Ellen Greenberg's Controversial Death Again Ruled a Suicide by Medical Examiner (Exclusive) By KC Baker

The Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office has reviewed Ellen Greenberg’s 2011 death and concluded again that she died by suicide.

The long-awaited determination comes just before a hearing scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 14, before Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge Linda Carpenter, who previously expressed her frustration at the length of time the reexamination was taking.

On Jan. 26, 2011, Greenberg, 27, was found dead inside her Philadelphia apartment by her fiancé Sam Goldberg during a blizzard.

Autopsy results showed that she had been stabbed 20 times, including in the neck, back, head and heart, and had 11 bruises all over her body in various stages of healing. The knife was found protruding from her chest.

Then-assistant medical examiner Dr. Marlon Osbourne ruled her death a homicide. 

Weeks later, he changed Greenberg’s manner of death to suicide after a meeting with the Philadelphia Police Department, preventing any criminal investigation to identify her possible killer.

Goldberg, her fiancé, was never a suspect and has never been charged with any crime. He did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

For the past 14 years, Greenberg’s parents, Sandee and Josh Greenberg, sought to find answers about their daughter’s death. They hired renowned experts, including forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht, who concluded that Ellen’s wounds were not self-inflicted, and forensic neuropathologist Dr. Wayne Ross, who found evidence of strangulation and believes Ellen’s death was staged.

The couple gathered more than 167,000 signatures asking the City to reopen the case. They also filed two lawsuits — one in 2019 against the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office and Osbourne, and another in 2022 against the City of Philadelphia, former Chief Medical Examiner Sam Gulino and others — alleging the investigation was so “deeply botched” it amounted to a “cover-up,” according to their attorney, Joe Podraza.

On Feb. 3, the Greenbergs settled lawsuits they had filed against the City of Philadelphia, former Chief Medical Examiner Sam Gulino and others which included a monetary payment and city officials agreeing to reevaluate Greenberg’s manner of death. 

In the meantime, Dr. Osbourne signed a statement attesting he no longer believes that Ellen died by suicide.

The Greenbergs’ pursuit of answers about their daughter’s death was recently portrayed in the three-part docuseries “Death in Apartment 603: What Happened to Ellen Greenberg?” from ABC News Studios.

The docuseries features interviews with Greenbergs’ closest friends as well as experts who detail why they believe she was murdered. One expert suggested that some of her wounds were inflicted after she died.

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In the end, Philadelphia Chief Medical Examiner Lindsay Simon disagreed.

On Oct. 10, 2025, in a 32-page review obtained by PEOPLE, Simon writes that the ME’s office was “asked to conduct an independent and unbiased review of all available materials relating to the death of Ellen Greenberg.”

Simon said she reviewed extensive records incuding reports from Wecht, Ross and Thomas Brennan, the private investigator hired by the Greenbergs and the documentary.

In her final analysis, Simon writes that “while the distribution of injuries is admittedly unusual, the fact remains that Ellen would be capable of inflicting these injuries herself,” noting she was a “young woman suffering from anxiety.”

Simon writes that “the fiancé’s DNA was not detected on the knife used to inflict the injuries” and that there was no evidence of an abusive relationship between them.

No findings of a struggle were found at the scene, she said. 

“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.”

Podraza and a spokesperson for the City of Philadelphia and the medical examiner did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.