0:00

A note before we begin. Today's

0:02

episode heavily discusses the topic of suicide.

0:05

If you find that the discussion becomes overwhelming

0:07

or triggers negative emotions, please

0:10

prioritize your mental health above all else.

0:12

Consider skipping this episode or

0:15

reaching out to a support helpline in your area.

0:18

You are not alone.

0:20

Voices for Justice is a podcast that uses

0:22

adult language and discusses sensitive and

0:24

potentially triggering topics including violence,

0:27

abuse, and murder. This

0:30

podcast may not be appropriate for younger audiences.

0:33

All parties are innocent until proven guilty

0:35

in a court of law. Some names have been changed

0:38

or omitted per their request or for safety

0:40

purposes. Listener discretion

0:42

is advised.

0:44

My name is Sarah Turney and this is Voices

0:47

for Justice. Today

0:53

I'm discussing the suspicious death

0:55

of Ellen Greenberg. On January 26, 2011,

0:59

27-year-old Ellen Greenberg left her

1:01

job as a school teacher early due to

1:03

a snowstorm that completely blanketed

1:05

the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. On

1:08

her way home, she stopped and filled up her gas

1:10

tank. From here, Ellen headed to her

1:12

apartment that she shared with her fiancé, Sam

1:15

Goldberg. They were set

1:17

to get married in August and had just sent out

1:19

their save the dates a few

1:20

weeks earlier. A few hours

1:22

after Ellen arrives home, just after 6.30pm, Sam

1:24

called 911 and

1:27

reported that he had to break down the door to his

1:29

and Ellen's apartment because it had been locked

1:31

from the inside. When he got inside,

1:34

he found Ellen in the kitchen with a knife sticking

1:37

out of her chest.

1:38

When officers arrived, they found multiple

1:40

stab wounds on Ellen's chest. Deciding

1:43

that these wounds were superficial, police

1:45

quickly determined that Ellen's death was a suicide.

1:49

The next day, an autopsy uncovered 20 stab

1:52

wounds to Ellen's chest, stomach, back

1:54

of her neck, and back of her head.

1:57

The medical examiner ruled Ellen's death

1:59

a murder.

1:59

Despite these findings,

2:02

the police declared Ellen's death a suicide

2:04

and closed her case. Since

2:07

then, for over a decade, Ellen's

2:09

parents and a large group of experts

2:12

have worked to uncover a lot of evidence that

2:14

suggests Ellen was murdered.

2:16

Ellen's mother, Sandy, told Dateline, quote,

2:19

My daughter did not commit suicide.

2:22

We've grieved her life for years. Now

2:24

we want to clear her name. We want

2:26

justice for her, and we want closure,

2:29

end quote. This

2:32

is the case of Ellen Greenberg.

2:35

At 6.33 p.m. on January 26, 2011, Sam Goldberg called 911 from the apartment

2:38

he shared with his

2:43

fiancé, Ellen Greenberg, in Philadelphia.

2:46

Sam reported that he had just broken down the door

2:48

and found Ellen on her back with blood everywhere.

2:51

The

2:52

dispatcher instructed Sam to remove Ellen's

2:54

sweatshirt and start CPR, but

2:56

Sam said he couldn't because there was a 10-inch

2:58

knife sticking out of Ellen's heart.

3:01

Sam spoke to the dispatcher for a little bit longer,

3:03

basically confirming that help was on the way, and

3:06

the dispatcher had the correct address. Then

3:08

the call ended.

3:10

After this, Sam called his parents to let them

3:12

know what was going on. When they got off the phone,

3:15

Sam's parents notified Ellen's parents

3:17

of the news, but they couldn't travel to

3:19

Ellen's apartment because there had been a huge snowstorm

3:21

in Philadelphia that day, which

3:23

I can't even begin to imagine how helpless

3:25

they must have felt. But

3:27

according to case documents, when

3:29

first responders arrived, they pronounced 27-year-old

3:32

Ellen dead. Now

3:34

let me take a moment to describe the scene, because

3:36

it will be really important to keep in mind as

3:39

I discuss statements from experts in this case.

3:42

When first responders got to the scene, Ellen

3:44

was found in the corner of the kitchen between

3:46

the sink and the stove. Now this is

3:48

what I would consider a typical layout for

3:50

a kitchen in an apartment. Basically, it

3:52

was two sets of countertops parallel to

3:54

each other with no island in between.

3:57

Ellen's shoulders were resting against the lower half of the

3:59

kitchen. of the kitchen cabinets. She

4:01

was slumped downward, resting on her bottom

4:04

and lower back. Her legs were extended

4:06

outward, and her arms were parallel

4:08

to her upper body. There was a 10-inch serrated

4:11

cut-co knife embedded in the left side of

4:13

her chest through her clothing.

4:15

Authorities believe this knife came from the knife block

4:18

in the apartment.

4:19

When Philadelphia police officers and

4:21

an investigator from the medical examiner's office

4:24

arrived, they noted that Ellen's right hand

4:26

was quote, closed in a loose

4:28

fist, end quote.

4:30

In her left hand, there was a quote, nearly

4:33

pristine end quote, white hand

4:35

towel.

4:36

Ellen's glasses were on the floor to the right

4:38

of her,

4:39

and in between her lower leg area

4:41

was a quote, collection of dark-colored

4:44

longer hairs, end quote, which

4:46

I think it's important to note that Ellen did have

4:48

longer dark hair. When

4:50

authorities examined Ellen's body, they

4:52

found other wounds on her chest, which

4:54

they described as being superficial.

4:57

They also said there were no obvious defense

4:59

wounds found on Ellen.

5:01

Authorities further noted that there was blood

5:03

found on Ellen's face, right hand, clothes,

5:06

and boots.

5:07

They said that the blood around Ellen was

5:09

generally confined to the area of her body,

5:11

on the floor underneath, and on

5:13

the cabinets behind her. There

5:15

were also two drops of blood found on the granite

5:18

countertop above her.

5:20

On the counter, authorities also found a

5:22

strainer of fruit, along with recently

5:24

prepared oranges and blueberries. It

5:26

looked like Ellen may have been in the middle of preparing

5:29

some type of fruit salad. They

5:31

also noticed that the knife block was

5:33

turned over on its side, and

5:35

two of the knives from the block were found in the sink,

5:38

but there was no blood found on the knife block

5:40

or knives. Now,

5:42

of course, officers speak to Ellen's fiancé,

5:44

Sam, since he was the last known person to

5:47

see Ellen alive, and the person who

5:49

later found her. They discovered that Ellen

5:51

and Sam had been engaged since the summer of 2010, and had

5:53

been together for

5:55

a total of about three years. Ellen

5:57

and Sam planned on an August 2011 wedding.

5:59

and had just sent out their save

6:02

the date weeks prior.

6:03

Here's what Sam says happened that day. He

6:06

says Ellen went to work, but when the snowstorm

6:09

hit, she was sent home early. They

6:11

basically just hung out in their apartment until around 4.45

6:13

p.m. when Sam

6:15

decided to use the apartment complex's gym

6:17

on the first floor. Sam

6:20

told officers that he worked out for about 30 to 45

6:22

minutes.

6:24

When he was done, he went back to the apartment,

6:26

but couldn't get in because the front door's swing

6:28

bar was engaged from the inside.

6:31

Now, just to pause for clarity, one, because this

6:33

term confused me when I first started researching

6:35

the case, and two, because there's different

6:37

terms in different regions, I just wanna

6:39

clarify that when I say swing bar,

6:41

I mean those small metal locks you

6:44

install on the inside of your home that

6:46

allows you to open the door a few inches

6:49

while not allowing the door to open any further.

6:51

You see these in a lot of hotels.

6:53

So Sam has a key, but obviously,

6:56

he can't get past the inside lock.

6:58

He says he banged on the door, but didn't get an answer.

7:01

For the next hour, he texted, called, and

7:03

emailed Ellen, trying to get her to let him

7:05

inside,

7:05

but Ellen didn't respond.

7:08

Authorities did review Ellen's phone and

7:10

confirmed that Sam had texted her multiple

7:12

times from 5.32 p.m. to 5.54 p.m.

7:16

Sam texted the following,

7:18

hello, open the door. What

7:21

are you doing? I'm getting pissed.

7:24

Hello, you better have an excuse.

7:26

What the fuck? Ah, you

7:29

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8:40

Sam said after an hour of not being able to reach

8:42

Ellen,

8:43

he went down to the security desk and asked the

8:46

guard to help him enter the apartment.

8:48

However, the security guard would later

8:50

contest this series of events by

8:52

saying he was not present for this, so

8:55

Sam breaks down the door alone.

8:57

And as soon as he was inside, he

8:59

found Ellen in the kitchen.

9:01

Following this initial statement from Sam, authorities

9:04

looked around the apartment to corroborate his story.

9:07

According to case documents, the swing bar

9:09

was, quote, broken, obviously

9:11

forced in, end quote,

9:13

which matched what Sam had said about breaking down the

9:15

door.

9:16

They looked for other signs of forced entry, but

9:18

didn't find any. The only other entrance

9:21

to the apartment was a rear sliding door

9:23

leading to a patio, and it was

9:25

pretty obvious that no one had entered or exited

9:27

through the patio. Not only was

9:29

it six stories high, but there was a

9:31

blanket of snow on the floor of the patio that

9:34

hadn't been touched.

9:35

There was no sign of a struggle, and nothing

9:37

was stolen. Three laptops, Ellen's

9:40

cell phone, and her expensive heirloom

9:42

engagement ring were all still in the apartment.

9:45

Authorities continued searching. They

9:47

found a paper booklet inside of Ellen's wallet,

9:49

which, quote, resembled a journal of

9:51

medications and Ellen's state of mind,

9:54

end quote. This journal was last

9:56

stated January 16th. Officers

9:58

also found Ellen's

9:59

medications, colonopin and ambien.

10:03

They did not find a suicide note.

10:05

Officers briefly canvassed the apartment building,

10:08

speaking to neighbors, who said that

10:10

they heard Sam banging on the door, but

10:12

they didn't report any other disturbances, like

10:14

an argument.

10:15

Officers also spoke to Ellen's parents, whom

10:18

she was very close to. Ellen was

10:20

the only child of Josh and Sandy Greenberg.

10:22

When

10:23

speaking with officers, Sandy said that

10:25

she last talked to Ellen around 7 a.m. that

10:27

morning while Ellen was on her way to work.

10:30

Sandy says it was a pleasant conversation, and Ellen

10:33

gave no indication that something was wrong.

10:35

However, Sandy did tell officers

10:38

that near the end of 2010, Ellen started battling

10:40

issues with anxiety. She

10:42

became withdrawn, less independent,

10:45

and less happy overall. This

10:47

was a stark contrast between her normally

10:49

outgoing, upbeat, cheerful, and happy

10:52

personality. Sandy said that Ellen

10:54

told her family that she was overwhelmed with

10:56

her classroom work. Sandy said that

10:58

she and her husband had encouraged Ellen to see a psychiatrist,

11:01

and she did.

11:02

But Ellen's parents made it clear to police

11:05

that Ellen never attempted suicide,

11:07

or had suicidal ideations. An

11:10

officer noted in his report that Ellen's death

11:12

was a quote, surprise to them despite

11:14

her issues with anxiety, end quote.

11:17

Before the conversation was over, the Greenbergs

11:20

were asked about Ellen's relationship with Sam. They

11:22

described him as a fine young man, and

11:25

said that they were happy to have him as an in-law.

11:27

They said they had no knowledge of any verbal or

11:30

physical abuse in the relationship.

11:32

The Greenbergs later provided further detail

11:34

on Ellen's state of mind at the time of her death.

11:37

They said Ellen's anxiety seemed to start in

11:39

the weeks leading up to her and Sam mailing out

11:41

their save-the-dates for their August wedding.

11:44

The Greenbergs said that Ellen was so stressed

11:46

out that at one point she texted her parents,

11:49

quote, I want to leave this place.

11:51

Get me out,

11:52

end quote. Now, unfortunately,

11:55

we don't really know what place she

11:57

was talking about. Shortly after, Ellen

11:59

and Sam were told that Ellen had

11:59

a asked a cousin who lived in the Philly area

12:02

if she could temporarily move into the cousin's

12:04

home. When the cousin asked if Sam

12:06

would be joining, Ellen didn't respond.

12:09

Now, it was apparently all of this that led

12:11

authorities to believe Ellen had completed suicide.

12:15

And because of this determination, the apartment

12:17

was not treated as a crime scene.

12:20

According to case documents, the only items

12:22

taken for evidence were the booklet found

12:25

in Ellen's wallet and her meds. On

12:28

January 27th, officers spoke to Ellen's

12:30

psychiatrist and found that Ellen

12:32

had been to three different sessions between January

12:35

12th and 19th.

12:37

And she had a fourth appointment scheduled for the 27th.

12:40

According to case documents, in her sessions,

12:43

Ellen said that she had been dealing with severe anxiety

12:45

for around two months. She was

12:47

also having difficulty

12:48

with work. Ellen mentioned

12:50

that she was doing well at her job, but

12:53

the school district changed some regulations. Ellen

12:55

said she didn't know if she should quit teaching

12:57

or work through the stress. Ellen's

12:59

psychiatrist told police that she specifically

13:02

asked Ellen about suicidal thoughts and

13:04

she denied of her having them.

13:06

The psychiatrist also asked about Sam

13:09

and Ellen had nothing but good things to say about

13:11

him. She mentioned that they were getting married

13:13

in August and said he was wonderful.

13:17

The psychiatrist even noted a smile when

13:19

she spoke of him.

13:20

The psychiatrist also recalled asking

13:22

about any verbal and physical abuse at home,

13:25

which Ellen denied.

13:27

After meeting with Ellen for the first time, the

13:29

psychiatrist prescribed colonopin and

13:31

ambient to treat Ellen's anxiety and

13:34

to help her sleep.

13:35

At Ellen's second session on January 19th, Ellen

13:38

told the psychiatrist that the med seemed to be working.

13:41

The psychiatrist also noted that Ellen was

13:44

doing, quote, way better, end

13:46

quote.

13:47

Now, while all this was happening, while officers

13:50

were speaking to Ellen's psychiatrist, Dr.

13:52

Marlin Osborne with the Philadelphia Medical

13:55

Examiner's Office was performing an autopsy

13:57

on Ellen.

13:58

Prior to this exam, Osborne was told

14:01

that investigators believed Ellen's death was

14:03

a suicide. But here's

14:05

what Dr. Osborne discovered. A

14:08

total of 20 stab wounds,

14:10

many of which were not superficial like authorities

14:13

had previously assumed.

14:15

There were eight stab wounds to Ellen's chest,

14:17

including the wound with a 10-inch knife, which

14:19

was embedded four inches into her

14:21

chest.

14:23

The other seven wounds to Ellen's chest ranged

14:25

from 0.2 centimeters and 1.5 inches deep.

14:30

Additionally, there was one wound to Ellen's

14:32

abdomen which was over two inches

14:34

deep.

14:35

On the back right side of Ellen's scalp,

14:38

Dr. Osborne found a 2.5-inch long cut.

14:42

Ten stab wounds were found on the back

14:44

of Ellen's neck.

14:45

The wounds ranged in size, between 0.2 centimeters

14:48

and 3 inches deep.

14:51

Dr. Osborne also found a

14:53

3-inch wound that went through the back of Ellen's

14:55

head at the base of her skull.

14:58

This wound impacted her cerebellum, the

15:00

part of the brain which coordinates and regulates

15:02

many functions including balance, movement,

15:05

and vision.

15:07

Finding this wound to be of note, Dr.

15:09

Osborne removed and preserved portions

15:11

of the cerebellum.

15:13

Another wound of note was a 2-3.25-inch

15:15

wound that went between Ellen's second and

15:17

third vertebrae and down

15:20

over her spinal cord.

15:22

Note there was no obvious defect to Ellen's

15:24

spinal cord. This meant Dr. Osborne

15:26

couldn't determine the extent of the injury or

15:29

the effects on Ellen's ability to keep moving.

15:33

However, he could conclude that the

15:35

injury would have incapacitated Ellen

15:37

due to both the pain and the physiological

15:40

responses. He also removed

15:42

and preserved the segment of her spinal column

15:44

which included the wound.

15:47

Additionally, Dr. Osborne found 11 separate

15:50

bruises on Ellen's wrist, right arm,

15:53

abdomen, and right leg, and

15:55

they were all in various stages of healing.

15:57

Dr. Osborne

15:58

did not investigate the wound. the

16:00

bruises any further than notating them.

16:02

Toxicology testing showed colonopin

16:05

and trace amounts of Ambien in Ellen's system,

16:08

which of course we know were both prescribed medications.

16:12

According to Dr. Osborne's report, the

16:14

wound to Ellen's spinal cord alone

16:16

suggested that Ellen had been the victim of a homicide,

16:19

not a suicide.

16:21

His official determination was that

16:24

Ellen had been murdered.

16:27

After the autopsy, the medical examiner's

16:30

office publicly announced that they believed

16:32

Ellen's death was a homicide, not

16:34

a suicide.

16:36

Now unfortunately, Ellen's parents weren't

16:38

told about the change in Ellen's manner of death.

16:40

They had to find out from a friend who heard it on

16:43

a news report.

16:45

According to court documents, the Philadelphia

16:47

Police Department, or PPD, immediately

16:50

pushed back against Dr. Osborne's determination

16:53

of homicide.

16:54

They asked him to change his findings to pending

16:57

while the homicide department investigated Ellen's

16:59

death. However, Dr.

17:01

Osborne did not comply with this request.

17:04

Hours after the PPD learned of Dr. Osborne's

17:07

determination of homicide, the media

17:09

reported that the police did not consider Ellen's

17:11

death a homicide. Instead,

17:14

they were calling her death suspicious.

17:16

On January 28th, two days after

17:18

Ellen was found, homicide detectives

17:21

went to search Ellen's apartment, but

17:23

they didn't find any significant forensic evidence.

17:26

However, they did collect her engagement

17:28

ring as evidence.

17:30

The inquirer reported that detectives further

17:32

looked at Sam's key fob records to double

17:35

check his story and timeline,

17:37

and it matched what he told investigators.

17:40

Detectives also tested the knife and

17:42

Ellen's clothes for DNA,

17:44

and only Ellen's was found. On

17:47

January 29th, police obtained Ellen's

17:49

cell phone and work and personal

17:51

laptops, as well

17:54

as Sam's laptop.

17:55

Ellen's personal laptop was sent to the

17:57

FBI for analysis.

17:59

That same day, police announced that they were leaning

18:02

towards suicide and were looking into

18:04

Ellen's mental health.

18:05

At this point, it was pretty obvious that homicide

18:08

investigators believed that the investigation

18:10

pointed towards suicide.

18:12

They cited Ellen's anxiety and

18:14

the apartment being locked from the inside

18:16

with no sign of a struggle.

18:18

But Dr. Osborne did not agree. He

18:20

said Ellen's death was a murder. Because

18:23

of the discrepancy, they pulled in another expert.

18:26

This is Dr. Rourke Adams, an independent

18:29

neuropathologist.

18:30

They were brought in to examine Ellen's spinal

18:32

cord to see if the neck injury would have paralyzed

18:35

her,

18:36

which would have made it impossible for Ellen

18:38

to deliver the final wound to her chest.

18:40

According to Dr. Osborne's report, Dr.

18:43

Rourke Adams determined that the spinal cord

18:45

sheath had been damaged, but the

18:48

actual cord was intact, leading

18:50

the neuropathologist to believe that the injury

18:53

did not incapacitate Ellen.

18:55

However, it may have led to Ellen's

18:57

body going numb,

18:59

allowing her to painlessly continue stabbing.

19:03

On January 31st, KYW

19:05

reported that PPD still had Ellen's

19:08

death listed as suspicious, and

19:10

their investigation was leaning in a

19:11

non-criminal direction.

19:14

They continued saying this for weeks. Finally,

19:17

on February 18th, the PPD officially

19:19

declared that the death of Ellen Greenberg had

19:22

been rolled a suicide. The detective

19:24

said, quote, we couldn't prove anything

19:26

else. We were just letting things go where it

19:28

went, and that's where it went, end

19:31

quote.

19:32

Weeks later, on March 3rd, the

19:34

medical examiner's office updated Ellen's

19:36

death certificate from homicide to suicide.

19:40

Now, Dr. Osborne did give a list of reasons

19:42

why he was willing to change the manner of death,

19:44

which included the following.

19:47

Ellen had a history of anxiety. The

19:49

door was locked from the inside, and

19:52

Sam had to break the door down.

19:54

The injury to Ellen's spinal cord would not

19:56

have incapacitated Ellen.

19:58

And DNA testing on the phone. knife and

20:00

Ellen's clothing only matched her

20:02

DNA.

20:04

Dr. Osborne noted that an analysis

20:06

of Ellen's laptop provided no

20:08

additional information, and

20:10

just like the first time, the Greenbergs

20:12

were not informed of this change.

20:14

They learned about it from the media. Ellen's

20:17

parents did not believe that she had completed

20:20

suicide, and they were also frustrated

20:22

with a medical examiner and police departments

20:25

handling of Ellen's case. Desperate

20:27

for answers, they launched their own half-a-million

20:30

dollar investigation into Ellen's death.

20:33

They request copies of Ellen's autopsy records

20:36

and photos, as well as crime scene

20:38

photos and reports from the scene. They

20:40

also spoke with Ellen's friends. PennLive

20:43

reported that the Greenbergs found out through a

20:45

friend that on the day she died,

20:47

Ellen had planned on leaving her life in

20:49

Philadelphia and moving back in

20:51

with her parents.

20:53

So the Greenbergs send all this evidence

20:55

they collect to forensic pathologist

20:57

Dr. Cyral Wecht.

20:59

In January 2012, he concluded

21:01

that Ellen did not complete suicide.

21:03

Dr. Wecht's report noted

21:05

that suicidal stab wounds, quote, can

21:08

rarely be multiple, end quote, and

21:11

that suicides by stabbing are becoming less

21:13

frequent due to other options such

21:15

as drugs or guns.

21:17

Dr. Wecht added, if stabbing is

21:19

involved in a suicide, it's

21:21

unlikely to be to the back of the neck,

21:24

stating that's more in line with a murder.

21:27

Dr. Wecht also noted that those who complete

21:30

suicide rarely stab themselves through

21:32

their clothing. He

21:33

said they typically lift their clothes to expose

21:35

the skin. Stabbing through the clothes

21:38

was another sign of homicide.

21:40

He went on to state other reasons why Ellen's

21:42

death was likely not a suicide. He

21:44

said most of the time

21:45

those who complete suicide leave a note,

21:48

but in Ellen's case there was none.

21:50

Beyond that, Ellen's family, friends,

21:52

professional associates, and the psychiatrist

21:55

who had evaluated her all said

21:57

she never told them about having any suicide.

21:59

There was no indication that she

22:02

had the intention to complete suicide or was depressed during the day that

22:06

she was found. She seemed like her

22:08

usual self in the morning when she had that phone

22:10

call with her mom and later at midday when she texted

22:12

a friend. Also, when she left

22:15

work early,

22:15

she stopped and filled up her

22:18

gas tank. Dr. Wech's final conclusion was

22:20

that Ellen's death was, quote,

22:23

strongly suspicious of homicide, end quote.

22:27

Following the report, the Greenbergs hired Larry Krasner a

22:29

civil rights lawyer with experience with, quote,

22:33

taking on the police, end quote.

22:35

After looking over everything, he concluded

22:38

that, quote, substantial

22:40

questions remain unanswered,

22:41

end quote. In May 2012, Krasner requested

22:43

a meeting with police officials and

22:46

district attorney representatives to

22:48

try and get the investigation reopened, but

22:52

he was unsuccessful.

22:54

The Greenbergs hired another attorney, former state attorney general

22:57

Walter Reed, and former state

22:59

attorney general Walter Cohen. Cohen

23:02

filed public records requests to obtain the police notes,

23:04

but this was declined.

23:05

Cohen kept

23:08

asking to see the notes and the Greenbergs were

23:10

eventually allowed to view them, but

23:12

no copies were allowed

23:13

to be made. And there

23:15

are a lot of experts in this case, so try to keep

23:17

up. Next, Tom Brennan joined the Greenbergs in

23:20

their quest for answers. Brennan had worked for the police for 25

23:22

years and was

23:24

chief of

23:25

the Delphin County detectives. Brennan

23:27

saw something. He noted that Ellen

23:30

had a trickle of blood on her left cheek running

23:32

horizontal from the side of her nose

23:34

to her left ear. Now to him,

23:37

this trickle of blood didn't make sense with the position

23:39

Ellen's body was found in, which was

23:41

sitting and slumped.

23:43

Basically, he said that this blood defied

23:45

gravity. Brennan

23:47

further investigated the possibility

23:49

that the swing bar on the front door could

23:51

have been locked from the outside. He

23:54

found videos online showing exactly

23:56

how to do that, which meant that there

23:58

was a possibility

23:59

the person to lock the door. After

24:02

studying all the evidence he had, Brennan

24:05

concluded that the lack of defensive wounds didn't

24:07

roll out a homicide. He said it

24:09

seemed more in line with a blitz attack,

24:12

where the victim is attacked so quickly that

24:14

they don't have time to react and defend themselves.

24:17

He said he'd seen similar cases in his career.

24:20

Now,

24:21

Penn Lab reported that Brennan did set

24:23

up a conference call with Dr. Marlon

24:25

Osborn and his boss. Then

24:28

Philadelphia medical examiner Dr. Samuel

24:30

Gallino.

24:31

During the call, Brennan asked why Dr. Osborn

24:34

had changed his manner of death rolling to suicide.

24:37

Dr. Osborn replied, quote, I

24:39

changed it at the insistence of the police

24:42

because they said there was a lack of defensive wounds,

24:44

end quote.

24:46

When Brennan asked why police were making

24:48

a call in a medical determination, Dr. Osborn

24:51

didn't answer and

24:53

the call ended shortly after.

24:55

Gregory McDonald, the chief deputy

24:57

coroner for Montgomery County, also

24:59

reviewed the evidence. He came up with many

25:02

of the same conclusions as the experts before

25:04

him. He

25:05

additionally concluded that four of Ellen's

25:07

wounds were deep enough to require force.

25:10

McDonald determined that these four deep

25:12

wounds coupled with the gash on the back

25:14

of Ellen's head indicated homicide.

25:17

And

25:17

here comes another expert, Robert

25:20

D. Kepel, retired chief criminal

25:22

investigator for the Washington State Attorney

25:24

General's Office, looked over the evidence

25:27

and commented on the knife found in Ellen's

25:29

body.

25:30

He said that wasn't usual in a suicide.

25:32

In the end, he concluded, quote,

25:35

in this particular case, there's so many different

25:37

wounds, it almost looks like somebody

25:40

else is doing their thing with her,

25:42

end quote. And here comes

25:44

another expert. In 2015,

25:46

homicide investigator turned private investigator

25:49

Guy DeAndrea took on the case.

25:52

He came to many of the same conclusions as the

25:54

other experts before him, but he

25:56

also realized that a major piece

25:58

of evidence was missing from the case.

25:59

from the case files, the Neuropathology

26:02

Report on Ellen's spinal cord.

26:04

If you recall, Dr. Osborne's autopsy

26:07

report stated that Dr. Rourke Adams

26:09

had examined Ellen's spinal cord and

26:11

determined that Ellen wasn't incapacitated

26:14

after the wound to her spinal cord, which

26:16

meant she would have still been able to stab

26:18

herself.

26:19

DeAndrea searched everywhere for Dr.

26:22

Rourke Adams' report, but couldn't find

26:24

it. So he requested a copy

26:26

from the police and the medical examiner's office.

26:29

DeAndrea was told that they couldn't find it

26:31

or it didn't exist.

26:33

And there was no invoice for the service.

26:37

Dr. Rourke Adams later told the inquirer

26:39

that she had no recollection of working on

26:41

Ellen's case.

26:43

She said that the lack of any invoice

26:45

or report on her findings confirmed

26:47

that she had no involvement.

26:50

Now, this is important because the Greenberg's

26:52

attorney believes that Dr. Rourke Adams' involvement

26:55

or lack thereof is crucial

26:57

to their case as the neuropathologist

26:59

conclusion was a necessary element

27:02

in Dr. Osborne's ultimate suicide

27:04

finding. When DeAndrea was

27:06

done investigating Ellen's case, he

27:08

concluded that, quote, "'For

27:10

every piece of evidence someone could point to and say

27:13

this was a suicide, I think

27:15

someone could reasonably, on the other end,

27:17

point to evidence, even that same evidence,

27:20

that would suggest it was a homicide.'" End

27:23

quote. Basically,

27:25

right now, there's just a big battle

27:27

of the experts and the Greenberg's

27:29

continued hiring experts who

27:32

kept coming to the same conclusion as most

27:34

of the experts before them. Ellen

27:36

had more than likely been murdered.

27:39

In January, 2017, Dr. Wayne Ross, who

27:42

specializes in forensic and neuropathology,

27:45

looked over the evidence. He concluded

27:47

that the wound to Ellen's cranial cavity severed

27:50

the cranial nerves and brain.

27:52

As a result, she would have experienced severe

27:54

pain. Cranial nerve dysfunction,

27:57

and traumatic brain signs and symptoms.

28:00

including numbness, tingling, irregular

28:02

heartbeat, respiratory depression,

28:04

neurogenic shock, and

28:07

impaired slash loss of consciousness.

28:09

And Dr. Ross found something else,

28:12

something huge. He found

28:15

evidence of strangulation.

28:17

There was a mark on the front of Ellen's neck, which

28:19

was consistent with a fingernail mark.

28:22

This was in addition to the multiple bruises

28:24

under her neck and in the strap muscles

28:27

over the right side of her neck.

28:29

Ellen's autopsy photos also showed

28:31

evidence of a hemorrhage on the inside of her

28:33

throat.

28:34

Dr. Ross said that these patterns were compatible

28:37

with manual strangulation.

28:39

Dr. Ross also discussed the multiple bruises

28:42

found on Ellen,

28:43

some of which were fresh, many of which

28:45

were older. He said the bruises

28:47

were consistent with a repeated beating.

28:51

According to the Greenberg's attorney, Dr.

28:53

Ross further concluded that there was a strong

28:56

chance that two knives, one serrated,

28:58

one smooth-bladed, were used in

29:01

Ellen's death,

29:02

although the only knife recovered at the scene was

29:04

of the serrated variety and found embedded

29:06

four inches in Ellen's chest.

29:09

Insert yet another expert. In

29:12

April 2017, Detective Scott Eelman, who

29:15

specializes in crime scene reconstruction

29:18

and evidence processing and management,

29:20

looked over Ellen's case.

29:22

He did not come to a conclusion on if Ellen

29:24

was murdered or if she completed suicide.

29:27

However, like the experts before him,

29:29

Eelman thought the blood on Ellen's face defied

29:32

gravity,

29:33

leading him to believe Ellen was not in the position

29:35

she was found for part of the stabbings.

29:38

Eelman further stated that the blood stain found

29:40

on the floor between Ellen's right hand and

29:42

the eyeglasses was of particular interest.

29:46

He said the blood stain had a hard edge,

29:48

indicating that there was either an intervening object

29:51

preventing the flow of blood or

29:53

that the blood stain was somehow altered.

29:56

Eelman said, quote, ''Although

29:57

it is difficult to discern

29:59

photographs presented, there is an area

30:02

of pinkish discoloration noted

30:04

to the lower edge of the blood stain,

30:06

which may indicate some form of attempt

30:08

to clean up,

30:10

or other altercation of the blood stain.

30:12

There is also a significant pattern

30:14

noted within the blood stain itself, which

30:17

may be consistent with the footwear pattern or

30:19

something else."

30:22

Eilman also noted that the swing bar on

30:24

the front door didn't look like it had been kicked

30:26

in. He said there was damage to the door

30:28

side of the security latch which was still attached

30:31

to the door, and the screws were

30:33

still present in the screw hole. The

30:35

door-damned side of the security latch did

30:37

not appear to show any damage.

30:40

Furthermore, the floor underneath the door

30:42

area did not show any evidence of debris

30:44

from the damaged security latch.

30:47

In addition to all the evidence the Greenbergs

30:49

put together, their attorney has also

30:52

stated that the knife block being tipped over,

30:54

and the two knives found in the sink, could

30:57

be evidence of a struggle in the kitchen.

30:59

The attorney said that the condition

31:01

of the knife block and knives is

31:04

consistent with someone grabbing a knife quickly

31:06

and forcefully, as if in

31:08

the midst of an altercation with another individual,

31:12

rather than that of a person who alone

31:14

in the kitchen pulled out a knife for use

31:16

at least initially for the preparation of a

31:18

fruit salad. In 2017,

31:20

one of the Greenbergs'

31:23

attorneys, Krasner, was elected

31:25

as Philadelphia's district attorney. After

31:28

he took office in 2018, the Greenbergs

31:30

asked him to reopen Eilman's case.

31:32

However, he referred their request to the state

31:35

attorney general's office due to the conflict

31:37

of interest.

31:38

So they sent all of the evidence from all

31:41

their attorneys and all their experts

31:43

over to the attorney general's office. The

31:45

attorney general's office did open their own

31:47

investigation. But two years

31:50

later, in 2019, the attorney

31:52

general's office said that they concluded Ellen's

31:54

death to be a suicide.

31:56

Her case was closed.

32:00

But Ellen's parents weren't ready to give up

32:02

yet. In part two, I'm going

32:05

to tell you about their continued investigation,

32:07

all the other evidence they uncovered

32:09

along the way, and where Ellen's

32:11

case stands today. But

32:14

as always, thank you, I love

32:16

you,

32:16

and I'll talk to you next time.

32:22

Voices for Justice is hosted and produced by me,

32:24

Sarah Turney, and is a Voices for Justice

32:26

Media original. This episode

32:28

contains writing and research by Haley Gray,

32:31

with research assistants by Anna Luria.

32:34

If you love what we do here, please don't forget to follow,

32:36

rate, and review the show in your podcast player. It's

32:39

an easy and free way to help us and help

32:41

more people find these cases in need of

32:43

justice.