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Philadelphia has settled with the parents of Ellen Greenberg, a teacher found dead in 2011 with 20 stab wounds. The city’s medical examiner will re-examine the manner of death, which was initially ruled a suicide.
The settlement comes after a judge allowed the Greenbergs’ 2022 lawsuit against the city to proceed to trial. Dr.
Marlon Osbourne, the forensic pathologist who ruled Greenberg’s death a suicide, has since backtracked, stating he now believes the manner of death should be something other than suicide. Osbourne initially ruled the death a homicide before changing it to suicide after a private meeting with police.
The Greenbergs’ lawsuit alleges a cover-up and conspiracy to disguise their daughter’s homicide as a suicide. The settlement amount remains undisclosed.
The case has been fraught with controversy, including questions about the handling of the crime scene. It was professionally cleaned before detectives arrived with a search warrant. Additionally, Greenberg’s fiancé’s uncle, a prominent judge, removed personal items from the apartment, including her computer and cellphone, before the police search.
The Greenbergs have been fighting the suicide ruling for years. A separate lawsuit filed in 2019 seeking to change the death certificate to “homicide” or “undetermined” is pending before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.