Family of Ellen Greenberg stabbed 20 times in a 'suicide' demand Philadelphia mayor reopen the case

The family of a teacher who was found brutally stabbed in her home in what was deemed a suicide by authorities have demanded that the city's mayor reopen her case amid claims the governor had a conflict of interest.

Ellen Greenberg was 27 years old when her fiancé Sam Goldberg found her dead in the kitchen of her Philadelphia apartment on January 26, 2011; she had 20 stab wounds, including 10 to the back of the head and neck.

Her parents have been on a journey ever since to get what they say would be justice for their daughter, who they claim was being abused by Goldberg - whose family allegedly donated to then-attorney general Josh Shapiro, now the state's governor.

Ellen's father Dr. Josh Greenberg told Fox News Digital his daughter had injuries on her body 'consisted with abuse.'

'That's what I think the whole issue of this story,' the grieving father added. 'Somebody didn't want Ellen's abuse to get out there … and that's why she's dead.'

Ellen Greenberg was 27 years old when her iancé Sam Goldberg found her dead in the kitchen of her Philadelphia apartment on January 26, 2011

Ellen's father Dr. Josh Greenberg said his daughter had injuries on her body 'consisted with abuse.' Ellen is pictured with fiancé Sam Goldberg

Ellen's parents, Joshua and Sandee believe their daughter was killed and have spent years dedicated to finding out the truth behind her death 

Back in 2022, independent journalist Gavin Fish claimed in a YouTube video that then AG Shapiro had a 'clear conflict of interest' in the case and that Goldberg's family were campaign donors. Then-AG Shapiro recused himself from the case three days after the video was published, as reported by Fox News.

At the time, the AG's office denied the conflict of interest was real.

'While the Office of Attorney General does not have an actual conflict in this matter, circumstances beyond our control have created the appearance of a conflict and our involvement is no longer serving one of the primary purposes of the District Attorney’s original conflict referral,' Shapiro's office told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

This month, Dr Greenberg claimed Ellen's autopsy report said she suffered a huge laceration in the back of her head and that she was covered in bruises in different stages of healing. 

'That's what I think the whole issue of this story,' he told Fox News Digital. 'Somebody didn't want Ellen's abuse to get out there … and that's why she's dead.' 

Ellen's death was initially ruled a homicide but the medical examiner's office then changed it to suicide after a meeting with police and prosecutors, per her family.

A petition asking mayor Jim Kenney to to reopen and investigate Ellen’s case has collected more than 150,000 signatures.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the offices of mayor Kenney and governor Shapiro.

Officials have for years said they have found no evidence of foul play in Ellen's death.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner also previously recused himself from reinvestigating the death after having previously worked with the Greenbergs.

The family commissioned a photogrammetry recreating each of Ellen's 20 stab wounds

Then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro (pictured) recused himself from the case after a journalist claimed the Goldberg family had donated to his campaign

A petition asking mayor Jim Kenney (pictured) to to reopen and investigate Ellen’s case has collected more than 150,000 signatures

Greenberg had 10 stab wounds to the neck and back of the head, with an additional 10 to her stomach, abdomen, and chest. A knife was still plunged into her heart. 

At the time, police claimed that the door of Greenberg's apartment was locked from the inside and there were no signs of a struggle.

Goldberg told investigators he came home in 2011, kicked the door, and found his fiancé dead with a knife clinging to her chest.

In a chilling 911 call, he told police Greenberg had stabbed herself. 'Help!... My fiancé's on the floor with blood everywhere.'

He later added, 'I can't see anything... there's nothing broken... Ellie!... I think she hit her head.'

'Oh my god! She stabbed herself... she fell on a knife... there is a knife sticking out of her heart.'

The Chester County District Attorney's Office began an outside investigation into Ellen's death last year, but now governor Shapira had been sitting on the case for years while he was attorney general.

'He stole four years from us, holding the case in his office, and we have no evidence of him doing anything,' said Ellen's mother Sandee Greenberg.

Then-AG Shapiro's office, however, previously said it had undertaken 'an exhaustive review and conducted new forensic analysis' but their additional efforts did not bring 'more closure to the questions around [Ellen's] death.'

Chester County officials have said their investigation into the case is ongoing.

The Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General alleged that several death and suicide- related searches has been performed on Greenberg's laptop in the weeks leading up to her death.

Photogrammetry showed the size, depth, and length of each stab wound, with the creators concluding that all of them could not have been self-inflicted

The duo lived together in a luxury Philadelphia apartment. Ellen had asked multiple people to move in with them before she died 

But a lawyer hired by the Goldbergs said the hard-drive was subsequently examined by the FBI lab in 2011 and no such searches were found.

The family also commissioned a photogrammetry recreating each of Ellen's 20 stab wounds.

It showed the size, depth, and length of each stab wound, with the creators concluding that all of them could not have been self-inflicted - particularly the ones to the back of Greenberg's neck and head. 

In the weeks prior to her death, Greenbergs parents, Josh and Sandee, said something had been troubling their daughter.

However, they did not believe she was suicidal.

A couple of weeks before her death Greenberg told her parents that she wanted to quit her job and 'come home.' They said she could come home if she needed to, but they wanted her to seek help for her anxiety.

She told them it was the stress of organizing a wedding – she was due to marry that August and had sent out 'Save the Date' cards just four days before her death - and that work was particularly busy.

Her father said, 'Something was amiss. Her personality was changed. She played it off that work was too much but when the teacher who took on Ellen's class saw her books and marking she said everything was perfect.'

Greenberg saw a therapist who prescribed her Ambien and Klonopin for anxiety. Police pointed to this as further support for a finding of suicide. But psychiatrist Dr Ellen Berman, who saw Greenberg three times before her death, was clear that her new patient was not suicidal.

Samuel Goldberg is now 40 and a married father of two living in New York. He remained in contact with the family for a year or so following Greenberg's death.