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In 2020, in a small California mountain town, five women disappeared. I found out what happened to all of them, except one. A woman known as Dia, whose estate is worth millions of dollars. I'm Lucy Sheriff. Over the past four years, I've spoken with Dia's family and friends, and I've discovered that everyone has a different version of events.
Hear the story on Where's Dear. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. A note before we begin. Today's episode heavily discusses the topic of suicide. If you find that the discussion becomes overwhelming or triggers negative emotions, please prioritize your mental health above all else. Consider skipping this episode or reaching out to a support helpline in your area. You are not alone.
Voices for Justice is a podcast that uses adult language and discusses sensitive and potentially triggering topics, including violence, abuse, and murder. This podcast may not be appropriate for younger audiences. All parties are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Some names have been changed or omitted per their request or for safety purposes. Listener discretion is advised. My name is Sarah Turney, and this is Voices for Justice.
Today, I'm continuing my coverage of the suspicious death of 27-year-old Ellen Greenberg. This is part two of a two-part series. So if you haven't listened to part one, go back and listen to that first or this isn't going to make any sense. There are a lot of details in this case to keep in mind as we discuss this story.
In part 1, I detail the death of Ellen, who was found in her Philadelphia apartment with 20 stab wounds to her chest, abdomen, head, and neck on January 26, 2011. Ellen's fiancé, Sam Goldberg, told police that he went to the gym around 4:45 pm. When he returned 30-45 minutes later, he found their apartment door locked from the inside, the swing bar was engaged, and he couldn't get in.
Sam told police that he'd try to get a hold of Ellen for the next hour, but she wouldn't answer the door or pick up her phone. Sam said that just before 6.30pm, he went to the first floor of the apartment complex and asked the security guard to accompany him.
Sam told police the guard went back upstairs with him, and was there when he broke the door down, went inside, and found Ellen dead in the kitchen. Very quickly, investigators determined that Ellen had completed suicide. But when medical examiner Dr. Marlon Osborne performed an autopsy, he concluded that Ellen had been murdered. Despite these findings, police told the media that they didn't consider Ellen's death a homicide. Instead, they were calling her death suspicious.
In mid-February, the Philadelphia Police Department officially declared Ellen's death a suicide. At that point, Dr. Osborne maintained that Ellen had been the victim of a homicide. But then, just a few weeks later, on March 3rd, he switched her manner of death from homicide to suicide. Ellen's manner of death has not been changed since then.
Ellen's parents, Josh and Sandy, refused to believe that Ellen had completed suicide, so they set out to investigate the case themselves. They hired multiple attorneys and notable experts, who basically all came to a similar conclusion. It was unlikely that Ellen stabbed herself.
In 2017, one of the Greenbergs' attorneys was elected Philadelphia's district attorney. After he took office in 2018, the Greenbergs asked him to reopen Ellen's case, but he referred the request to the state attorney general's office due to the conflict of interest. They agreed to take the case, and all of the evidence the Greenbergs' attorneys and all these experts had uncovered was sent to the attorney general's office.
That's where we left off in part one. Here's what happened next. There were no updates on the Attorney General's investigation until March 2019, when journalist Stephanie Farr wrote an article for the Philadelphia Inquirer. While researching the article, Farr contacted the Attorney General to ask where the case was at. He responded, saying that the office had conducted their own thorough investigation to determine a manner of death.
He said they interviewed Dr. Osborne, who performed Ellen's autopsy, and his boss, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Galino.
The office also met with the Greenbergs' representatives and reviewed all the information they had uncovered. They also went through Ellen's cell phone and laptop records. Now, if you recall from Part 1, Ellen's personal laptop was sent to the FBI for analysis. But according to Dr. Osborne's autopsy report, that analysis provided no additional information.
But when the AG's office looked through Ellen's laptop and phone, they said they found evidence that supported suicide as Ellen's manner of death. The AG told journalist Stephanie Farr, "...among the additional evidence we reviewed were web searches for methods of committing suicide, quick death, and depression done on Ellen's personal computer in the weeks before her death."
The AG said they also found text messages between Ellen and a family member on the day of her death, which showed Ellen in quote, serious mental distress, end quote. The AG told Farr that based on the laptop and cell phone evidence, his office quote, concluded that this evidence supports suicide as the manner of death, end quote, and they closed the investigation.
Now, in addition to his statement about the case being closed, the AG provided a few reports outlining what they found on Ellen's laptop and cell phone. Let's start with what was found on the laptop. On Saturday, December 18th, 2010, at 2.36pm, there was a Google search for suffocation. The user then viewed a website about suicide methods.
A few weeks later, on Monday, January 3rd, 2011, at 12.09am, the user viewed two CNN videos, one about a sex fantasy death and one about a model death. On Thursday, January 6th, at 1.57 and 1.58am, there were Google searches for Zoloft and Zoloft vs. Prozac.
That evening, the user looked at a CNN article about the murder of John Wheeler III, a former White House aide. On Sunday, January 9th, starting at 3.13 a.m. and ending at 3.31 a.m., the user made Google searches about Zoloft and its side effects. The user then accessed multiple articles on the topic. That evening, at 11.35 p.m., the laptop was used to look at articles about a girl who was electrocuted while using Twitter in a bath.
Between 1240 and 1243 AM, on what was now January 10th, the user googled quick death and quick suicide. The user then read a few articles about euthanasia and painless suicide. These are the last searches included on the report.
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Now, just as a refresher, in part one, I told you that Ellen started seeing a psychiatrist on January 12th. This would be two days after that final Google search related to suicide. But during her sessions, Ellen told her psychiatrist that she was not suicidal. I will also say that after reviewing the laptop records, the Greenbergs made a pretty good point that stabbing would not fall under painless suicide.
Now, let's talk about the text messages from Ellen's phone. On January 25th, the day before Ellen was found dead, Sandy texted Ellen, quote, you need to see a professional, end quote. Ellen replied, quote, okay, I'm trying, just scared a bit for everything, end quote. Now, in the files, there weren't any texts included from January 26th, but we do know that that morning, Ellen spoke to her mom on the phone, and she said everything seemed fine with Ellen.
She also talked to a friend around noon, and again, that friend says that nothing seemed out of the ordinary. After reviewing these files, the laptop, the phone records, journalist Stephanie Farr asked the AG why the computer and text evidence weren't included in the original investigative report in 2011, and why that evidence was not in the DA's report made available to the Greenberg's private investigator.
The AG responded that his office didn't find the analysis in the DA's file, so they, quote, cannot say if anyone, police or prosecutor, ever looked at it, end quote. He said the AG's office obtained the analysis directly from the Regional Computer Forensics Lab in 2018. Now, Stephanie Farr kept asking questions. She asked the AG about the neuropathologist, Dr. Rourke Adams.
If you recall from Part 1, Dr. Osborne's autopsy report stated that Dr. Rourke Adams had examined Ellen's spinal cord and made a huge determination that Ellen was not incapacitated after the wound to her spinal cord, which meant she still would have been able to stab herself after suffering that injury. When the PI looked into Ellen's case in 2015, he wasn't able to find that report.
He even asked the police and the medical examiner's office for a copy, but they said they couldn't find it, and there was never an invoice for the service. While writing the Inquirer article, Farr reached out to Dr. Rourke Adams to ask about Ellen's spinal cord. She told Farr she had no recollection of working on Ellen's case. She further said that the lack of any invoice or report of her findings confirms that she had no involvement in the case.
Sofar goes back to the AG with this and asks for comment. The AG denied Dr. Rourke-Adams' claims and said there was, quote, ample evidence, end quote, that she did review the spinal cord. See, the thing is, while they couldn't find an actual report of Dr. Rourke-Adams' review of the spinal cord, there was a line in the autopsy report referencing this examination and statements from two detectives stating that the exam did happen.
After the release of Stephanie Farr's Inquirer article, the Greenbergs and their attorneys continued to work on Ellen's case. They still believed, without a doubt, that Ellen had not completed suicide. Now, because the AG's office had already closed their investigation, the attorneys felt like the next best thing to do was reach out to the medical examiner's office and ask them to change Ellen's manner of death.
In June 2019, one of the Greenbergs' attorneys submitted their findings to the medical examiner's office, and they asked Dr. Golino, the chief medical examiner, to reconsider Ellen's case. They also asked Dr. Osborne to change Ellen's manner of death. In the end, Dr. Golino and Dr. Osborne refused. But the Greenbergs kept fighting.
In September 2019, clinical neuropsychologist Dr. Louis Lazarus reviewed Ellen's case using a 3D computer program. This program created images of all of Ellen's stab wounds. He also used this program to recreate the injuries under the assumption that Ellen stabbed herself, like the police and medical examiner's office claimed she had.
And this is what the program says. It was impossible for Ellen to deliver 11 of the 20 stab wounds to herself. And none of Ellen's injuries were hesitation wounds. The program also picked up on the bruising on Ellen's body, namely bruises to her wrists and ankles. There was also evidence of defensive wounds.
Now, while this program couldn't determine the order the wounds were inflicted in, it did show that one of the stab wounds would have made contact with her brain, and the other with her spinal cord. Dr. Lazarus determined that the deeper wounds to Ellen's head and neck would have led to, quote, impaired coordination, semi-consciousness, and unconsciousness, end quote.
And all the injuries combined would have caused, quote, unconsciousness, cranial nerve defects, severe facial pain, impaired coordination, impaired or a loss of vision, seizure, weakness, blood loss, loss of heart rate and blood pressure, hypoxic brain damage, respiratory failure, cardiac dysrhythmia, and loss of cerebrospinal fluid, end quote.
In his report, Dr. Lazarus added that it's very rare for someone to complete suicide with a sharp instrument like a knife. We've heard this from other experts before. He said that this method accounts for approximately 2-3% of suicides, a majority of which are male victims. So it's possible, but extremely unlikely.
He further noted, "...although the number of sharp wounds has not been predictive of suicide versus homicide, the nature of the wounds, the location of the wounds, and behavior surrounding the wounds have been very predictive." He also said that the location of the wounds helps determine if a victim died from suicide or homicide.
A review of studies of suicide by stabbing revealed a consistent finding of wounds to the chest, neck, wrists, and abdominal area. And the trajectory of self-inflicted wounds are usually uniform. But in Ellen's case, she had wounds to the back of her neck, the top of her head, as well as her chest. And there was a variety of trajectories of her injuries. They were coming from multiple different angles.
And again, like we saw with the other experts, Dr. Lazarus reported that most suicides involving a sharp instrument include that person lifting their clothing before stabbing themselves. And we know Ellen's stab wounds happened through her clothing.
And here's one of the big ones. He says that those who complete suicide are typically found in the same position they were located in when inflicting their wounds, as opposed to moving afterward. And again, that was not the case with Ellen based on the blood evidence which defied gravity.
Dr. Lazarus believes that Ellen had been moved after she sustained some, if not all, of her injuries. He went on to explain that in most suicides, there's a note left behind, or there's a pattern of behavior that led up to the suicide. While I know this isn't true in all cases, Dr. Lazarus says that many people say goodbye to loved ones. They give away their possessions, and they basically do things that we would describe as getting their affairs in order.
Ellen didn't do any of these things. Ellen spoke to her mom and a friend on the day of her death. Neither person recalled anything out of the ordinary. And after Ellen left work, she filled up her gas tank. The very last thing she appeared to be doing was making a fruit salad. None of these behaviors suggest suicide, according to Dr. Lazarus.
In his report, he brought up the fact that Ellen told her psychiatrist she was not suicidal and was only struggling with anxiety, not depression. He also noted that while the police said that Ellen had searched things about suicide online, there was no proof that she was the one that made those searches. Dr. Lazarus wrote in his report, quote,
Ultimately, Dr. Lazarus concluded that Ellen did not die from suicide.
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In 2019, months after receiving this report, Ellen's parents sued Dr. Osborne and the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office. The goal of the lawsuit was for Ellen's manner of death to be changed from suicide to homicide. This way, the Greenbergs could, quote, have a full investigation and go where the truth is, end quote.
After filing the lawsuit, Ellen's father Josh told Local 21 News, quote, We have no family future without our daughter. Every family's future is with their children. There is none in our life. End quote.
Now, Dr. Osborne and the medical examiner's office tried to have the lawsuit thrown out, but the judge ultimately ruled that the Greenberg civil suit could be brought to trial, specifically noting that Dr. Osborne's, quote, choice to rely on information from police without independently confirming it raises a legitimate question to be resolved at trial as to whether Osborne abused his discretion, end quote.
Now, as a part of this process, the Greenbergs' attorneys were able to conduct a more in-depth investigation into Ellen's death. They uncovered even more information that had never come to light. We know this is exactly why so many families pursue civil suits, just to get more information.
Now, according to court documents, since 2011, the Greenbergs, their investigators, and their attorneys had been told repeatedly that the Philadelphia Police Department, the PPD, didn't have any video footage from the apartment complex for the day Ellen was found dead. And guess what? It all of a sudden popped up. Late in January 2021, the Greenbergs learned that the PPD did have surveillance footage. They
They obtained it in early 2011, nearly 10 years prior. But again, they get the runaround. Once the attorneys learned about this video, of course they reached out and asked for a copy. But again, the PPD said they didn't have any footage. It was only after the attorneys threatened to involve the court that the PPD apparently discovered the surveillance video and handed it over.
So let's talk about the video. Attorneys reviewed it and noticed that at 6:32 PM, Ellen's fiance Sam entered the first floor elevator by himself.
There was no security guard with him like he told the police. One minute later, at 6.33, Sam called 911 to report that he'd broken down the door and found Ellen in the kitchen. This footage proved that Sam lied to the police when he said the security guard went to the apartment with him and was present when he broke down the door.
Now, how do we know that the PPD had this footage? Well, according to court documents, the Greenberg's attorney know for a fact that someone with the PPD or DA's office viewed this footage of Sam. They know this because the viewer created a video timeline that tracks Sam's movements between 4.50 and 6.42 p.m.,
So, just like the report from Dr. Rourke Adams, the Greenberg's team is seeing these references to other reports and evidence that they're eventually able to pull out. It's also worth noting that the timeline specifically notes that Sam entered the elevator alone just before his 911 call. So, what happens next?
Well, in April 2021, three months after the footage was reviewed, Dr. Osborne and his boss, Dr. Galino, gave depositions in the Greenbergs lawsuit. Through these depositions, the Greenbergs learned for the first time that back in March 2011, before Ellen's manner of death was changed from homicide to suicide,
This unprecedented meeting took place between the PPD, Dr. Osborne, Dr. Galino, and a high-ranking representative from the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. Previously, Dr. Osborne and Dr. Galino both testified that this meeting had never taken place.
So again, the truth is just slowly coming out through these proceedings. Now they're admitting that the meeting happened. And according to Dr. Osborne, before the meeting, a police investigator directly asked him to change the cause of death on at least one occasion. But it wasn't until after this meeting that Dr. Osborne changed Ellen's cause of death from homicide to suicide. So obviously something major happened at this meeting.
Dr. Osborne testified that during this meeting, police presented additional evidence that they felt pointed to a suicide. This evidence included a lack of defensive wounds on Ellen's body and the door being locked from the inside. The police further told Dr. Osborne that the security guard had witnessed Sam break down the door.
Dr. Osborne testified that this new information about the security guard being with Sam led him to consider suicide as a plausible explanation. He said it suggested that Ellen must have been alone in the apartment when she was stabbed. Dr. Osborne also said another deciding factor was Dr. Galino's warning that if he didn't change the manner of death, someone could be wrongfully arrested for Ellen's murder.
Now, according to court documents, Dr. Osborne further testified that the other reason why he was willing to change the manner of death was because of the neuropathologist Dr. Work-Adams' findings. These were the statements that Ellen could have continued stabbing herself after suffering the spinal cord injury.
Dr. Osborne explained that he did request that Dr. Roque-Adams evaluate Ellen's injury to her spinal cord. He said Dr. Roque-Adams had always previously generated reports for him whenever she evaluated an autopsy, but in this case, she did not generate a report. Instead, she only performed what he called a curbside examination. This did not involve any histologic or microscopic examination.
Before the deposition was over, Dr. Osborne admitted that he did not independently investigate any information related to the crime scene. He also never reenacted Ellen's wounds, examined their angles, or even measured the length of Ellen's arms or fingers to determine whether it was even physically possible for Ellen to have done this to herself.
He said that had he known the security guard was not present when Sam broke down the door, he would be compelled to amend his finding. He also said it would have been incorrect for him to have ruled Ellen's death a suicide if he could have established that one or more of her wounds could not have been self-inflicted. So basically, if Dr. Osborne had all the facts we have now, he would not have ruled Ellen's death a suicide. Dr. Galeno also gave a deposition in the Greenberg civil lawsuit.
Now, we don't have as many details about his testimony as we did Dr. Osborne's, but we do know that he testified that he, quote, did not find reason to overturn Dr. Osborne's opinion, end quote, that Ellen's death was a suicide.
In May 2021, the month after Dr. Galino and Dr. Osborne testified, Dr. Emery, another medical examiner from the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office, gave a deposition. And everything Dr. Emery said was completely new information to the Greenbergs and their attorneys.
Here's what they find out. Dr. Emery testified that in 2019, Dr. Golino asked her to look over Ellen's spinal cord injury because he doubted Dr. Osborne's claims that he consulted with Dr. Rourke Adams. Dr. Emery did as she was asked and examined the spinal cord. She noted that there was a lack of hemorrhage to the spinal cord. This means the injury was inflicted after Ellen was dead.
Dr. Emery also testified that she had been instructed by Dr. Galino not to make a written report about her examination. So instead of writing a report, she just told Dr. Galino about what she found. So despite the fact that Dr. Emery determined Ellen was dead when she was stabbed in the spinal cord, Dr. Galino did not change Ellen's manner of death. Neither did Dr. Osborne. They basically just ignored this finding.
And there's more. That same month, the Greenberg's attorney was informed that the police had a video of Ellen's apartment. This was filmed by the apartment manager on the day Ellen died. This is a video that had never been disclosed or produced previously. This is Jessica Knoll, host of the new series, Back in Crime.
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Now, before I get further into the importance of this video, I need to back up and explain why the video was taken in the first place, because I think it's important. Now, according to court documents, before Ellen's body was removed from her apartment, several members of Sam's family showed up at the scene.
This included his mother, father, uncle who is a criminal defense attorney, and his uncle's son who is also an attorney. All of these people communicated with the PPD officers and the ME's office investigator on the scene. Then, in the early hours of January 27th, before Ellen's autopsy was completed, Sam's uncle called the apartment building's property manager and requested access to Ellen and Sam's apartment.
Now, the manager said that she was not sure if this is what she should do, so she called the police to ask. They told her it was fine if the uncle and son went into the apartment. And good on this manager. She then asks if police should escort them. And the police said no, they did not need to. The police also said it would be okay if the family hired a crime scene cleanup service. The police then gave the manager the name of a service they recommended.
So, after speaking to the police, the manager calls Sam's uncle back and told him he could have access to the apartment. She also passed along the name of the crime scene cleanup company. The uncle agreed to pay the costs, and the manager arranged for the services to be completed before the uncle and his son arrived at the apartment.
But again, good on this manager. Before the cleaners arrived, this manager went into Ellen's apartment and videotaped each and every room to create a record of its condition. And she gave the tape to police that day. According to court documents, once Ellen's apartment was cleaned and sanitized, the uncle and son were allowed into the apartment. They go in alone.
Once inside, they removed Sam's laptop, Ellen's personal laptop, work laptop, cell phone, purse, wallet, and keys. Now, Sam's family retained these electronics for about two days. Then, on January 29th, Sam's uncle and his son gave the laptops and cell phone they'd taken from the apartment to the police. Now, according to court documents, PPD didn't ask why they had these devices, or if they did anything to them.
It's just not the proper chain of custody for evidence. I don't blame them for wanting to look further into it. Now, after finding out that this video footage existed, the Greenberg's attorneys asked for it. The city's attorney responded and said she asked the police repeatedly for the video, but they told her it did not exist.
And according to court documents, as of the fall of 2022, the police still have not been able to locate the video or give any explanation for why it no longer exists. The next month, June 2021, the Greenberg's attorney obtained Dr. Osborne's disciplinary record from the ME's office. These records showed that Dr. Osborne had a history of incomplete or inaccurate autopsy reports.
In July 2012, a year and a half after Ellen was found dead, Dr. Osborne underwent an autopsy report review as a part of an informal reprimand coaching session. This was in regard to the quality of his reports and documentation. The review found that between 2009 and 2011, there were at least 11 autopsy reports with major issues. Four of the cases involved stab wounds as the manner of death.
Now, in one of these cases, Dr. Osborne determined the cause of death as a stab wound to the chest. The subsequent review acknowledged that the finding was accurate.
However, a discrepancy was identified in the internal examination section of the autopsy report, where Dr. Osborne said that the victim's chest wall showed no injuries. Now, obviously, this contradiction was impossible considering the victim died from a stab wound to the chest. In addition to this error, the review noted that the findings associated with the stab wound were not clearly identified anywhere in the autopsy report.
A month after receiving the informal reprimand and coaching session, Dr. Osborne went on medical leave. During that time, his supervisors discovered that he had multiple reports that were still pending. When the autopsies were reviewed for completion, multiple errors were found.
In one of the most inaccurate reports, Dr. Osborne's superiors reviewed photographs that clearly showed a ligature mark around the victim's neck and petechiae of the eyes, but in Dr. Osborne's report, he says there was no petechiae. He also missed a hemorrhage to one of the neck muscles and a laceration to a kidney. Both of these injuries were visible in photographs.
Now, because of this inaccurate report and many others, he was warned that if he did not meet the requirements of his profession going forward, he risked termination.
Now, the last reprimand included in the court documents came in December 2013. That month, the chief of trauma surgery at a medical center in Philadelphia contacted Dr. Galino to report a, quote, serious issue that occurred at their hospital with regard to a homicide victim, end quote. According to documentation of this reprimand, after the homicide victim died, a physician at the hospital, quote, continued to dissect and examine the body, end
End quote. Something that may have, quote, amounted to evidence tampering. End quote. I know I'm doing a lot of quotes and end quotes, but these are serious things and I want to make sure that I get them right. Now, Dr. Osborne, the medical examiner in charge of the victim's autopsy, had been notified about the physician's abuse, but he didn't make any notes in his files.
Basically, these court documents say that Dr. Osborne should have notified Dr. Galino, and the issue should have been referred to the DA's office. But he didn't do that, so he was reprimanded. Now, I get it. People make mistakes. No one is perfect. These jobs are hard. But these are things we need to look at in relation to Ellen's case. Now, let's talk about the security guard. The one that Sam initially said was present when he broke down the door.
In June 2021, the security guard gave a sworn statement that he was the only guard on duty at the time, and that he did not accompany Sam to the apartment, or observe him break down the door.
Before the month of June 2021 was over, Dr. Wayne Ross, who specializes in forensic and neuropathology, looked over the evidence in Ellen's case again. If you remember from Part 1, Dr. Ross was hired for the first time in January 2017. He concluded that Ellen had possibly been strangled, and the bruises on her body were consistent with a, quote, repeated beating, end quote. He also thought it was possible that two knives were used in the attack.
In his June 2021 re-examination of all the evidence, new and old, Dr. Ross noted not just one or a few, but 60 reasons why Ellen's death was a murder and not a suicide. His reasons included that the security guard was not present when Sam left the lobby of the building to break into the apartment, and that the swing bar on the door was disturbed, but not broken from the inside.
Dr. Ross went on to say that Ellen's glasses, which were on the floor to the right of her body, and the nearly pristine white hand towel in Ellen's left hand indicated staging of the crime scene. Dr. Ross noted that if Ellen had been holding the towel, that meant she had to have been stabbing herself with one hand. He argues that this is impossible, stating that some of the injuries required force applied to the knife.
Like many experts before him, Dr. Ross concluded that Ellen's stab wounds were inconsistent with suicide, as were the bloodstain patterns in the kitchen. He further explained that the wounds in general were just inconsistent with suicide, saying that they would have caused excruciating if not incapacitating pain. He also noted the pills on the counter, which Ellen could have easily taken an overdose on instead.
Dr. Ross determined that the crime scene showed that Ellen was under someone's control. He believed Ellen was strangled, which was evidenced by defensive wounds caused by binding to her wrists. Now, in his report, we kind of learn more about how they determine these things. In his report, Dr. Ross stated that according to the guide medical examiners use to determine manner of death, the determination of suicide requires a 70% or greater degree of medical certainty.
Dr. Ross noted that the, quote, necessary degree of medical certainty to support the selection of suicide as the manner of Ellen's death is patently lacking, end quote.
In August 2021, Dr. Galino resigned as chief medical examiner for Philadelphia. Following his resignation, PPD officers interviewed him about Ellen's case, focusing on whether her death was a suicide or homicide. According to court documents, Dr. Galino told officers that he didn't specifically recall Dr. Emery telling him the wound to Ellen's spinal cord was inflicted after she died.
And here's the kicker. We finally get the answer from Dr. Golino. He then went on to say that Dr. Emery's conclusion meant that Ellen's manner of death had to be changed from suicide. Dr. Golino also said the bruises on Ellen's wrist could be defensive wounds from being restrained. So after all this time, they meet in the middle and admit that it's not a clear-cut completion of suicide.
But we're here today, so that means despite all of this, Ellen's manner of death still wasn't changed. In December 2021, the Greenbergs' attorneys sent new testimony and records uncovered during the lawsuit to the AG's office. They were hopeful that with everything they'd uncovered, the AG would reopen Ellen's case. But again, that's not what happened.
That same month, the Attorney General's office told People, "...Ellen's death is nothing short of a tragedy, and our heart goes out to her family and friends. Her death is unimaginable and admittedly hard to accept, but all of the evidence thoroughly reviewed by our office and the findings of the medical examiner show this was a suicide. Our office has stated that if and when new evidence was brought forward, we would thoroughly review it."
The office added, "...only the medical examiner has the ability to change the cause of death in this case from suicide to undetermined or homicide." In July 2022, the AG's office announced that they would no longer review Ellen's case, due to an appearance of a conflict of interest.
They stated, quote, we wish Ellen's family nothing but the best, and our office regrets that despite our extensive work, our additional efforts have not brought more closure to the questions around her death, end quote. The office then referred Ellen's case to Chester County, which neighbors Philadelphia.
In September 2022, Chester County announced that an investigator and prosecutor would review her case. Ellen's parents' attorney told People that they were hopeful for justice for Ellen. As of this recording, Chester County is still investigating Ellen's death. A month after Chester County said they were investigating Ellen's case, the Greenbergs filed another lawsuit, this time against the city of Philadelphia, claiming they conspired to cover up Ellen's murder.
They say the city covered up Ellen's murder by suppressing physical evidence, by ensuring that her manner of death was changed from homicide to suicide, by stopping the possibility of a full police investigation into Ellen's death, by providing false information about the circumstances of Ellen's death to support a finding of suicide, by only considering specific crime scene evidence to support a finding of suicide.
by refusing to follow basic homicide investigation protocols, and more. According to court documents, the Greenbergs claim that members of the PPD and the DA's office knew that the security guard had not witnessed Sam break down the door, but they told Dr. Osborne that anyway in order to conceal Ellen's murder.
The lawsuit further alleges that Dr. Osborne fabricated the examination by Dr. Rourke Adams. This was done to discredit his earlier conclusion that Ellen could not have administered the wound to her spinal cord, or continued to stab herself after suffering that wound. The city appealed the lawsuit, which, as of this recording, is still pending in court. The lawsuit against the M.E.'s office is also still pending. They have continued to appeal the lawsuits brought against them.
Appeal arguments for that lawsuit were held in front of a panel of judges in November 2022. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that at one point during the appeal hearings, the attorney for the ME's office said that if the case were to proceed to trial, it would open the floodgates for other lawsuits. One judge replied, "...the Greenbergs could be desperate for any way to resolve this. You should have a little more empathy here." End quote.
Which brings me right to our call to action. The Greenbergs continue to fight for justice and answers in Ellen's case. Mainly, they're just fighting for a thorough investigation of the evidence in the case. And I don't think that's crazy to ask for.
Right now, they believe their strongest chance of making any movement is for the mayor of Philadelphia to order the ME's office to reopen Ellen's case. Now, in hopes of getting the mayor to do this, they put together a change.org petition, which I will link in the show notes. And they do have a GoFundMe. If you feel compelled, if you feel that Ellen's case needs a further investigation, which I would argue is a fair ask, please consider supporting her family's fight.
As a reminder, 27-year-old Ellen Greenberg was found dead in her Philadelphia apartment just after 6.30pm on January 26, 2011. If you have any information, please contact the Philadelphia Police Department at 215-686-8477. But as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time.
Voices for Justice is hosted and produced by me, Sarah Turney, and is a Voices for Justice media original. This episode contains writing and research by Haley Gray, with research assistance by Anna Luria. If you love what we do here, please don't forget to follow, rate, and review the show in your podcast player. It's an easy and free way to help us and help more people find these cases in need of justice.