Suicide or homicide? Ellen Greenberg case getting new look by ME – NBC10 Philadelphia

Before a civil case could get underway Monday, the family of Ellen Greenberg and Philadelphia officials reached an agreement to reopen the teacher’s death investigation more than 14 years after she was found stabbed to death in her Manayunk apartment.

The settlement reached on Feb. 3, 2025, means that the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office will reopen and reinvestigate Greenberg’s manner of death.

The medical examiner who ruled Greenberg’s 2011 death a homicide, then later suicide, in recent days released a new legal verification stating that he now believes the case should be ruled as “something other than suicide.”

On Jan. 26, 2011, Ellen Greenberg was found dead by her fiancé in the kitchen of her apartment on Flat Rock Road in Philadelphia’s Manayunk neighborhood. The 27-year-old first-grade teacher had suffered 20 stab wounds.

Philadelphia Police and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office both investigated her death.

Philadelphia Medical Examiner Marlon Osbourne initially ruled her death a homicide, noting the large number of stab wounds, including 10 to the back of her neck. After police publicly challenged the findings, Osbourne switched the ruling to suicide without explanation.

In a statement filed on Friday, Jan. 31, Dr. Osbourne explained that he decided to make this change after reviewing additional information in her case file that he obtained from the Philadelphia Police Department as well as a consult from Dr. Lucy Rorke-Adams, who is a pediatric neuropathologist and who had worked at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Dr. Osbourne went on to write in his verification that he is now unsure of the series of events that happened that day. He wrote he didn’t know “whether the door was forced open as reported; whether Ellen’s body was moved by someone else inside the apartment with her at or near the time of her death; and the findings of Lindsey Emery, M.D., from her neuropathological evaluation of Ellen’s cervical segment sample.”

The statement came on the same day that a judge ruled that Dr. Osbourne must testify at the dismissed civil trial along with another medical examiner Sam Gulino and homicide detective John McNamee.

Over the past several years, Greenberg’s parents – Josh and Sandee Greenberg – have sought to have the ruling changed back to homicide and filed a lawsuit against Philadelphia. The city has objected, arguing that state law “makes clear that a medical examiner can be wrong as to the manner of death yet cannot be compelled to change it.”

“I’m hoping we’re going to prove that Ellen did not commit suicide,” Ellen’s father, Josh Greenberg, told NBC10 late last year. “That’s what this is all about. Justice for Ellen.”

In 2018, the investigation was turned over to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office for review. The investigation was then turned over to Chester County detectives in August 2022 in order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Chester County detectives first conducted a review of the Philadelphia police and attorney general’s office investigations. They also conducted new interviews and consulted with an independent forensic expert.

Then in November 2024,  the Chester County District Attorney’s Office announced that they could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime was committed and the investigation was placed as inactive. Despite this, Greenberg’s parents – who currently live in Florida – have continued to fight to change the ruling of their daughter’s death while insisting she was murdered.

After Monday’s settlement, attorneys representing the city declined to comment. However, attorneys representing the Greenbergs said they were told the new review would be done expeditiously.