The mysterious 2011 death of Philadelphia schoolteacher Ellen Greenberg, long ruled a suicide despite 20 stab wounds, is now drawing renewed scrutiny from federal authorities.
According to The Post Millennial, sources told NBC10 that the US Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has requested and obtained documents related to Greenbergs death, signaling fresh federal interest in a case local officials have insisted is closed.
That development comes after years of pressure from Greenbergs parents, who have argued that their daughter was murdered and that the official narrative never passed the basic test of common sense.
Greenberg, 27 at the time, suffered 20 stab wounds to both the front and back of her body, including ten to the back of her neck and the base of her head. The medical examiner initially classified the death as a homicide, but that ruling was later changed to suicide and has remained unchanged in official records ever since.
Her fianc, Sam Goldberg, discovered her body in the apartment they shared, with a 10-inch knife protruding from her chest. Her parents have long accused local authorities of orchestrating a cover-up to conceal what they describe as a botched homicide investigation.
In January 2025, the original medical examiner signed a sworn statement asserting that Greenbergs death should be classified as something other than suicide. Goldberg has continued to insist that Greenbergs mental health struggles led her to stab herself repeatedly to death, a claim that many observers find implausible given the extent and location of her wounds.
A treating physician, however, documented a very different picture, stating that Greenberg was not suicidal and noting bruises that suggest domestic abuse sufficient to account for her anxiety. Adding to the doubts, one of the stab wounds was reportedly inflicted after she was already dead, raising serious forensic red flags that critics say should have precluded any suicide ruling.
Josh Shapiro, then serving as Pennsylvanias Attorney General, backed the suicide determination, and the case languished for years with little official movement. It drew renewed attention only after Shapiro emerged as a potential vice-presidential pick for Kamala Harris in the 2024 race, prompting fresh questions about whether political considerations helped keep the matter buried.
Greenbergs parents sued the City of Philadelphia but agreed to drop the case after the city paid $650,000 and promised a new independent review by a different medical examiner. That October review once again labeled the death a suicide, a conclusion that has only deepened skepticism among those who see the case as emblematic of a justice system more interested in protecting institutions and political careers than in pursuing the truth.
Login