A Stunning Reversal: How the Seemingly Obvious Murder of Ellen Rae Greenberg was Later Ruled A Suicide
Shortly after 27-year-old Ellen Greenberg was found brutally stabbed to death in her Philadelphia apartment, her death was ruled a homicide. Yet months later, it was unexplainably changed to suicide
This article is the first in a two-part series about the mysterious and controversial death of Ellen Rae Greenberg
On January 26th, 2011, Ellen Rae Greenberg, a 27-year-old elementary school teacher in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was found dead in her 6th-floor apartment. Ellen’s fiancé, Sam Goldberg, placed the 911 call shortly after 6:30 p.m. Sam had been at the gym on the first floor, while Ellen stayed in their apartment after coming home from work early due to a snowstorm.
Sam said he had come back from the gym to find the door locked from the inside, and after an hour of trying to get in, decided to break the lock and force his way in. Inside the apartment was a horrific scene. Ellen had suffered 20 stab wounds, some to the back of her neck and head, and some to her chest, where the knife was still embedded. Despite this, authorities ruled her death a suicide.
There is far more to this case than meets the eye, and it has been the subject of multiple lawsuits and ongoing allegations involving many prominent figures in the city and the state. What really happened to Ellen Rae Greenberg? The answer depends on who you ask.
Ellen Greenberg
Ellen Rae Greenberg was born in New York City on June 23rd, 1983, the only child of Josh and Sandee Greenberg. After Ellen was born, the family relocated to Pennsylvania, settling in the state capital of Harrisburg. Ellen was always sweet and bubbly, and friends and family describe her with great fondness.
Ellen would go on to study at Penn State University, where she graduated with a degree in communications. Though Ellen had initially intended to become a speech pathologist, she later felt a calling to become a teacher. Ellen moved to Philadelphia and began taking courses in the evenings to earn her teaching credentials from Temple University.
While living in Philadelphia, Ellen met Samuel Goldberg on a blind date. The pair started dating around 2007, and in 2010, Sam proposed on the beach in California. Ellen began working hard on planning the wedding shortly after.
In late 2010, Ellen was trying on wedding dresses. By mid-January, she had sent out their save-the-date cards to friends and family. The pair were set to be wed on August 13th, 2011, at the Hotel Hershey near where Ellen grew up. At the time, Ellen was three years into her teaching career, teaching first grade at Juniata Park Academy, and Sam was a producer working with NBC Sports.
Ellen reported being under a lot of stress at work, coupled with the stress of planning her wedding, and she was experiencing some anxiety and trouble sleeping. Her parents encouraged her to see a psychiatrist, which she did. Ellen began seeing Dr. Ellen Berman at her father’s recommendation.
Dr. Berman believed Ellen may be suffering from an adjustment disorder with anxiety. After assessing Ellen’s mental state and current issues, Dr. Berman prescribed Ellen anti-anxiety medication and medication to treat her difficulty sleeping. Ellen began taking the medications as prescribed, and she kept a medical diary documenting her moods and experience with the medication.
January 26, 2011
On January 26th, a nor’easter snowstorm was about to plunge Philadelphia into blizzard-like conditions. With inclement weather coming, Ellen’s school dismissed early for the day.
She left school in the early afternoon, stopping at a gas station near her apartment in Manayunk to fill up at 1:26 p.m., according to a receipt. Just after 1:32 p.m., Ellen scanned her keycard to enter the Venice Lofts parking garage. Sam also came home early that day, arriving about 20 minutes after Ellen.
The events of the next few hours are not perfectly clear, but phone records and surveillance footage provide some insights. At 2:30 p.m., Ellen placed a short phone call to a local restaurant, which lasted approximately 30 seconds. Ellen had been on her computer entering student grades and texting with friend Alycia Young throughout the afternoon. At 3:47 p.m., Ellen sent her final text to Alycia. This was the last time anyone would ever hear from her.
Shortly before 5 p.m., Sam was seen on the apartment building's surveillance footage entering the gym on the first floor. He remained in the gym for around 30 minutes, then walked back through the lobby, grabbed what appears to be the mail, and entered the elevator to go back up to their apartment.
A little over 30 minutes later, Sam returned to the lobby, and sometime after this, he spoke with Phillip Hanton, an employee of Venice Lofts, and explained that he was locked out of his apartment.
Sam further explained that the door is locked from the inside- these apartments had both a standard lock, which Sam could open using his key, and a latch lock, like the ones seen in many hotel rooms. Sam said the latch was engaged from the inside, and he was unable to enter the unit as he could not reach his fiancée.
Before he spoke with Hanton, Sam had called Ellen multiple times and sent her a series of texts, ranging from a simple “Hello” and “open the door” to a more aggressive “I’m getting pissed” and “you better have an excuse.” His final text to Ellen read, “u have no idea.”
Phillip Hanton could have helped Sam force his way inside or otherwise open the latch, but doing so would violate property policy. Instead, Hanton offered to call Ellen’s cell phone from the front desk, which he did multiple times between 6:07 and 6:10 p.m., all of which went unanswered. Three minutes after coming downstairs, Sam re-entered the elevator alone.
After this, Sam called his cousin, Kamian Schwartzman, who was a local attorney. A few minutes after that call, Sam is seen exiting the elevator into the building lobby once more. Surveillance footage shows Sam talking on the phone with someone, and phone records revealed that this call came from the landline of his uncle, James Schwartzman, a very prominent attorney in Philadelphia and father of Kamien.
Sam then briefly walks around the lobby while chatting; the call lasts 1 minute and 12 seconds. After ending the call, Sam gets back on the elevator and goes upstairs one final time.
911 Call
At 6:33 p.m., dispatch received a 911 call from Sam Goldberg. He began the call asking for help, stating that he had just walked into his apartment and his fiancée was on the floor with blood everywhere.
The dispatcher probed for more information, and Sam said that he was unable to tell where she was bleeding from. Sam went on to say that he couldn’t see anything, that there was nothing broken, and that he thought Ellen had hit her head, emphasizing again that there was blood everywhere.
The dispatcher asked Sam to look at Ellen’s chest to see if she was breathing. Sam said Ellen was on her back and that he did not see her moving. The dispatcher asked Sam if he knew CPR, and when he said he didn’t, she asked if he was willing to attempt CPR until medics arrived on scene. Sam replied, “I- I have to, right?”
As the dispatcher instructed Sam on how to lie Ellen down and begin CPR, she suggested removing Ellen’s shirt. Sam said he couldn’t remove her shirt because it was a zippered top. Then, Sam suddenly exclaimed, “Oh my god, she stabbed herself!”
Alarmed, the dispatcher asked where the stab wound was located, to which Sam replied, “She fell on a knife. I don’t know. Her knife is sticking out. There’s a knife sticking out of her heart.”
Pronounced Dead
A few minutes later, first responders arrived on scene. Ellen was found lying on the kitchen floor, partially propped up with her head and shoulders resting against the cabinets. A serrated steak knife with an approximately 5-inch blade was embedded in the left side of her chest. Ellen was wearing a zippered top, sweatpants, and UGG brand boots. At 6:40 p.m., Ellen Greenberg was pronounced dead at the scene.
Bloodstains were evident in the area around her body, with more blood found on cabinets, the countertop, and spattered on Ellen’s clothing. Her glasses were lying next to her, and a white towel was clutched in her left hand. In the early morning hours, her body was taken from the apartment to the office of the Philadelphia Medical Examiner for an autopsy.
