Who Killed Beloved Teacher Ellen Greenberg? Inside Her Parents' Quest for Answers

During winter break in December 2010, first grade teacher Ellen Greenberg traded the harsh Philadelphia winter for sunny St. Kitts, relaxing on the lush Caribbean island with her parents and fiancé.

Engaged earlier that year and planning an August 2011 wedding, the newlyweds-to-be “seemed in sync, as far as I could tell,” says Ellen’s mother, Sandee Greenberg, 69, a retired dental hygienist, from Harrisburg, Pa. “It was a lovely time.” 

A month later, Ellen, 27, would be found stabbed to death in the apartment she shared with fiancé Sam Goldberg, then 28.

Goldberg told police he returned from the on-site gym at the couple’s apartment building in northern Philadelphia, and found Ellen on the floor with a 10-inch knife protruding from her chest. 

Given that Ellen had been stabbed 20 times, including in her neck and spine, and had a six-inch gash on the top of her head, then-assistant medical examiner Dr. Marlon Osbourne ruled her death a homicide. 

To the Greenbergs’ shock, on April 4, 2011, the medical examiner changed Ellen’s manner of death to suicide after meeting with the Philadelphia Police Department. “She would never, ever do that,” says Sande

This meant there would be no criminal investigation to identify Ellen’s possible killer. (Goldberg was never a suspect and has never been charged with any crime.) “It was crushing,” says Sandee.

Wanting justice for their daughter, Sandee and Josh, 75, a retired periodontist, have spent the last 14 years trying to find out exactly what happened to Ellen.

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 officials 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 involved — alleging the investigation was so “deeply botched” it amounted to a “cover-up,” according to their attorney, Joe Podraza.

On Feb. 3, after years of legal wrangling, they settled the suits, which included a modest monetary payment and city officials agreeing to reevaluate Ellen’s manner of death. The city has not yet made its determination. 

For more about Ellen Greenberg’s mysterious death, subscribe now to PEOPLE or pick up this week’s issue, on newsstands Friday.

On Jan. 31, the Greenbergs scored a victory when Osbourne, as part of the settlement, signed a sworn statement saying he now believes Ellen’s manner of death should be designated as “something other than suicide.”

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Looking back at the 14-year nightmare that has taken over their lives, Sandee says, “It’s hard to believe,” adding, “It’s even harder to believe that the situation is still not resolved.”

Murder or Suicide?

On the day Ellen died, a raging blizzard sent her home early from the Philadelphia school where she taught. On her way home, Ellen stopped for gas, filling up her tank. Inside her apartment, she started to make a fruit salad. Photos the Greenbergs later saw showed makeup bags laid out on Ellen’s bathroom counter — something she never normally did, Josh says. “It was as if she was getting ready to leave.”

After that, no one knows exactly what transpired. Surveillance footage shows Sam going to the gym at 4:45 p.m., according to an investigation report from the medical examiner’s office. When he returned at 5:30 p.m. or so, he said the door — which had a hotel-style swing bar latch — was locked from the inside. 

For about 45 minutes, he texted, called, and shouted to Ellen through the apartment door, but got no answer, phoning family members to tell them what was happening.

At 6:33 p.m. he said he shouldered his way into the apartment and called 911.

“Help! I need an ambulance immediately,” he told the dispatcher. “I just came home, and my fiancée is on the floor, covered in blood.”

He didn’t notice the knife in Ellen’s chest until the dispatcher directed him to perform CPR on Ellen. “She stabbed herself!” he said. “She fell on a knife.” 

During the autopsy the next morning, Osbourne discovered all 20 stab wounds, including 10 on the back of Ellen’s neck, which the investigator had missed the night before. He also found bruises in different stages of healing all over her body. 

But before police came to the apartment with a search warrant, the scene was already cleaned up, according to appellate court documents. 

The investigation came to a halt after police held the closed-door meeting with the medical examiners and others — a meeting that, according to the family’s allegations in their 2022 complaint, was described by Gulino and Osbourne as “unprecedented.”

“The whole thing smells,” says Josh.

Former Philadelphia assistant district attorney Guy D’Andrea, who reviewed the case from 2015 to 2017, agrees. “There is no way anyone, no one can say, this is conclusively a suicide,” he says. “At this point, at a minimum, because of how botched this was, this should be undetermined.”

Among D’Andrea’s findings: Ellen would have been incapable of stabbing herself once her spinal column was pierced; the hotel-style bar on the door could be locked by an assailant exiting the apartment; two of Ellen’s knife wounds may have been inflicted after she died.

Goldberg did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. But in a statement to CNN in 2024, he said, “When she died a part of me died with her.” He also said, “Mental illness is very real and has many victims.”

Known for being fun-loving and having lots of friends, Ellen seemed different in the weeks before her death, her loved ones say. “She was nervous, edgy,” says Josh. Concerned, he adds, “I made an agreement with her to see a psychiatrist, who diagnosed her with anxiety.”

Ellen’s psychiatrist prescribed medicine for her anxiety in the weeks before she died, noting in court papers that Ellen did not appear to be suicidal.

Still waiting for the city to act, the Greenbergs feel like their lives are on hold. “We don’t have the power,” says Josh. “They have the power.”