As the parents of 27-year-old Ellen Greenberg, a Philadelphia teacher whose 2011 death was ruled a suicide after she was found with 20 stab wounds and covered in bruises, advance from a significant legal battle this week, Greenberg’s fiancé, Sam Goldberg, spoke publicly about her death for the first time.
Greenberg’s parents, Dr. Josh and Sandee Greenberg, have been entangled in court fights with the government since their daughter’s death, contesting the determination that it was a suicide. They have filed two active lawsuits, one accusing local officials and the medical examiner’s office of covering up their daughter’s death and the other aiming to have the designation of “suicide” on her death certificate replaced with “homicide” or “undetermined.”
Oral arguments in their civil suit were heard on Wednesday in a Philadelphia City Hall courtroom. It was the first time the Greenbergs sat in a courtroom and listened to arguments in their daughter’s case.
“We are getting closer to justice for Ellen,” Sandee said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “We are very determined and not giving up.”
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Greenberg’s parents do not believe her death was a suicide, and over the years forensic pathologists, crime-scene experts, former law enforcement officials and attorneys have expressed similar opinions.
However, her fiancé seems to believe otherwise.
“When Ellen took her own life, it left me bewildered. She was a wonderful and a kind person who had everything to live for. When she died, a part of me died with her,” Goldberg told CNN in his first public statement about Greenberg’s death.
“Unimaginably, in the years that have passed, I have had to endure the unimaginable passing of my future wife and the pathetic and despicable attempts to desecrate my reputation and her privacy by creating a narrative that embraces lies, distortions and falsehoods in order to avoid the truth. Mental illness is very real and has many victims.”
“I hope and pray that you never lose someone you love like I did to a terrible disease and then be accused by ignorant and misinformed people of causing her death. If you’re really writing a truthful story, dig deeper, and please do some good by raising awareness for mental health.”
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The bride-to-be was found in her kitchen with 20 stab wounds, a knife in her chest, with a half-made fruit salad on the countertop during a blizzard on Jan. 6, 2011.
After Greenberg’s death, Goldberg said he came back from the gym, broke down the door and found Greenberg’s deceased body in their shared apartment in Manayunk, a quiet neighborhood in Philadelphia.
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A forensic pathologist with the city medical examiner’s office, Dr. Marlon Osbourne, initially ruled Greenberg’s death a homicide, according to court documents. Then he reversed course after meeting with police behind closed doors and officially deemed it a suicide.
Greenberg’s stab wounds included 10 from behind, at least one of which could have been inflicted after she was already dead, according to court documents.
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Greenberg’s parents did not provide a response to Goldberg’s statement. However, they previously described what they believe Ellen was experiencing leading up to her death.
“My daughter was being abused,” her father, Josh Greenberg, previously told Fox News Digital. “She had injuries on her body consistent with abuse.”
According to the autopsy report, Greenberg was covered in bruises in different stages of healing, implying she had received them over the course of some time.
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Greenberg’s parents also said that not long before her death, their daughter had wanted to leave her shared apartment with Goldberg and come home to their house in Harrisburg, adding that a psychiatrist, Dr. Ellen Berman, later diagnosed the 27-year-old with anxiety. Berman also noted that Greenberg did not have suicidal thoughts or feelings.
Dr. Cyril Wecht, a famed forensic pathologist who conducted an independent review of the autopsy, found the evidence “strongly suspicious of homicide.”
Wecht, who died in May, previously told Fox News Digital that after looking at the forensic evidence, he believed the idea that Greenberg could have died by suicide was “highly, highly unlikely.”
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Greenberg’s parents, along with outside investigators, have repeatedly raised concerns that police botched their response to her death and released the scene too early. They have also questioned why Goldberg’s uncle, James Schwartzman, was allowed to remove a number of items from the scene.
“Things were removed from the crime scene without our permission. The chain of custody was broken from the very beginning when Jim Schwartzman removed computers, electronics, my daughter’s handbag,” Greenberg’s father previously told Fox News Digital.
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A representative for Schwartzman, a judge in Pennsylvania, responded to these claims on his behalf, telling Fox News Digital that police gave Schwartzman permission to go in and take Greenberg’s belongings. He denied removing her handbag, but he confirmed he had removed her computers and cellphones.
Neither Goldberg nor Schwartzman have been charged with any wrongdoing in relation to Greenberg’s death.
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The Chester County District Attorney’s Office announced last month that after conducting its independent investigation, prosecutors are “currently unable to move forward with criminal charges.” They moved Greenberg’s case to an “inactive” status in Chester County but left it open to re-examine if they get new information.
In September, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments from the Greenbergs and their attorney.
“The Supreme Court is going to be deciding whether or not Sandee and I have standing. And that’s a real big thing … I mean, no one has ever gotten this far. … I know it’s taken almost 14 years, but it’s still a very important case,” Dr. Greenberg previously told Fox News Digital.
Philadelphia police did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. They have previously declined to discuss the case, citing the open investigation in Chester County and the ongoing civil litigation. Goldberg did not immediately respond for comment.
Fox News’ Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
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