Philadelphia medical examiner to reopen Ellen Greenberg case after settlement with parents
The Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office has agreed to reopen and review Ellen Greenberg's death, a legal victory for her parents, Joshua and Sandra Greenberg, who brought a lawsuit against several former city employees for emotional distress.
Joshua and Sandra Greenberg broke down outside the Philadelphia courtroom Monday, clasping their daughter's photo and overcome with emotion.
The couple, now living in Florida, left Philadelphia City Hall after settling their emotional distress case with a former chief medical examiner and a police detective.
"I'm speaking to the world," Joshua Greenberg said. "Ellen did not commit suicide."
In a last-minute deal before jury selection, city lawyers and the Greenbergs reached an agreement the medical examiner would reopen the investigation into their daughter Ellen Greenberg's 2011 death.
This comes after a blitz of developments this weekend, where the former city pathologist who performed Ellen Greenberg's autopsy backed away from his ruling that she died by suicide. That man, named Dr. Marlon Osbourne, provided an affidavit writing Ellen Greenberg's death should be something other than suicide.
Joe Podraza represents the Greenbergs, saying these developments move the pursuit of justice forward.
"We would like to find out who the murderer or murderers is/are," Podraza said. "We are going to pursue that."
Their case that was about to be heard Monday alleged city officials conspired to cover up a botched police investigation into Ellen Greenberg's death. The Philadelphia school teacher had been stabbed 20 times inside the Manayunk apartment she shared with her fiancé. Private investigators hired by the Greenbergs uncovered evidence that showed at least one of her wounds was inflicted after she was dead.
"She did not commit suicide," Joshua Greenberg said. "There's nobody in the world who can say Ellen committed suicide. And that's the most important thing. There's nothing else more important."
Attorneys said the investigation may now be handed over to state prosecutors or the FBI.
For this distraught mother and father, the city will also compensate them an undisclosed amount of money, reimbursing them for what they spent on investigating their own daughter's death.
"There's no Mother's Day," Sandra Greenberg said. "There's no Father's Day. But I hope today, we made Ellen proud of us."
Attorneys for the Greenbergs say as part of the settlement, the medical examiner has agreed to undertake its review of Ellen Greenberg's death quickly.
Attorneys for the city declined to comment when leaving court.
