Twenty stab wounds.
It's the number that stops everyone in their tracks. When people first hear about the death of Ellen Greenberg, they usually do a double-take. They ask the same question: "How can someone stab themselves twenty times, including in the back of the head and neck, and have it called a suicide?"
Honestly, it sounds like the plot of a gritty noir film, but for Joshua and Sandee Greenberg, it’s been their reality since January 2011. The case involves a young teacher, a locked apartment, and her fiancé, Sam Goldberg. It is a story of a "suicide" that many experts say was physically impossible.
The Snowy Evening in Manayunk
The setting was Apartment 603 at the Venetian Social Club in Philadelphia. A blizzard was howling outside. Ellen, a 27-year-old first-grade teacher, had left work early because of the weather. Her fiancé, Sam Goldberg, told police he went to the building’s gym around 4:45 p.m. When he came back about 45 minutes later, he said the door was locked from the inside with a swing bar latch.
He knocked. He texted. He called. No answer.
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Eventually, Sam forced the door open. Inside, he found Ellen on the kitchen floor. A ten-inch serrated steak knife was plunged into her chest. He called 911, and the dispatcher told him to perform CPR. That’s when he says he realized the knife was there.
Police initially viewed it as a "standard" suicide. No signs of a struggle. No signs of an intruder. The door was latched from the inside. Case closed, right?
Not even close.
Why the Evidence Doesn't Add Up
When Dr. Marlon Osbourne performed the autopsy, he initially ruled it a homicide. He found 20 stab wounds. Ten were to the back of Ellen's neck and head. Others were to her stomach and chest. There were also 11 bruises in various stages of healing on her body.
Then things got weird.
After a meeting with police and prosecutors, Osbourne changed the ruling to suicide. The explanation? There were no defensive wounds on her hands. No evidence of a fight. They pointed to her history of anxiety and the fact that she was seeing a psychiatrist.
But forensic experts have been screaming "foul" for over a decade. Dr. Cyril Wecht, a world-famous pathologist, looked at the files and basically said he didn’t know how anyone could write this off as a suicide. One of the most chilling details is a wound that allegedly penetrated Ellen’s cranial cavity and touched her brain. Experts argue this would have likely incapacitated her, making it impossible for her to continue stabbing herself, let alone 19 more times.
Sam Goldberg: The Man in the Eye of the Storm
Sam Goldberg has spent years in a very difficult position. He was the only person there. He was the one who found her. For a long time, he stayed silent, living his life while the internet dissected his every move from that night.
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Critics point to small inconsistencies. For example, he originally said he was with a security guard when he broke down the door, but surveillance footage and the guard's own statement suggested he was alone. There's also the matter of his uncle, a high-profile attorney, who reportedly showed up and took Ellen’s electronics before the police fully processed everything.
Sam finally broke his silence in 2024. In an email to CNN, he called the attempts to link him to her death "despicable." He maintains that Ellen was struggling with mental illness and that her death was a tragic choice she made alone. To his supporters, he’s a victim of a horrific trauma who has been unfairly maligned by true crime sleuths. To the Greenbergs, he remains a key figure in a puzzle that doesn't fit.
The Recent Legal Rollercoaster
If you think this case is ancient history, you've got to look at what's happened just recently. In February 2025, the Greenbergs won a massive settlement. The City of Philadelphia agreed to re-investigate the case. Even Dr. Osbourne, the original pathologist, signed a statement saying he no longer agreed with the suicide ruling after seeing new evidence.
Everyone thought this was the turning point.
But in October 2025, the new Chief Medical Examiner, Lindsay Simon, released a 32-page report. She stuck to the suicide ruling. She admitted the injuries were "admittedly unusual" but claimed Ellen was capable of doing it. She even suggested that the "defect" in the spinal cord might have been caused by a probe during the autopsy rather than the knife.
The Greenbergs' attorney, Joseph Podraza, didn't hold back. He called the report "tripe" and an insult. He argued that the city is basically circling the wagons to protect itself from a massive liability lawsuit.
What Actually Happens Next?
The legal battle in Philadelphia might be "closed" according to the city, but the Greenbergs are done with Philly. They are now looking toward state and federal authorities.
The case of Ellen Greenberg and Sam Goldberg has become a symbol of the "Blue Wall of Silence" for some and a tragic lesson in mental health for others. But the physical evidence—those 20 wounds—isn't going anywhere.
If you're following this, the next steps are likely to happen outside of the local jurisdiction:
- Federal Intervention: The family is pushing for a federal civil rights investigation into how the case was handled.
- Independent Forensics: Digital recreations (photogrammetry) of the wounds continue to be the primary weapon for the family, aiming to prove the "impossible" nature of the suicide.
- Legislative Shifts: This case has sparked talk in Pennsylvania about "Ellen’s Law," which would give families more power to challenge medical examiner rulings.
The truth is somewhere in that locked apartment. Whether it ever comes out officially is a different story altogether. For now, the best thing you can do is look at the source documents—the autopsy photos and the 911 transcripts—rather than just the headlines. Nuance is everything here.