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Death in Apartment 603 - What Happened to Ellen Greenberg? · Murder Files Unsealed

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the deep dive. Today, we are wrestling with
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a case that, honestly, it defies belief. It's a mystery
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that's been frozen in time for over a decade, and
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it really exposes some fundamental flaws in how justice is
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pursued or while, in this case, how it was initially
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dismissed exactly. We are diving into the confounding twenty eleven
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death of Ellen Greenberg in Philadelphia. This is a case
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where the official conclusion stands in stark, almost unbelievable contrast
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to the physical evidence it.
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Speaker 2: Really is, and it's become something of a touchstone, you know,
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for highlighting failures and forensic integrity and really underscoring the
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need for critical scrutiny when you're looking at official narratives. So,
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for you, the listener who wants to be quickly and
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thoroughly well informed, this whole saga is well, it's kind
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of a masterclass and how a seemingly straightforward investigation can
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just get completely compromised and ultimately collapse under institutional pressure.
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Speaker 1: Okay, let's unpack this premise right away. Then, our subject,
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Ellen Greenberg, she was successful engaged a twenty seven year
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old first.
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Speaker 2: Grade teacher living a seemingly happy life.
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Speaker 1: Exactly on January twenty sixth, twenty eleven, she was found
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dead in her apartment with twenty sharp force injuries.
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Speaker 2: Twenty it's hard to even process that number.
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Speaker 1: It is, And this included a staggering ten stab wounds
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to her neck and upper back, plus a ten inch
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knife embedded four inches deep in her chest near the sternum.
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And yet, and yet the official ruling was suicide.
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Speaker 2: The sheer audacity of that conclusion, I mean, the idea
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that someone could stab themselves twenty times, including multiple times
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in the back, even hitting the spinal column, and then
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plunge a knife deep into their own chest area.
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Speaker 1: It's just it defies logic completely.
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Speaker 2: And that's what fueled this fourteen year battle for justice
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led by her parents, This whole saga unfolding in Philadelphia.
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It involves this complex web of conflicting forensic evidence, seriously
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compromised crime scenes, and these explosive allegations of political interference.
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Speaker 1: It's a lot, it really is. So today we're drawing
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from the full stack of soord the original autopsy reports,
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depositions from the medical examiners involved, detailed expert analyzes from
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you know, really renowned pathologists like doctor Cyril.
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Speaker 2: Weckt, Yeah, the JFKKSE expert. His opinion carries.
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Speaker 1: Weight absolutely, and also the very recent media coverage, including
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that explosive twenty twenty five Hulu docuseries that brought so
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much back into the spotlight.
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Speaker 2: That's an apartment six o three.
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Speaker 1: Yeah. Our mission here is really to dissect the facts
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as presented in these sources and try to understand why
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this suicide conclusion has been so relentlessly fiercely disputed by
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her parents, Joshua and Sandy Greenberg. I mean, they've spent
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hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting simply to change one
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word on a death certificate.
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Speaker 2: It tells you how strongly they believe it wasn't suicide.
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Speaker 1: Definitely.
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Speaker 2: So to really appreciate the tragedy here and also the
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fierce fight for truth, I think we need to first
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establish who Ellen Greenberg was, you know, paint a picture.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, context is crucial.
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Speaker 2: She was born June to nineteen eighty three and her
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dad was a dentist. Her mom, a former teacher. Grew
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up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in what everyone describes as this
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exceptionally close, loving home environment, and.
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Speaker 1: By all accounts, she was just full of promise right.
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The sources describe her as vibrant, really empathetic, highly creative,
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you know, the kind of person people say lit up rooms.
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Speaker 2: That phrase comes up a lot in the descriptions. She
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went to the University of Maryland, studied elementary education, and
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that's actually where she met her college sweetheart, Samuel Goldberg.
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He was studying accounting right the fiance, yes, and by
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the mid two thousands they'd settle together in the Manyunk
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neighborhood of Philadelphia Nice area.
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Speaker 1: Professionally, things were going well for her too.
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Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, she was thriving. Taught first grade at Saul
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High School for the Performing Arts, and she wasn't just
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like going through the motions. She really infused her classroom
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with music and art. Sources say she was a beloved,
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really memorable teacher.
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Speaker 1: And personally things seemed good on the surface, very much so.
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Speaker 2: By twenty ten, she was engaged to Sam. They were
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actively planning the wedding, sending out save the dates, even
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house hunting, you know, looking to buy a home together,
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move out of their rental apartment. All the signs pointed
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towards a bright future, but.
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Speaker 1: As is often the case, there was complexity beneath the surface.
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The sources are pretty clear that Ellen did struggle sometimes.
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Speaker 2: Yes, that's important context too. She openly grappled with anxiety
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and depression, but she was proactive about it. She was
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in therapy managing it.
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Speaker 1: And she was prescribed medication right.
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Speaker 2: Various meds, including xanax, ambient, clonazepam, zulpidem, and importantly toxicology.
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Later found these were all at therapeutic levels in her system,
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not abused levels.
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Speaker 1: Okay, so it's this duality, isn't it. She had these
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struggles which are real and valid, absolutely real, but friends
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and family were insistent that she was fundamentally optimistic excited
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about the future. The wedding, the.
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Speaker 2: House exactly have to hold both realities. The struggle was there,
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but so was the optimism. Her best friend told him instigators.
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Ellen was genuinely enthusiastic about the wedding, about her life's direction.
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Speaker 1: And the key point here, especially for you listening who
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wants the critical details, No one close to her reported
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any recent suicidal thoughts or ideation.
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Speaker 2: That's crucial. In fact, she'd actually been texting friends on
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the very day she died, January twenty sixth, making concrete
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plans for the upcoming weekend. That doesn't sound like someone
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planning to end their life hours.
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Speaker 1: Later, No, it doesn't. So January twenty six, twenty eleven.
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What's set the stage?
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Speaker 2: That day, well, a major snowstorm hit Philadelphia. Schools were closed,
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so Ellen was home alone in their apartment at five
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six oh one Flat Rock Road.
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Speaker 1: Okay, and Sam Goldberg, her fiance.
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Speaker 2: He exchanged some loving texts with her during the afternoon.
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Those texts, of course, were later scrutinized intensely for any
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hint of trouble, but reportedly seemed normal. Then he left
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for the gym around four to fifty pm.
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Speaker 1: This is the critical window.
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Speaker 2: This is the critical window, the roughly one hour and
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forty minutes between Sam leaving and his claimed return around
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on six thirty pm. It's the slice of time around
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which this entire investigation and the decade plus of legal
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battles that followed would pivot. Everything hinges on what happened
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or didn't happen in that window. So Sam Goldberg says
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he gets back to the apartment around six thirty PM.
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Claims he immediately felt something was wrong because Ellen wasn't
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answering her phone when he called on his way back.
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Speaker 1: Okay, and when he got to their apartment door on
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the sixth.
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Speaker 2: Floor, he claimed it was secured from the inside by
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the swing latch. You know what, most people call it chain.
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Speaker 1: Lock, right secure on the inside. That's a key detail
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for the suicide theory.
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Speaker 2: It's the strongest piece of circumstantial evidence supporting suicide or
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at least ruling out an outside intruder breaking in.
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Speaker 1: And his story is he then had to physically force
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the door open.
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Speaker 2: Yes, he alleges he shouldered the door open, breaking that
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swing latch to get inside. But and this is a
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big butt we'll get into. That specific detail is highly
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disputed by later forensic analysis of the scene photos.
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Speaker 1: Okay, we'll definitely circle back to that latch first. The
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nine to one to one call, This is where things
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start to feel off. According to the sources, the call
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comes in around six thirty pm.
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Speaker 2: Yeah. The transcript of that call is well, it's chilling
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in its own way. It's widely cited because Sam's voice
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was reportedly remarkably measure almost detached, especially given the horrific
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scene he said.
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Speaker 1: He walked into what was his initial report.
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Speaker 2: Initially he said, I just walked into my apartment. My
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fiancees on the floor with blood everywhere, you know, shock.
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Speaker 1: Maybe, But the detachment apparently continued.
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Speaker 2: It did, and the time delay is what's really alarming
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to many people who've reviewed this. The sources note that
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two full minutes passed on the call before he even
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mentioned the weapon.
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Speaker 1: Two minutes yeah, yeah.
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Speaker 2: He finally reported there's a knife, her knife, the knife
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in her chest and noted it was embedded near the sternum.
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Speaker 1: Her knife. We'll come back to that phrasing too.
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Speaker 2: Definitely noteworthy. And then when the dispatcher, just following standard protocol,
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urged him to start CPR, his question was do I
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have to?
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Speaker 1: He asked if he had to do CPR.
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Speaker 2: Reportedly yes, before briefly complying. It suggests an emotional disconnect
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that immediately raised eyebrows among investigators and later certainly the public.
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Ellen was officially pronounced dead just ten minutes later at
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six forty pm.
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Speaker 1: So let's establish the physical evidence at the scene itself.
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What did the police find.
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Speaker 2: Initially, she was found on the linoleum kitchen floor, slumped
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against the lower cabinets. There was a heavy pool of
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blood around her. Her eyes were open. Police initially confirmed
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no signs of forced entry from the outside, which again
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seemed to support the locked from inside narrative.
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Speaker 1: Okay, so locked from inside, no forced entry from.
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Speaker 2: Outside, well, but the scene inside was confusing. It didn't
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quite fit a tidy suicide narrative. Also well, the apartment
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was locked from the inside, yes, but there were details
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suggesting she was doing something completely routine just moments before
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she died. There was an overturned knife block on the counter,
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which could suggest a struggle or sudden.
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Speaker 1: Violence or grabbing an knife hastily possibly, but.
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Speaker 2: Right near her. There was also a strainer full of
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blueberries and a half sliced orange on the counter. It
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really looked like she was in the middle of preparing
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a snack or a meal.
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Speaker 1: Doesn't quite track with planning of violent suicide moments later.
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Speaker 2: It creates dissonance, doesn't it. And this is where it
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gets really interesting and frankly disturbing, where the sources highlight
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these immediate institutional red flags and how the evidence started
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getting compromised almost instantly.
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Speaker 1: Let's start with the blood pattern anomaly.
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Speaker 2: Okay, so officers at the scene noted that some of
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the blood on Ellen's face had trailed sideways sideways, not
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downwards exactly. If she had simply slumped down after dying,
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or as she was dying from the position she was
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found in, gravity would dictate the blood trails run vertically
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down her face right sideways. Trailing blood suggests something else.
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Maybe she was moved after the injury occurred, or a
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shifted position while actively dying. It complicates the simple slumped
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down suicide picture. It hints at potential scene manipulation or
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a different sequence of events.
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Speaker 1: And Sam Goldberg's actions didn't help clarify things.
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Speaker 2: He changed his clothes immediately. He claimed he was sweaty
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from the gym and felt uncomfortable, But changing clothes at
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a potential crime scene, that's basic contamination of potential trace evidence, fibers,
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blood spatter, anything, a definite red flag.
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Speaker 1: But the truly critical breach, the one that many argue
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just derailed the entire investigation from the start. Yeah, that
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involved his uncle.
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Speaker 2: Yes, this is probably the most damning indictment of how
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the scene was handled. Initially, before the crime scene unit
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had even finished processing everything, Sam's uncle arrived James Schwartzman.
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Speaker 1: And he wasn't just any uncle, now a.
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Speaker 2: Very prominent local attorney, a judge, a well connected figure
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in Philadelphia I legal circles. A wi happened with the
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explicit permission, the blessing of the Philadelphia Police Department officers
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on scene, Schwartzman removed evidence from the apartment, specifically Ellen's iPhone,
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her laptop, and her desk top computer.
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Speaker 1: Wait, the police allowed a family member, regardless of his profession,
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to just walk out with crucial digital evidence from a
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potential homicide scene.
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Speaker 2: They did. He apparently cited family matters as the reason.
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Speaker 1: That's astounding, that shatters the chain of custody instantly.
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Speaker 2: Instantly and airrevocably. The sources really emphasized this was a
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catastrophic failure. Think about it. All that potential digital evidence,
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her last calls, texts, emails, her recent Internet searches which
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could indicate state of mind, any location data, all of
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it was immediately compromised.
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Speaker 1: And those devices were never properly recovered or.
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Speaker 2: Analyzed, never returned to investigators or Ellen's family in a
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forensically sound, authenticated way. Anything found on them later could
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be questioned because the chain of custody was broken right
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at the start.
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Speaker 1: Unbelievable, and the destruction of potential evidence didn't even stop there.
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Speaker 2: No, it gets worse. The apartment itself was released that
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same evening to a professional cleaning company, crime scene cleaners.
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Speaker 1: The same night she died, before a full forensic sweep
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could be guaranteed.
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Speaker 2: Yes, this decision essentially meant that any latent evidence, maybe fingerprints,
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the initial team missed trace DNA microblood spatter patterns that
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might tell a different story about the struggle or positioning,
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It was all permanently wiped away prematurely.
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Speaker 1: That is absolutely not standard protocol for a potential homicide scene.
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Speaker 2: Is it not even close? The haste, the allowing removal
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of evidence by a connected family member. It immediately fueled
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suspicions of at best, gross incompetence and at worst, an
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institutional effort to protect someone.
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Speaker 1: So the scene was already a mess, evidence compromised almost
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from minute one. This sets the stage for what happens
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when Ellen's body reaches the medical examiner's office. Doctor Marlon
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Osborne conducted the autopsy the next day, January twenty seventh,
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and what he found was horrific.
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Speaker 2: Horrific is the right word, and completely at odds with
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any rational idea of self harm. Doctor Osborne documented a
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total of twenty sharp force injuries twenty distinct wounds.
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Speaker 1: And the distribution was key right, not just.
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Speaker 2: The number absolutely. While five were located in the chest
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and abdomen, areas someone might target in a suicide, the
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vast majority ten wounds were shockingly located in her neck
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and upper back. Ten stab wounds to the back and neck,
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some penetrating deep enough to hit the spinal column. Additionally,
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there were three more superficial cuts, potentially hesitation marks or
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defensive wounds on her face and hands, and significantly a
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one point five inch laceration on her scalp. A scalp
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wound less she was hit, it strongly suggests she may
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have been struck, possibly incapacitated, or dazed before the stabbing
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even began. Adds another layer inconsistent with suicide.
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Speaker 1: Logically, just from a forensic perspective, how do experts view
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wounds to the back and neck in a suicide context?
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Speaker 2: Is that even a thing, it's functionally unheard of. Suicide
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attempts with knives are almost always directed at the front
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of the body, the chest, the wrists, maybe the abdomen.
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The kind of twisting and force needed to inflict multiple
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deep stab wounds into your own upper back, especially hitting bone.
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It borders on biomechanically impossible while conscious, in standing or sitting.
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Speaker 1: It implies either an incredibly awkward, contorted position or.
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Speaker 2: Much more likely, an attack from another person, probably from behind.
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Speaker 1: What about toxicology? Did drugs or alcohol play a role
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that could explain irrational behavior?
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Speaker 2: Nope? The toxicology report confirmed only therapeutic levels of her
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prescribed anti anxiety and sleep meds xanax ambient the others.
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No alcohol. There was a trace amount of cocaine, but
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the levels were so low it was deemed likely from
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a social event weeks prior, not recent use.
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Speaker 1: So her death was purely due to the physical trauma.
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Speaker 2: Entirely massive blood loss and organ damage from those twenty wounds.
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Speaker 1: Okay, So, based purely on the physical evidence, the number
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of wounds, the location, the scalp lack, the lack of
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impairing substances, what was doctor Osborne's initial professional conclusion on
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the manner of death?
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Speaker 2: His initial ruling was unequivocal, completely supported by the friends
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sick facts on his table cause of death, multiple stab wounds,
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manner death homicide.
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Speaker 1: He officially ruled it homicide.
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Speaker 2: Yes, he specifically stated in his initial report stabbed by
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another person. That was the finding signed and documented.
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Speaker 1: How on earth did it get flipped to suicide? It's
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so quickly.
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Speaker 2: This is the absolute crux of the institutional failure point
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where everything went sideways. Within hours hours of issuing that
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official homicide ruling, doctor Osborne had a private meeting with
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whom with homicide detectives from the Philadelphia Police Department and
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prosecutors from the DA's office.
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Speaker 1: And what happened in that meeting.
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Speaker 2: The sources, particularly Osborne's later deposition testimony during the Greenberg's lawsuit,
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indicate that the police essentially pressured him to change his ruling.
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They emphasized the circumstantial.
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Speaker 1: Evidence the lock door, her mental health history.
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Speaker 2: Exactly the lock door, the apparent lack of a big
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struggle in the main room, and her known history of
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anxiety and depression. They presented these as telling reasons for
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him to reconsider his homicide finding.
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Speaker 1: Can we be more specific about the nature of that pressure?
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This is an extraordinary claim against the police and prosecutors.
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Speaker 2: It is and Osborne himself later testified under oath about it.
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He admitted the police pressure was decisive. He testified that
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the police implied essentially, look, if there's any doubt about
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the fiance's story, or if we can't immediately point to
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an outside intruder, then this cannot be ruled a suicide.
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Speaker 1: Wow. So they basically framed it as an either either
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you stick with homicide and we'd likely have to charge
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the fiance, Samuel Goldberg, or you change it to suicide.
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Speaker 2: That's the implication. Osborne described. He felt caught. He later
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said he was concerned about interfering with the ongoing police investigations,
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so he yielded to their interpretation of the scene evidence
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over his own forensic findings, And just like that, the
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ruling was officially flipped to suicide.
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Speaker 1: That's a fundamental breakdown of the independence of the medical
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Exmder's office, isn't it. Their job is to rule based
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on medical evidence, not police can.
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Speaker 2: It's a profound breach of that necessary separation. But just
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because the official ruling change, the forensic facts didn't disappear
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when independent experts later reviewed the file, what specific anomalies
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just screamed not suicide.
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Speaker 1: Right, the physical evidence doesn't change and.
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Speaker 2: The anomalies are overwhelming. But the single most critical finding,
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the one that really blows the suicide theory out of
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the water, came from a neuropathologist, doctor Lucy Rourke Adams,
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initially and later confirmed by others like doctor Lindsay Emery
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based on doctor Somati's work, who examined the spinal tissue samples.
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Speaker 1: What did they find.
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Speaker 2: They found that one of the stab wounds, one that
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penetrated the spinal canal in the neck area, showed evidence
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of having occurred post mortem.
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Speaker 1: Post mortem, meaning after Ellen's heart hit stopped beating, or
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she was at least completely incapacitated and physiologically dying Precisely.
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Speaker 2: They determine this by looking at the cellular level, specifically
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the lack of hemorrhage and the typical vital reaction like
17:58
inflammation that you'd expel back to see in tissue injured
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while the person is still alive and has blood pressure. Okay,
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Ellen was already dead or at the very least her
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circulatory system had effectively collapsed when that specific deep stab
18:11
wound was delivered to her spine.
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Speaker 1: And that's impossible to self.
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Speaker 2: Inflict biomechanically and pathologically impossible. You cannot stab yourself nineteen times,
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die and then summon the strength and coordination to execute
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a final, forceful stab deep into your own spine. It
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simply can't happen.
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Speaker 1: So that single detail points definitively.
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Speaker 2: Too the presence of another person, an attacker capable of
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inflicting further trauma after Ellen was already dead or completely defenseless.
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Speaker 1: That specific finding the post mortem's final wound feels like
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the key knowledge nugget for you, the listener. It moves
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the debate beyond just wow, twenty stab wounds is a
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lot to actual scientific impossibility for suicide.
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Speaker 2: It really does, and it's what forced major figures in
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forensic pathology to weigh in. When the Greenbergs brought the
18:57
case to them years later, Doctor Cyril Wack does he
19:00
mention reviewed it in twenty nineteen.
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Speaker 1: He was blunt, very blunt.
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Speaker 2: He called the suicide ruling absolutely inconceivable, strongly suspicious of homicide,
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and kept reiterating the core question who stabs themselves? Twenty times,
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including in the back. He found the official conclusion simply
19:16
absurd based on the physical evidence.
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Speaker 1: What about those other injuries the cuts on her hands
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and face that Osborne initially noted right.
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Speaker 2: Initially, they might have been dismissed by police as hesitation
19:26
marks or part of the act, but other independent experts
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later looked at the photos and identified those cuts on
19:31
her hands as potential, even likely defensive wounds.
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Speaker 1: As in she was trying to block an ife attack.
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Speaker 2: Exactly cuts sustained when raising her hands instinctively to ward
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off an assailant's blade. And remember those eleven bruises Osborne
19:46
found on her arms, legs, and abdomen. They were in
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varying stages of healing.
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Speaker 1: Meaning some were older, some were fresh.
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Speaker 2: Correct, which points towards previous physical trauma in the days
19:57
or weeks leading up, or perhaps evidence of a physical
19:59
struggle on the day she died. None of this fits
20:02
neatly into a sudden, isolated act of suicide.
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Speaker 1: Okay, So, given this mountain of forensic evidence pointing away
20:08
from suicide, the scrutiny inevitably has to land on the
20:12
only other person known to be involved in the apartment's
20:14
timeline that evening, the fiance, Samuel Goldberg.
20:18
Speaker 2: Naturally, though it's crucial to state upfront, he has never
20:22
been officially named a suspect by law enforcement. He has
20:25
consistently maintained publicly and presumably to investigators, that Ellen's death
20:30
was a tragic suicide driven by her documented mental illness.
20:34
He has since moved on, lives in New York City,
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is married with children.
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Speaker 1: But his account and his alibi, they've always had holes,
20:41
according to the sources reviewing.
20:43
Speaker 2: The case, significant weaknesses. Yes, he claimed he left the
20:46
gym around six thirty pm, while records do show he
20:49
swiped into the gem around five zero five pm. The
20:52
sources emphasize there's just no independent corroboration, no security video
20:57
showing him leaving, no witnesses account for that entire hour
21:01
plus window he was supposedly exercising or traveling back to
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the apartment.
21:05
Speaker 1: So that critical window where Ellen died remains unverified.
21:08
Speaker 2: For his whereabout largely unverified. Yes, it's a gap. And
21:11
then there's the issue with the door latch to the
21:13
centerpiece of the locked from inside suicide theory.
21:15
Speaker 1: Right, you mentioned forensic modeling contradicted his claim of shouldering
21:19
the door open exactly.
21:21
Speaker 2: A private investigator hired by the Greenberg's Tom Brennan, meticulously
21:25
studied the specific type of swing latch mechanism used on
21:29
their door. He conducted analyzes, possibly even re enactments, and
21:33
his conclusion he determined that if Sam had truly hit
21:36
that door with a significant force required to break a
21:38
properly secured metal swing latch, enough force to shoulder it
21:42
open as he claimed, the metal components of the latch
21:45
itself should have shown signs of shattering or at least
21:48
significant deformation and stress marks.
21:51
Speaker 1: But the crime scene photos didn't show that.
21:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, the crime scene photos reportedly showed the latch intact,
21:56
perhaps slightly bent or dislodged, but not shattered or displaying
22:00
the kind of damage consistent with being forcefully broken by
22:03
brute's strength against the door.
22:05
Speaker 1: Frame, which strongly suggests.
22:07
Speaker 2: It strongly suggests his claim of forcing the door open
22:09
was false, which then implies either the latch wasn't actually
22:13
secured when he arrived, or perhaps he unlocked it himself
22:16
using a key or other means, and the breaking in
22:19
story was a fabrication. This completely undermines the locked room
22:23
aspect of the suicide theory.
22:25
Speaker 1: Wow, okay, and didn't he also claim he was on
22:28
the phone while supposedly breaking in?
22:30
Speaker 2: Yes, he claimed he was on speakerphone with relatives during
22:33
this frantic effort to get inside, and upon discovering Allen.
22:37
Speaker 1: The phone records contradicted that too.
22:38
Speaker 2: According to the Greenberg's legal team, who eventually obtained those records, yes,
22:43
they assert the timing and duration of the calls he
22:46
made and received during that critical period do not align
22:50
with his narrative of trying to break down the door
22:52
and his immediate reaction to the scene. The timelines just
22:55
didn't match up.
22:56
Speaker 1: So the physical evidence at the scene, his alibi window,
23:00
the door latch story, the phone records, none of it
23:03
seems to fully support his account.
23:05
Speaker 2: There are significant inconsistencies across the board. And then you
23:09
have to layer on top of that the picture that
23:11
emerges from friends about the state of their relationship. It
23:15
wasn't necessarily the happy engaged couple facade presented initially.
23:19
Speaker 1: Wooded friends report.
23:20
Speaker 2: Several friends reportedly told investigators or later the media that
23:24
Ellen had confided in them about serious strains in the relationship.
23:28
This wasn't just pre wedding.
23:29
Speaker 1: Jitters well kind of strains.
23:31
Speaker 2: Allegations included Sam exhibiting controlling tendencies, arguments escalating over finances,
23:36
and perhaps most disturbingly, one close friend specifically told the
23:40
Philadelphia Inquirer that in the time leading up to her death,
23:44
Ellen had bruises she couldn't.
23:46
Speaker 1: Explain, bruises she couldn't explain. That connects directly back to
23:50
the autopsy findings of bruises in various healing stages. It
23:54
suggests potential domestic abuse.
23:57
Speaker 2: It certainly raises that deeply concerning possibility, and it provides
24:01
a context for the physical evidence found on her body. Furthermore,
24:05
text messages recovered reportedly showed Allen actively seeking advice from
24:08
friends about how to become more financially and personally independent
24:12
from Sam.
24:13
Speaker 1: She was thinking about leaving him.
24:15
Speaker 2: Sources suggest she was seriously contemplating it. There were texts
24:18
about packing bags, about needing space. The Greenberg's legal team
24:21
argues that the potential motive here wasn't a sudden mental
24:24
health crisis leading to suicide, but perhaps the impending collapse
24:28
of the relationship, which Sam may not have wanted.
24:31
Speaker 1: That paints a very different picture, a starkly different one.
24:34
Speaker 2: And let's just quickly revisit that phrase Sam used on
24:36
the nine one one, call.
24:37
Speaker 1: Her knife, right? Why is that potentially significant.
24:41
Speaker 2: Think about it, in a moment of panic finding your
24:44
fiance like that, why use the specific possessive her knife
24:47
instead of just the knife or a knrf or a
24:49
kitchen knife. To some, it implies a specific knowledge of,
24:53
or maybe even prior connection to that particular weapon, rather
24:57
than it just being a random utensil grabbed and desperate.
25:00
It's a small linguistic detail, but it adds another layer
25:03
of unease about his account.
25:05
Speaker 1: All these questions about Sam, the scene, the relationship. It
25:09
inevitably brings us back to the institutional failures and the
25:13
suspicion of a cover up potentially facilitated by powerful connections.
25:17
Speaker 2: Wow.
25:18
Speaker 1: How unusual was that Schwartzman intervention.
25:20
Speaker 2: Allowing a family member, especially one with legal standing like
25:23
Judge Schwartzman, to remove critical evidence like phones and computers
25:27
from an active, violent death scene. It's extraordinarily rare and
25:31
incredibly damaging to the integrity of any subsequent investigation, and.
25:35
Speaker 1: It fueled does cover up theories immediately instantly.
25:39
Speaker 2: It created the strong appearance that perhaps the Philadelphia Police
25:42
Department prioritized protecting a prominent family over securing a potential
25:47
homicide scene. According to protocol. Whether that was the intent
25:51
or just gross negligence, the effect was the same compromised investigation.
25:55
Speaker 1: You explained why breaking the chain of custody is so
25:58
bad for digital evidence, you can authen indicate it.
26:00
Speaker 2: Later exactly you lose the metadata, the digital fingerprint that
26:04
tracks who accessed what and when. So years later, when
26:08
the Attorney General's Office, then headed by Josh Shapiro, cited
26:12
data allegedly recovered from Ellen's computer showing suicide related searches
26:17
like painless Death as part of their reasoning for closing
26:20
the case.
26:21
Speaker 1: That evidence was inherently tainted.
26:22
Speaker 2: It could never be independently forensically verified because the chain
26:26
of custody was broken on day one. The Greenbergs and
26:29
any defense attorney of charges were ever brought could always
26:32
argue that data was unreliable access later or even planted
26:36
because the proper protocols weren't followed from the outset. It
26:39
rendered that digital evidence almost useless in a rigorous legal sense.
26:42
Speaker 1: And the fact that it was then AG Josh Shapiro's
26:45
office that ultimately closed the case as a suicide in
26:48
twenty nineteen, dismissing the homicide arguments despite the growing expert
26:52
consensus that just poured fuel on the fire of conflict
26:56
of interest allegations.
26:57
Speaker 2: It absolutely did. Critics immediately pointed to Shapira's known extensive
27:02
connections within the Philadelphia legal and political establishment circles that
27:06
inevitably overlapped with the Goldberg family and potentially James Schwartzman.
27:10
Speaker 1: Raising questions about political interference.
27:12
Speaker 2: Yes, the allegation, or at least the strong suspicion voiced
27:15
by critics and the Greenbergs, was that the institutions involved
27:18
the PPD, the Me's Office, and ultimately the AG's office
27:22
perhaps works consciously or unconsciously to uphold the initial flawed
27:27
suicide ruling to avoid the deeply uncomfortable possibility of an
27:31
intimate partner homicide involving a politically connected family. It suggested
27:35
the system protected itself and its own But Ellen's parents,
27:39
Joshua and Sandy Greenberg, simply refused to accept the official narrative.
27:43
They refused to be silenced. They embarked on this massive,
27:46
grueling and incredibly expensive.
27:48
Speaker 1: Legal battle fourteen years in counting.
27:51
Speaker 2: Fourteen years, spending, as you said, over eight hundred thousand
27:54
dollars of their own money, fighting the system just to
27:57
get that death certificate amended. Twenty nineteen, they took the
28:01
extraordinary step of suing the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office and
28:05
doctor Osborne directly.
28:06
Speaker 1: Their goal was to force the manner of death to.
28:08
Speaker 2: Be changed, exactly, to compel the eme's office to change
28:12
the manner of death from suicide to homicide or at
28:15
the very least undetermined, reflecting the vast forensic inconsistencies.
28:20
Speaker 1: That's just a monumental effort suing a major city emmy's
28:23
office over one word. What did their legal process uncover
28:27
that the original investigation seemingly missed or ignored?
28:30
Speaker 2: Well, they filed a second lawsuit as well, this one
28:33
targeting the city of Philadelphia itself and the former Chief
28:35
Medical Examiner, Sam Galino, alleging an official cover up and negligence.
28:40
And the discovery process in these suits proved invaluable. How so,
28:44
It unearthed damning testimony, most notably confirming doctor Osborne's own
28:48
account of being pressured by police to change his initial
28:51
homicide ruling that came out in his deposition. But forensically,
28:55
perhaps even more explosive, the discovery process revealed photographic evidence
28:59
from the original autopsy that had been completely omitted from
29:02
the official autopsy report.
29:04
Speaker 1: What kind of evidence.
29:05
Speaker 2: Evidence suggesting strangulation? Specifically, the Greenberg's experts identified what appeared
29:10
to be ligature Marx bruises or indentations on the neck
29:14
consistent with a cord or manual pressure and patechia.
29:18
Speaker 1: Okay, let's clearly define those, phil listener, what are protechia again?
29:21
Speaker 2: Patakia are tiny pinpoint sized red or purple spots that
29:26
appear on the skin, often in the eyes or on
29:29
the face and neck. They're caused by capillaries bursting under pressure,
29:32
and they're a sign of They are a classic indicator
29:35
of asphyxia, a lack of oxygen, often caused by strangulation
29:39
or intense pressure on the neck or chest.
29:41
Speaker 1: So the autopsy photo showed these signs of strangulation, but
29:45
they weren't mentioned at all, and the official report signed
29:47
off after the ruling was flipped to suicide.
29:49
Speaker 2: Correct According to the Greenberg's legal filings and the experts
29:52
they consulted, these crucial signs were visible in the photographic documentation,
29:58
but were conspicuously absent from the written report that concluded suicide.
30:02
Speaker 1: What does the presence of strangulation evidence suggest about the
30:05
sequence of events.
30:07
Speaker 2: It strongly suggests a violent assault occurred before the stabbings
30:11
if an attacker first incapacitated Ellen through strangulation, possibly rendering
30:16
her unconscious or unable to fight back.
30:19
Speaker 1: That would explain the relative lack of a major struggle
30:22
scene in the apartment.
30:23
Speaker 2: Precisely, and it provides a horrifyingly plausible mechanism for how
30:27
one person could inflict twenty stab wounds, including those to
30:30
the back, without significant active resistance from the victim.
30:34
Speaker 1: It fundamentally shifts the narrative away from self infliction towards
30:37
assault immensely.
30:39
Speaker 2: It strengthens the murder by intimate partner theory significantly, painting
30:43
a picture where the attack perhaps began with throttling or choking,
30:46
followed by the overkill of the twenty stab wounds.
30:49
Speaker 1: Despite this growing mountain of evidence and huge public outcry,
30:53
you mentioned that change dot org petition with over one
30:56
hundred and sixty six thousand signatures, justice still seems stall
31:00
for years. What were the institutional roadblocks the Greenbergs kept hitting.
31:04
Speaker 2: Well after Shapiro's AG office closed the case in twenty nineteen,
31:08
citing the suicide conclusion. The Chester County District Attorney's Office
31:12
actually agreed to reopen the investigation in twenty twenty two.
31:16
They specifically cited the appearance of conflict created by the
31:19
AG's office's prior involvement and.
31:22
Speaker 1: Decision, so that seemed like progress.
31:24
Speaker 2: It did initially, but then in November twenty twenty four
31:27
came a major setback. The Chester County DA announced they
31:30
were placing the case back on inactive status. Why they
31:34
cited insufficient evidence to file criminal charges at that time. Essentially,
31:38
they seemed to acknowledge the suicide ruling was likely wrong,
31:41
but felt that after thirteen fourteen years, with the compromise
31:44
scene and broken chain of custody, the remaining evidence was
31:47
too fragmented or contaminated to meet the incredibly high legal
31:51
standard beyond a reasonable doubt needed for a homicide consecution.
31:55
Speaker 1: But they didn't close the door entirely.
31:57
Speaker 2: No, Crucially, they noted that murder has no statute of limitations,
32:02
so the case wasn't closed forever, just inactive pending new developments. Still,
32:06
it was a huge blow to the Greenbergs.
32:09
Speaker 1: But then twenty twenty five arrived and the momentum shifted dramatically,
32:13
didn't it largely due to their relentless pressure. Let's talk
32:17
about the settlement with the City of Philadelphia.
32:19
Speaker 2: Yes, that was huge. In February twenty twenty five, the
32:23
City of Philadelphia settled the Greenberg's civil lawsuits. They agreed
32:27
to pay six hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
32:29
Speaker 1: Which was less than the Greenbergs had spent fighting.
32:32
Speaker 2: True, but the money wasn't the main point. The settlement
32:35
itself was seen as a functional admission or at least
32:37
an acknowledgment of institutional failure and negligence on the part
32:41
of the City Theme's office and potentially the PPD in
32:45
the handling of the case.
32:46
Speaker 1: And crucially, the settlement included more than just money.
32:49
Speaker 2: Yes, as part of the deal, the city agreed to
32:51
conduct an expeditious and independent review of Ellen's autopsy findings.
32:55
They committed to having fresh eyes look at all the evidence.
32:58
Speaker 1: And then came the bombshell, the recantation.
33:01
Speaker 2: The biggest bombshell of all. Also in February twenty twenty five,
33:06
doctor Marlon Osborne, the original pathologist who had flipped the
33:09
ruling from homicide to suicide back in twenty eleven, signed
33:12
a sworn legal statement.
33:14
Speaker 1: What did it say?
33:15
Speaker 2: He fully formally recanted his suicide ruling. He stated that,
33:19
based on his review of evidence that wasn't considered or
33:21
was overlooked back then, specifically citing the post mortem injuries,
33:25
the potential strangulation evidence, and the overall investigative flaws, he
33:29
no longer believed suicide was the correct manner of death.
33:32
Speaker 1: He actually put it in writing unequivocally.
33:35
Speaker 2: His sworn statement concluded, it is my professional opinion Ellen's
33:39
manner of death should be designated as something other than suicide.
33:43
This declaration just completely undercut the entire official narrative that
33:46
had stood for fourteen years.
33:48
Speaker 1: That must have felt like vindication for the Greenbergs.
33:50
Speaker 2: Immense vindication. Yes, and it paved the way for the
33:53
next wave of attention, which.
33:54
Speaker 1: Came via major media. That Hulu ABC News docuseries Right.
34:00
Speaker 2: And Apartment six o three premiered on September twenty nine,
34:02
twenty twenty five, and it wasn't just a rehash. It
34:06
featured twenty new interviews. Crucially, it showed the audience key
34:10
pieces of visual evidence, the crime scene photos, including the
34:13
patakia the Greenberg's experts found the photo of the intact
34:17
door latch, contradicting Sam's story.
34:19
Speaker 1: Making the inconsistencies tangible for viewers exactly.
34:22
Speaker 2: It powerfully contrasted Ellen's vibrant life shown through home videos
34:27
and photos against the cold, indifference and failures of the
34:30
institutions investigating her death.
34:32
Speaker 1: It reached millions, and the public reaction to seeing all
34:34
this laid out so.
34:35
Speaker 2: Clearly with fear social media just exploded. The hashtag hashtag
34:39
justice for Ellen trended globally. You had armies of online
34:42
sleuths pouring over the details, confirming the inconsistencies, demanding action, and.
34:47
Speaker 1: The political figures involved faced renewed scrutiny.
34:49
Speaker 2: Oh Yes, accusations against Josh Shapiro, who was now Governor
34:53
of Pennsylvania, regarding his handling of the case when he
34:56
was Attorney general trended heavily on platforms like x for
35:00
rely Twitter. The pressure on Philadelphia authorities became immense, amplified
35:05
by the combination of the mme's recantation and the massive
35:08
media spotlight.
35:09
Speaker 1: So fast forward to now October twenty twenty five, where
35:13
does the case officially stand.
35:15
Speaker 2: The independent autopsy review mandated by the settlement is currently
35:18
ongoing experts are re examining everything. There's actually a civil
35:22
court hearing scheduled for October fourteenth, specifically to enforce the
35:26
settlement timelines and make sure the city adheres to that
35:29
expeditious review promise.
35:31
Speaker 1: So the pressure is still on very much so.
35:33
Speaker 2: While the district attorneys involved originally Philly DA, then Chester
35:36
County DA, the jurisdiction might still be debated still technically
35:40
cite those historical evidentiary gaps as a hurdle for immediate
35:43
criminal charges. Doctor Osborne's recantation makes the official suicide ruling
35:48
completely untenable.
35:49
Speaker 1: Meaning a change on the death certificate to undetermined or
35:52
homicide seems almost inevitable. Now.
35:54
Speaker 2: It seems legally and ethically inevitable. At this point, the
35:58
question is when and what happened next.
36:00
Speaker 1: So as we try to synthesize everything we've learned from
36:03
the sources, pulling all these threads together, it seems like
36:06
three primary theories prevail about what actually happened in apartment
36:10
six' oh three that snowy evening in twenty.
36:13
Speaker 2: Eleven that's a good way to frame.
36:14
Speaker 1: It the, first, obviously is the one that stood officially
36:16
for fourteen years.
36:18
Speaker 2: Suicide, Right and as we've, discussed that theory was propped
36:21
up almost entirely by circumstantial, evidence the disputed locked, Door
36:26
ellen's documented but managed mental health, history and those unverified computer.
36:30
Searches every single piece of physical forensic evidence seems to
36:35
actively dismantle this.
36:36
Speaker 1: Theory, okay theory number, two the one championed by The
36:39
greenbergs and now supported by a growing chorus of independent forensic. Experts,
36:44
murder specifically by an intimate.
36:46
Speaker 2: Partner this theory aligns strongly with the physical and circumstantial
36:49
evidence we've. Detailed you've got the prior bruises suggesting potential,
36:54
Abuse Sam goldberg's uncorroborated timeline providing the opportunity, window the
36:59
forensic modeling showing the wounds were unlikely self, inflicted the
37:03
suspicious door latch, evidence.
37:05
Speaker 1: And, critically the strangulation.
37:06
Speaker 2: Evidence, yes the peticia and potential ligature marks suggesting an
37:11
initial assault involving strangulation which would Disable ellen before the stabbings.
37:15
Occurred that pattern incapacitation followed by excessive stabbing or overkill
37:20
is tragically common in intimate partner homicides driven by rage or.
37:24
Control Doctor John thornton's modeling showing those awkward wound angles
37:28
adds scientific weight to the improbability of self.
37:31
Speaker 1: Infliction it fits the evidence much more. Closely then there's
37:34
the third, theory which is perhaps the darkest because it
37:36
implicates the system itself staged homicide with an institutional cover.
37:41
Speaker 2: Up this theory encompasses not just the initial, crime but
37:44
everything that happened. After it posits that the, homicide likely
37:48
by an intimate, partner, occurred and then the scene was
37:51
deliberately staged to look like a, suicide maybe manipulating the
37:54
low positioning the, body placing.
37:56
Speaker 1: The, knife and that the staging was then, protected.
37:58
Speaker 2: Protected and, cemented intentionally or, not by the subsequent institutional,
38:03
actions the police allowing the scene to be contaminated and evidence,
38:07
removed the emey being pressured to flip the, ruling The
38:11
AG's office later upholding that flawed ruling despite contradictory. Evidence
38:15
this is where those allegations of political influence and protecting
38:19
connected individuals come into sharpest's. Focus it suggests the system
38:22
failed not just through, incompetence but potentially through.
38:25
Speaker 1: Active, protection regardless of whether it was in competence or
38:28
cover up it seems the expert forensic community is almost
38:31
completely unified against the suicide.
38:33
Speaker 2: Ruling they are absolutely unanimous on that. Point the sources
38:36
site not just Doctor, wect but also Doctor Wayne, ross
38:40
a pathologist with experience in over thirteen thousand, autopsies and
38:43
Doctor Michelle. Duprey they have all reviewed the files at
38:46
The greenberg's.
38:47
Speaker 1: Request and their.
38:48
Speaker 2: Conclusions they all concur the overwhelming evidence points to homicide
38:52
and the circumstances strongly suggest intimate partner. Violence Doctor ross
38:57
was particularly scathing in his, assessment reportedly calling the idea
39:01
of twenty self inflicted stab, wounds including into the back and,
39:05
spine scientifically unprecedented and frankly.
39:08
Speaker 1: Ridiculous it really comes back to that core forensic, evidence
39:12
the sheer number of, wounds the impossible locations like the,
39:15
back and especially that post mortem spinal.
39:17
Speaker 2: Wound that combination is the scientific nail in the coffin
39:20
for the suicide. Narrative it simply defies. Biomechanics as experts put,
39:24
it the physical evidence screams that a violent interaction occurred
39:27
While ellen was, alive initiated possibly by, strangulation and was
39:31
followed by at least one injury inflicted after she was
39:33
dead or. Dying that requires another.
39:35
Speaker 1: Person so the experts argue the original ruling wasn't just,
39:38
questionable it was scientifically indefensible from the.
39:41
Speaker 2: Start, precisely and The greenberg's incredibly long and painful fight
39:47
was essentially rooted in trying to make the official record
39:49
reflect those immutable scientific facts hashtag tag tag. Outro when
39:54
you look at the totality of The Ellen greenberg case
39:57
as presented through all these sources over fourteen, years it
40:00
really serves as a profound, indictment an indictment of a
40:03
system that for far too long appeared to prioritize administrative,
40:07
convenience quick, closure maybe even internal narratives or protecting connections
40:12
over basic forensic. Truth, yeah it exposes these deep fractures
40:16
in stand up police, protocol in the sanctity of crime scene,
40:19
processing and critically in the independence and accountability that we
40:23
absolutely need from a medical examiner's. Office this story is
40:26
a stark reminder that official, records official conclusions are not
40:29
always synonymous with, fact especially when potential political or institutional
40:33
pressures might be in.
40:34
Speaker 1: Play and for, you our listener focused on gaining knowledge,
40:38
quickly but. Thoroughly this case really underscores the absolute necessity
40:42
of critical thinking when you're presented with official, narratives particularly
40:46
when there's such an abundance of conflicting physical evidence staring
40:50
you in the. Face it also shows the extraordinary power of,
40:53
persistent focused, inquiry the kind driven by ordinary people Like
40:58
joshua And Sandy greenberg who simply refuse to give.
41:01
Speaker 2: Up their vow has always been clear and. Unwavering we
41:03
won't stop Until ellen's truth is.
41:05
Speaker 1: Told so here's the final provocative thought we want to
41:08
leave you with. Today given Doctor osborne's recent dramatic, recantation
41:13
it seems highly likely the official manner of death On
41:16
Ellen greenberg's certificate will finally be changed from suicide to
41:20
homicide or undetermined is and when that, Happens how does
41:24
any subsequent criminal investigation even begin to navigate the fact
41:27
that the original crime scene was released and cleaned within
41:30
hours and crucial digital evidence was removed and its chain
41:33
of custody irrevocably broken fourteen long years. Ago what critical
41:38
hard lessons does this entire saga teach us about the
41:41
absolute sanctity of evidence, preservation especially in high, profile potentially sensitive.
41:45
Cases where powerful individuals or institutional reputations might somehow be,
41:50
involved