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Parents of Ellen Greenberg who was stabbed 20 times sue ME for SUICIDE ruling

Her death was ruled a homicide before the coronoer's office amended the ruling to suicide
UPDATED OCT 30, 2021
Ellen Greenbreg’s parents have been granted a non-jury trial in their lawsuit against the coroner’s office (CBS Philly)
Ellen Greenbreg’s parents have been granted a non-jury trial in their lawsuit against the coroner’s office (CBS Philly)

Pennsylvania woman Ellen Greenberg, 27, whose controversial death was featured in Oxygen's ‘Accident, Suicide or Murder,' died of 20 stab wounds in a locked apartment in January 2011. The medical examiner’s office declared her death a suicide and now the deceased's parents are suing the ME. 

Greenberg’s parents have been granted a non-jury trial in their lawsuit against the coroner’s office over her death in her Philadelphia apartment, CBS Philly reported. “We look forward to the trial in hopes of obtaining justice for Ellen,” Sandra Greenberg, Ellen’s mother, told the outlet. Her daughter was discovered dead on the kitchen floor by her fiance, Sam Goldberg, after he returned home from the gym. On the day, Ellen had returned home to her apartment early from her first-grade teaching job due to a snowstorm. According to the police, she had suffered stabbing wounds to her chest, neck, head, and torso, police said. Due to the lack of forced entry, defensive wounds, or DNA on her body, her death had been initially ruled a suicide. Some of the other recent deaths that have perplexed people include Gabby Petito, Brian Laundrie and Matthew Mindler

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Sandra previously told Oxygen's documentary producers that suicide "was the farthest thing from Ellen’s world." She admitted that Ellen might have had some anxiety from her job and the upcoming wedding, but said it was nothing to be worried about. “She was getting up and going to work every day. Functioning but stressed,” Sandra explained. Erica Hamilton, one of Ellen's closest friends, told producers how she was “over the moon about her engagement.” The save-the-dates for her wedding were received by family and friends just days before she tragically passed away — leaving all of them at a loss for words. 

Ellen's death first ruled a homicide and then a suicide

Dr Marlon Osbourne, the assistant medical examiner at the time, noted there were several bruises "in various stages of resolution" on the right side of Ellen's body and proceeded to rule her death a homicide before reversing course and amending the ruling to suicide more than a month later, according to the lawsuit. Detectives at the time, further noted that they were "leaning" towards suicide because there was no evidence of foul play at the scene and that Ellen had been on antianxiety medication. But Ellen's psychiatrist felt she was not suicidal and was prescribed Klonopin and Ambien solely to deal with her anxiety; both drugs, however, list suicidal thoughts and behavior as possible side effects.

“It makes no sense,” the Greenbergs’ attorney Joseph Podraza said. A team of experts hired by Greenberg’s family in the aftermath of her death pointed out that a knife in her apartment was overturned, which could suggest a possible struggle prior to her death. There was also a gash on the back of her head that may have rendered her unconscious and as a result, she was unable to defend herself, the newspaper reported. Ellen also didn’t leave a suicide note behind and the fact that she filled up her gas tank before coming home also does little to indicate that she planned on taking her own life. 

Podraza said the family is taking action now to get to the bottom of her death. “They want to know what happened to their daughter,” he told the newspaper. An attorney for the city has noted that the death certificate does not prevent local authorities and defended the medical examiner’s office's ruling which was based on years of experience.

“The medical examiner’s determination is binding on no one. … If a prosecuting authority were convinced that Ellen Greenberg was murdered, there is no statute of limitations on homicide and they could pursue it,” the city argued in court filings, the paper reported.

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