Parents Seek Justice for Teacher Found Dead with 20 Stab Wounds: Dispute Suicide Ruling’s Reversal

After 14 years, the City of Philadelphia will reexamine the case of Ellen Greenberg, a teacher whose 2011 death was ruled a suicide after she was found with nearly two dozen stab wounds and covered in bruises. And her father believes investigators should be looking at strangulation as a possibility for his daughter’s cause of death. 

Greenberg, 27, was found in her kitchen with 20 stab wounds and a knife in her chest with a half-made fruit salad on the countertop during a blizzard Jan. 26, 2011. The forensic pathologist with the city medical examiner’s office at the time, Dr. Marlon Osbourne, initially ruled Greenberg’s death a homicide in 2011. Then, he reversed course after meeting with police behind closed doors and officially ruled it a suicide, according to court records. 

Just one week ago, Osbourne backtracked on his suicide ruling.

“It is my professional opinion Ellen’s manner of death should be designated as something other than suicide,” he wrote. “Since issuing the amended death certificate, I have become aware of additional information I did not have at the time of issuing the amended death certificate which may have impacted my opinion.” 

Ellen Greenberg, left, in an undated family photo. (Greenberg family)

Before this week’s settlement with the city, the Greenbergs had been entangled in legal battles with the government ever since their daughter’s death, fighting the determination that it was a suicide and alleging a “conspiracy” to “cover up Ellen’s murder in order to hide the authorities’ grossly botched investigation,” according to court records.

Now, given Osbourne’s recanting, Podraza says “a criminal investigation should be automatic.”

“We would participate in who is going to handle it and how it will be handled to ensure that it’s objective, fair and effective,” he added. “We’re not going to let it just sit. It’s been 14 years. … We intend to cross that goal line and hold whoever is responsible for her murder … responsible.”

“Ellen was a person, a citizen of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, and she deserves to have justice,” Dr. Josh Greenberg said.

Philadelphia Police did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. They have previously declined to discuss the case, citing the ongoing legal dispute. Goldberg did not immediately respond for comment. 

Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.