhelming amounts of evidence that Ellen was killed but why are the Philadelphia officials fighting so hard to stop this?
Seth Williams was Philadelphia’s district attorney when Ellen’s body was discovered in 2011, but after the ruling was changed on her manner of death, the Greenberg's got a lawyer named Larry Krasner to look into things. In 2017, Larry was elected Philadelphia’s DA which meant there was a conflict of interest, so he couldn’t work privately on the Greenberg's case any longer.
Heading the office at the time was Josh Shapiro and the Greenberg's accused him and his lieutenants of sitting on the case the entire time. The attorney general’s office released a statement in 2022 defending their work and claimed to have conducted an exhaustive review, but citing the conflict of interest, they returned the case to Philadelphia, meaning the Greenberg's were starting over again.
When Philadelphia got the case, they were defending two civil lawsuits filed by the Greenberg family. One was seeking to overturn the official ruling of suicide. If granted, this would re-open the death investigation and all evidence collected by their private detective could be brought to court. The second suit was for monetary damages. They were accusing members of the Philadelphia police, district attorneys, and medical examiner offices of “individual and willful misconduct and participating in a conspiracy to cover up the murder of Ellen.”
The police and assistant medical examiner at the scene ruled her case a suicide that night, based on the Jan 26th incident report. It was ruled a homicide the next day based on the autopsy. That’s when police tried to go back to the apartment on the 28th, but it was cleaned and sanitized.
NEXT WEEK:
Tom Brennan learned about a secret call that led to changing Ellen’s manner of death to suicide
The Greenberg’s discovered that the medical examiner’s office kept a piece of Ellen’s spinal tissue
We will talk about a 3D analysis that was done to show the trajectory and depth of all 20 stab wounds
We are going deeper into the timeline of what happened on the day of Ellen’s death, and this will include a statement from the security guard that he used as his alibi.
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