PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s office has once again ruled Ellen Greenberg’s death a suicide, according to a report obtained by FOX 29.
The backstory:
Lindsay Simon, the city’s chief medical examiner, conducted an ‘independent and unbiased’ review of all materials relating to the 27-year-old teacher’s 2011 death in her Philadelphia apartment.
Ultimately, the review sought to answer whether Ellen Greenberg’s manner of death should be changed from its current ruling of suicide to ‘could not be determined’ or homicide.
Greenberg’s fiancé says he found her dead inside their apartment back on January 26, 2011. The first-grade teacher had been stabbed 20 times, according to investigators.
After an autopsy the following day her death was ruled a homicide – before the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office later changed that ruling to suicide.
Police considered her death a suicide because her apartment door was locked from the inside and her boyfriend — who said he found her after breaking down the door — had no defensive wounds.
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.
That change has been the center of controversy and legal battles over the years, including a lawsuit Greenberg’s family filed against the city’s Medical Examiner’s Office in 2021 to have her cause of death changed to homicide or ‘undecided.’
Simon is expected to officially announce her conclusion on Greenberg’s manner of death during a hearing on Tuesday afternoon.
Philadelphia medical examiner issues new ruling
What we know:
In her report, Simon says she reviewed electronic, paper, and photographic records in the Medical Examiner’s case file, as well as the Philadelphia police file. Simon also reviewed transcripts of depositions from previous examiners who worked on the case – including Marlon Osbourne. She also viewed their consultative reports.
The recently released Hulu documentary ‘Death in Apartment 603: What Happened to Ellen Greenberg?” was also listed under the materials reviewed.
The 30-page report walks through the investigative process immediately following and years after Greenberg’s death.
In her final analysis of Greenberg’s manner of death, Simon acknowledges the ‘unusual’ nature of Greenberg’s injuries, but ultimately determined that she would have been capable of inflicting the wounds on herself. Simon says many of the wounds would be best categorized as ‘hesitation wounds.’
Simon noted that Greenberg did not appear to have sustained defensive wounds, and that no other DNA, including her fiancé’s, was found on the knife.
“With all of this information considered, it is the opinion of the undersigned that the manner of Ellen Greenberg’s death is best classified as ‘Suicide.’ All opinions stated in this report are expressed with a reasonable degree of medical certainty,” Simon writes in closing.
What they’re saying:
Joe Podraza, an attorney representing Greenberg’s family issued a statement calling the report an ‘embarrassment to the city, and an insult to Ellen Greenberg and her family.’
“Simon’s so-called “independent review” of Ellen Greenberg’s death is a deeply flawed attempt to justify a predetermined conclusion. It includes false claims—like the assertion that a stab wound in Ellen’s spinal column was made during autopsy, a theory rejected by every credible expert, including the City’s own neuropathologist. By ignoring key evidence that contradicts suicide—the extensive 3D photogrammetry, a recreation which proves Ellen could not self-inflict all of the wounds, unexplained bruises, missing surveillance footage, an intact lock, accounts of a toxic relationship, etc.—Simon builds a flimsy case on distorted portrayals of Ellen’s mental health, propped up by cynical distortions of Ellen’s managed anxiety, a condition widely experienced daily by over 40 million Americans. Shame on you Simon. This report is tripe, an embarrassment to the City, and an insult to Ellen and her family. Ellen’s family just wanted the truth. It is clear the truth will not come from Philadelphia’s law enforcement machinery. Though Ellen’s city turned its back on her, we will continue through other avenues to get justice for her murder, by any means necessary.”
Crime & Public SafetyPhiladelphia
