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On January 26th of 2011, Ellen Rae Greenberg left work early as a blizzard was going to hit Philadelphia. She was a first-grade teacher and she waited until all her students had left before she headed out and she gassed up her vehicle on the way home. She got back to her apartment that she shared with her fiancé, Sam Goldberg, who was a TV producer for NBC. Sam went to the gym for roughly 45 minutes and when he got back, the apartment door was locked with the swing latch, and he couldn’t get in. When he entered the apartment, he found Ellen, dead, sitting against the cabinets on the kitchen floor. She had 20 stab wounds and ten of them were to her back and neck and there were eleven bruises in various stages of resolution. Since Sam said the door was locked and there was really no way for someone to flee the apartment, this was ultimately ruled a suicide. There was a small amount of time that the medical examiner had this listed as a homicide, but after a secret meeting with the police, it was changed to suicide and the case was closed.
Website: https://www.drinkingthecoolaid.com/
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Recap of the case:
On January 26th of 2011, Ellen Rae Greenberg left work early as a blizzard was going to hit Philadelphia. She was a first-grade teacher and she waited until all her students had left before she headed out and she gassed up her vehicle on the way home. She got back to her apartment that she shared with her fiancé, Sam Goldberg, who was a TV producer for NBC. Sam went to the gym for roughly 45 minutes and when he got back, the apartment door was locked with the swing latch, and he couldn’t get in. When he entered the apartment, he found Ellen, dead, sitting against the cabinets on the kitchen floor. She had 20 stab wounds and ten of them were to her back and neck and there were eleven bruises in various stages of resolution. Since Sam said the door was locked and there was really no way for someone to flee the apartment, this was ultimately ruled a suicide. There was a small amount of time that the medical examiner had this listed as a homicide, but after a secret meeting with the police, it was changed to suicide and the case was closed.
Within hours of us recording all 4 episodes and releasing the first one, things were blowing up with this case and it was all over the internet. Rather than waiting, I want to cover the updates now because my blood is boiling, and Ellen’s family is requesting help. They are asking that everyone use their social platforms to reach out to the mayor and other politicians to get this case moving. They have been jerked around for years.
In 2019, Ellen’s parents asked for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office to review the case again. Larry Krasner was the DA and had a conflict of interest because he previously represented the Greenberg’s. So, he sent the case to the Attorney General’s office and the AG said they reviewed the case again and agreed with the suicide ruling and in July of 2022, it got kicked back to Philly. The people who originally looked at the case at the DA’s office had all been hired by Josh Shapiro when he became AG, so when they did this “second review” it was done by the exact same people that had originally reviewed the case and agreed with the suicide ruling. It was the exact same team. That’s not a fresh review. And this information was not told to the Greenberg’s.
Josh Shapiro said the file was being closed by the office of Pennsylvania. After they “reviewed” it again, the AG’s office sent a letter to the Greenberg’s stating that they will support suicide as the manner of death. They were completely frustrated and confused as to how another team could come to this same conclusion, but it wasn’t another team at all. In regards to Josh Shapiro, Sandee Greenberg said, “He stole four years from us, holding the case in his office and we have no evidence of him doing anything.”
Investigtive journalist, Gavin Fish, got an anonymous tip that Josh Shapiro knew Sam’s family and even went to school with them. He was the form AG and is now the governor of Pennsylvania. This would obviously be very problematic if it were true, so he began looking into things and sure as shit, he found a photo of Josh Shapiro and a member of the Schwartzman family. If you recall, Sam ALLEGEDLY contacted his cousin Kamian and his attorney uncle, James Schwartzman prior to calling 911. Gavin bought the high school yearbook on Ebay and verified that Josh Shapiro did in fact go to school with a member of the Schwartzman’s family and there have ALLEGEDLY been campaign donations from them to Josh Shapiro. It also appears that Sam’s father ALLEGEDLY donated money to Josh Shapiro according to the public records that Gavin Fish went through.
The family ALLEGEDLY donated money to Josh Shapiro through various people and organizations for many years and it started early on in his political career. Many people donate money to politicians, so it could mean absolutely nothing, but it’s something to be curious about. When I listened to Nancy Grace’s podcast, it was mentioned that the person that went to school with Josh Shapiro is James Schwartzman’s daughter, Kimberly. Gavin went through Josh Shapiro’s Twitter and found messages where he refers to her as his friend. Kimberly would be Sam’s first cousin.
According to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson from Shapiro’s office said his office undertook, “an exhaustive review and conducted new forensic analysis.” The former AG denied having “an actual conflict” but acknowledged the “appearance” of one. A statement was released saying “We wish Ellen’s family nothing but the best and our office regrets that, despite our extensive work, our additional efforts have not brought more closure to the questions around her death.” So, that was heartfelt.
We had discussed how Sam’s attorney uncle, James Schwartzman ended up going into the apartment to grab Sam some clothing for the funeral and he took other items while he was in there. What I didn’t know, is that it sounds like his son Kamian was ALLEGEDLY with him as well. Ellen died on January 26th and they entered the apartment on the 27th. They took Ellen’s laptop, work computer, cellphone, handbag, wallet, credit cards and Sam’s computer. IF you want to tell me that they took the valuables to keep them safe, I would have possibly bought this theory, until I found out something interesting. Ellen’s engagement ring was very large and very expensive AND it was a family heirloom from Sam and it was sitting, directly out in the open, on the nightstand. Why didn’t they grab that? Also, Ellen’s parents made an incredible point about this too. At the funeral, James did not tell them that he grabbed all of their daughter’s items, he did not bring them with him to the funeral to give back to them and he did not have permission from her parents to take these items in the first place. Also, he’s a professional and an attorney, in my opinion, he should have known better.
On the same day that Sam’s family entered the apartment, the building manager, Melissa, contacted the police and they said it’s fine to let people enter the apartment and they gave her the contact information to have the apartment professionally cleaned. Melissa entered the apartment before the cleaning crew arrived and she took a video of every room to make sure she didn’t get in trouble for moving anything. James Schwartzman ALLEGEDLY paid for the cleaning company. The police got the warrant the very next day on the 28th and they entered the apartment that had already been professionally cleaned and sanitized.
The police learned that Melissa had taken video of the apartment and she handed it over to them, but the video has never been found since, it just disappeared once the police got it. Tom Brennan has been working with the Greenbergs for years and has asked the police for this video and they can’t find it. After the police got the search warrant and realized James Schwartzman took the laptops and phones, they asked for them and he handed them over and they sent them to the FBI. The FBI said there was nothing suicide related, and they sent them back to Larry Krasner at the DA’s office. Larry Krasner sent the laptop to a company in North Carolina for forensic analysis, then it was released to Ellen’s parents, and they turned Ellen’s laptops and phones over to a digital forensic company and the items have been in their custody ever since.
The reason this part is important, is because the internet search history that we previously discussed is most likely fake. Before diving into that, I will mention that Dr. Idikio Tabori said that Ambien does cause stange behavior in some people, but it’s more like, cooking an entire meal and forgetting about it or forgetting an entire conversation, not stabbing yourself repetitively. These searches were absolutely not in the original file and the Greenberg’s say that Ellen did not do those searches. The Attorney General’s office were the ones that claimed this search history existed, but the FBI had already ruled it out.
The AG office claimed they got their hands on Ellen’s computer and cloned the hard drive, but Tom Brennan asked how that was possible because the computers were locked up since 2015 and this claim came out in 2018, but the AG’s office has never provided a response to this and refused to send a copy of the report. There is a theory on how this all happened. Ellen did look up side effects of the medications she was taking and looked to see if there would be any weight gain. Gavin Fish explained that when you visit a site, there are advertisements that are loaded in frames and come back as websites you visited, even if you don’t click on it. It’s called a ghost or phantom search.
The FBI is obviously not fooled by ghost or phantom searches, which is why they said there was nothing suicide related on the laptops. When the AG office got the report back and saw those searches, they used that to “prove” she was googling suicide related topics. When the North Carolina forensic analysis team identified these searches, they sent a copy to Larry Krasner and he was the ONLY person who had it at that time, and he made a copy for Tom Brennan. Tom believes that when Lary Krasner sent the file to the AG’s office, the report was in there and that’s where this search history thing all started.
After the AG’s office realized there was an appearance of a conflict of interest, they kicked the case back to Larry Krasner and he already said he had a conflict of interest, so he sent the case to Deb Ryan in Chester County. Gavin Fish believes that she is even more closely connected to Sam’s family than Josh Shapiro is and it makes everyone wonder why Larry Krasner didn’t send the case to the state police. Chester county says this case is ongoing and they will not provide a statement.
The Greenberg’s were invited to Chester County to meet with Deb Ryan, her chief of staff, chief of detectives and 2 other detectives. Sandee said it was a rich 3 hours of exchanges and she has a positive feeling that they’re sincerely working on this. This is the first time in 12 years that they were invited to discuss the case. When Josh Shapiro was AG, it took him 4 ½ years to decide there was a conflict of interest, but that conflict was there immediately, so the case should have been transferred right away. The first conflict was when 3 people reviewed their own previous work. That’s not fresh eyes on the case and it isn’t a reinvestigation. The second conflict was the fact that he knew Sam’s family.
Chester County says that they will also be meeting with Tom Brenan and Dr. Wayne Ross. When they met with the Greenberg’s, it sounds like they were asking a lot of questions about Ellen’s psychological state of mind.
Guy D’ Andrea, a former homicide prosecutor with the Philadelphia DA’s office told Fox News Digital, “Reviewing the file and the crime scene photographs and the medical examiner’s photographs, I don’t know how you come to that conclusion of suicide.” When Guy D’Andrea was with the Philadelphia DA’s office, he asked to review the case and his supervisor said yes. He knew absolutely nothing about it and he found the box in a closet, shoved under some Christmas decorations and there wasn’t even a case number assigned to it. As he went through the files, he saw references to a neuropathologist report, but he couldn’t find a copy of it. He called the police and they said they didn’t have it and he called the medical examiner’s office and they said it didn’t exist and there was no bill for the work. It didn’t happen.
Guy also confirmed that the internet searches were never included in the original files. He said that no matter what you believe, the blood on Ellen’s face should have gone down, not across. She was found with her body, sitting against the cabinets in the kitchen and her body must have been moved after she died. The scene appears to have been cleaned, but since there was no real investigation or luminol testing, we will never know for sure. The police never even sealed it as a crime scene when they first arrived, and they didn’t put-up crime scene tape. Tom Brennan explained that it takes a long time for blood to dry and coagulate, approximately 40-45 minutes, depending on the temperature of the apartment and it shouldn’t be running from nose to ear, it should have rolled down her face.
Prior to Ellen’s death, she asked her parents if she could move back home with them, just her, not her fiancé Sam. She said that she was overwhelmed with work, but if that were true, why didn’t she just quit her job and find something else? What would moving back home do? It doesn’t make sense because it’s probably not true, but her parents do believe that Ellen was planning on heading home the day she died. They have reviewed photos and noticed that her items appeared to be packed up. She had things packed in the bathroom, and her makeup bag and other items were stacked on the bed. Josh Greenberg said that his wife and daughter never travel anywhere without their makeup.
A neighbor said that Ellen approached them about leaving the apartment and this friend asked if her fiance was coming too and Ellen didn’t answer. Her family only found out about this conversation two months ago. It was explained that Ellen’s behavior was very future oriented. Once you make a decision to end your life, you’re focused on the traumas and you don’t care about gassing up the car, sending out save the dates for the wedding, or eating fruit. She also did something else that day that was very future oriented. Tom Brennan noticed there was a long list of calls on Ellen’s phone that took place the day she died, and the police never called to see what those numbers were. Ellen called the parents of all of her students to make sure they got home safe that day. Does that sound like someone who is too overwhelmed at work?
If someone is being abused and I’m not accusing anyone, but if they are, when are they in the most danger? When they try to leave the relationship. Ellen’s engagement ring was sitting out in the open, on the nightstand and her items were being packed up. She was heading home. When she spoke on the phone with her mom that morning, she said that tax information was being sent out soon and she wanted Ellen to watch for it because they both send their stuff to an accountant. Three months after her death, their accountant said that Ellen’s tax return check had already been cashed, but they don’t know who did it.
Per the Nancy Grace podcast, Ellen’s death is statistically inconsistent with suicide AND doing it in this manner. Women generally try not to leave a mess when they end their lives. With her age, gender, location, and background, it’s all statistically inconsistent. Joe Scott Morgan, host of Body Bags, has worked hundreds of suicides and only 3 were multiple stab wounds and they were on the front of the body and the person would typically be in a very debilitating or psychotic state.
One thing that I just recently discovered is that two knives were used in Ellen’s death according to the autopsy report. One was a serrated knife and that was the one found in her chest and the other was a flat blade. The smooth bladed knife was never recovered. Ellen stabbed herself 20 times, then ditched one of the knives before plunging the serrated knife into her chest and dying?
Dr. Lindsey Emery was a neuropathologist employed by the Pennsylvania medical examiner’s office. In August of 2019, she was instructed to perform tests on the spinal column specimens and she said there was lack of hemorrhage on 2 specimens, so 2 stab wounds were administered after she was dead. Guy D’Andrea said that on average, the ME office will have 10,000 bodies come through each year. They do not have the capacity to keep a piece of human remains from every body that comes through. When he found out they kept a piece of spinal column from a suicide case, that was very suspicious. After Dr. Lindsey Emery stated that there was a lack of hemmorhage, the Attoreny General’s office sent out a letter suggesting that the medical examiner misspoke when she provided that information and, “after reviewing the material, the facts still support the medical examiner’s finding of suicide.” The medical examiner was Marlon Osbourne and he later admitted that he planned on ruling Ellen’s death as homicide or undetermined, but the Police persuaded him to rule it as a suicide during the secret meeting. I believe he works in Florida now, so he isn’t able to do anything about it.
Ellen’s father, Josh Greenberg said that they have evidence that she got a 6.5 CM wound to the back of her head AFTER death and it was noted in the autopsy. He said, “My daughter was being abused. She had injuries on her body consistent with abuse.” Gavin Fish said he reviewed the autopsy photos and he could see various bruises, including a bruise on Ellen’s left ring finger, head and hemorrhage in the front her neck.
A witness from the apartment said that he could hear Sam talking in the hallway on the day of Ellen’s death. He was down the hall, looking through the peephole on the door and saw Sam walking around the hallway. He said that when Sam called 911, he told the operator on the call that he was in the apartment with Ellen, but the witness says he was actually in the hallway when he called. I do want to note that it appears that Sam’s devices were never seized or looked at. He claimed that he broke the door down to get into the apartment, but Tom Brennan explained that the apartment door was made of particle board and there were 3 screws that were still in the lock and one of them was out. There was no particle board on the floor in the photos.
One term that was used on the Surviving the Survivor podcast was a psychological autopsy, which is something that could be helpful in Ellen’s case. A large amount of information needs to be collected to perform this, such as: any history of drug/alcohol abuse, known stresses, lifestyle, relationships, birth date, occupations, marital or relationship status, criminal record, and family history. Information can be gathered by interviewing friends and family members of the deceased, then it’s all sent to forensic psychologists to piece together the psychological autopsy.
Dr. Katherine Ramsland says, “We have staged suicides that are actually homicides. We have deaths where the manner of death is mistaken.” Jacquelyn Gray wrote a story called: Inside the Mind of the Dead: What are Psychological Autopsies? The article says, “When someone dies under suspicious or ambiguous circumstances, psychological autopsies may provide answers that physical evidence cannot. They offer analysis into the deceased person’s mental state and personality, helping investigators to determine whether they’ve identified the correct manner of death.”
Ellen is a real person, not just a story and she deserves justice, her parents deserve justice. Her mom, Sandee, made a comment in one of the videos that she takes her supplements every day to make sure she’s healthy enough to stick around and fight for her daughter. Ellen had a huge, beautiful smile, she was upbeat, and she loved fashion.
Sandee said, “The authorities in Philadelphia better wake up because we’re not going away.”
This case should scare you because it could happen to anyone, and we can’t let those in power get away with this. The authorities have maintained that they have found no evidence of foul play, but they will not publicly explain how they came to this conclusion. We need to fight for an explanation. The police claim they have proof that this is a suicide, what is the proof? The case is closed, so why can’t you back up your work? What are you hiding? In the state of Pennsylvania, suicide isn’t a crime, meaning the case is closed and they are allowed to share records.
To label this as a suicide, but withhold all information is very telling to me. The best thing you can do is bug the politicians until they do something. Message them, call them, share every article on social media and sign the petition. The Greenbergs have spent overe half a million dollars and they do fear that they will run out of money, so if you can, please donate to their Go Fund Me.
It’s blatanly obvious that there is something wrong here and we haven’t even seen all of the information the Greenberg’s have. We need to demand that this gets reopened and properly investigated. We are small potatoes in the podcasting world, but if you know someone in power, send this to them. If you know a big podcaster, send this to them. The Philadelphia mayor, Jim Kenney, has the power to order the chief medical examiner to reopen the case and the family is encouraging everyone to speak up and join the fight. Pressure from the public can change things, but we can’t stop.
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