Pennsylvania Supreme Court to Hear Case on Contested Ruling of Ellen Greenberg’s Death

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will hear arguments from the family of Ellen Greenberg, a beloved Philadelphia educator whose death in 2011 was officially ruled a suicide. Greenberg, a 27-year-old teacher at Juniata Park Academy, was found dead in her Manayunk apartment with over 20 stab wounds. Her parents have long contended that her death was not a suicide and have sought to overturn the official ruling, arguing that the investigation was mishandled.

"We don't believe our daughter committed suicide," Ellen's father, Joshua Greenberg, stated in an interview with Joe Holden last year.

After years of legal battles, the case has now reached Pennsylvania’s highest court. "The Pennsylvania Supreme Court only takes cases which it decides are significant enough from a social standpoint for it to consider," attorney Joe Podraza said in an interview with WHP-TV, a CBS-affiliated station in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The case was pending for about six or seven months before the attorneys were notified it was taking the case.

The court will hear arguments on a critical question posed by Podraza: "Whether coroners and medical examiners have absolute power, or can they be challenged when the evidence shows they are not only mistaken but grossly mistaken."

A neuropathologist hired by the city of Philadelphia testified that Greenberg was likely not alive when at least one of the stab wounds was inflicted. This finding suggests that the wound was inflicted posthumously. The neuropathologist noted there was no evidence of hemorrhage in her spinal tissue, which Podraza argues warrants changing the cause of death on Greenberg's death certificate from suicide to homicide or "cannot be determined," thus requiring further investigation. Podraza emphasized the broader implications of the case, stating, "How authorities rule on someone's death has a major impact."

"Compensation as a victim of a crime, you are compensated if it's a homicide rather than a suicide. For every citizen in this commonwealth, this case could potentially have a bearing at some point in their life or the lives of their family members, that's how important it is," he added.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office reviewed the case in 2019 and ruled the death a suicide. In 2022, the office under then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro reaffirmed that ruling after reviewing the case again between December 2021 and January 2022.

The case has garnered significant public attention, with more than 160,000 people signing a petition on Change.org asking for Greenberg's death certificate to be changed.

The news that the case would be heard by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court brought immense relief to Greenberg's parents. Podraza recounted, "The parents' lives have been turned upside down and frankly, they've been tortured over these 13 years in which the authorities have stonewalled them and done everything possible not to listen to what the parents are saying as to why their daughter did not commit suicide."

"It has worn both of them down," he added. With the case now on a briefing schedule, attorneys will start filing documents and making their arguments to the court. Podraza mentioned that the process could take over a year to play out.

"There are cases where issues arise which are strange, and they should not be pushed or brushed under the rug. And they should be looked at closely because everybody deserves justice under our system," Podraza said.

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