Doctor who ruled Ellen Greenberg's death a suicide now says the ruling should be changed

PHILADELPHIA — The pathologist who ruled Ellen Greenberg's 2011 death by 20 stab wounds a homicide then switched it to suicide, said he now believes her death "should be designated as something other than suicide."

That admission from Marlon Osbourne — the former assistant medical examiner with the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office who conducted Greenberg's autopsy — came in a sworn statement he signed Friday as part of a settlement agreement in one of two civil lawsuits Greenberg's parents, Joshua and Sandra, are currently fighting in court.

" ... [B]ased on my consideration of the new information brought to my attention after leaving my position as Medical Examiner for the City of Philadelphia, along with my original autopsy findings and information considered while I was actively involved in Ellen's case, it is my professional opinion Ellen's manner of death should be designated as something other than suicide," Osbourne said in his sworn statement.

The Greenbergs' attorney, Joseph Podraza Jr., said his clients didn't request monetary damages from Osbourne, who now works for a pathology practice in Florida. What was "of greater value to the Greenbergs," Podraza said, was Osbourne's "acknowledgment that the manner of death should not be suicide."

"It's a tremendous statement by Dr. Osbourne, as far as I'm concerned, and a courageous one," Podraza said in an interview Sunday. "The only thing unfortunate about it is how late in time it came. It should have come earlier, but we are grateful he has done the right thing."

Filed in 2022, the lawsuit alleges the investigation into Ellen Greenberg's death was "deeply botched" and subsequently resulted in a "cover-up" by Philadelphia authorities. Podraza filed the suit, which seeks monetary damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress, against several city employees who were involved in the investigation.

'180 degrees'

At a lengthy hearing in December, attorneys from the Philadelphia Law Department, which represents three of the defendants, and outside attorneys for two other defendants, including Osbourne, argued for the case to be dismissed during a summary judgment hearing before Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Erdos.

Erdos immediately granted summary judgment for one defendant but withheld his ruling on the other four, including Osbourne and the three defendants represented by city attorneys — former Chief Medical Examiner Sam Gulino; retired Homicide Sgt. Tim Cooney; and Homicide Detective John McNamee.

On Friday, Erdos rendered his verdict, granting summary judgment for Cooney, but allowing the cases against Osbourne, Gulino, and McNamee to move forward.

Now that Osbourne has settled, Gulino and McNamee are the only defendants left. On Friday, a spokesperson for the city law department said attorneys were "still assessing the order and our next steps" and that the department would not comment as litigation remains ongoing.

Podraza said it's his understanding the city intends to defend the case at trial. Jury selection is slated for Monday with opening arguments set for Tuesday.

"Finally, the issuing pathologist has changed his position 180 degrees. It's consistent with what the Greenbergs have been contending all along, and somehow the city does not find it within its heart to do the right thing but instead just continues to inflict great emotional distress upon them?" Podraza said. "It's sad and it's sick."

Greenberg's death

Greenberg, 27, a first-grade teacher at Juniata Park Academy, was found by her fiance, Samuel Goldberg, in the kitchen of their Venice Lofts apartment in Manayunk with a 10-inch knife lodged into her chest on Jan. 26, 2011.

Investigators on the scene treated her death as a suicide because Goldberg told them the apartment door was locked from the inside and he had to break it down to get in. There were no signs of an intruder and Greenberg had no defensive wounds, police have said.

But the next morning at her autopsy, Osbourne discovered a total of 20 stab wounds to Greenberg's body, including 10 to the back of her neck, along with 11 bruises in various stages of healing, and ruled her death a homicide.

Police publicly disputed the findings and Osbourne later changed his ruling to suicide. The Greenbergs subsequently retained numerous independent forensic experts who have questioned authorities' findings, as first detailed in a March 2019 Inquirer report.

In the 2022 suit, Podraza and the Greenbergs allege police "embarrassingly botched" their investigation at the scene on the night of Ellen Greenberg's death and that a "contemptible conspiracy" has continued for more than 14 years since to cover it up.

The suit alleges that investigators took Goldberg at his word that his fiancee's death was a suicide and they did not call the Crime Scene Unit or secure the scene. The following day, police approved a cleaning service to sanitize the apartment, a service that was paid for by members of Goldberg's family, and they allowed Goldberg's relatives to enter the apartment and remove items from it, including a cell phone and two laptop computers belonging to Greenberg, which police later requested back as evidence, according to the suit.

When Osbourne ruled the death a homicide, homicide investigators had to investigate a scene that was already cleaned and compromised and they "had to convince the MEO (or enlist their help) to change Ellen's manner of death to suicide to avoid exposing their botched investigation," the suit contends.

Reasons for change

In his sworn statement Friday, Osbourne said he changed his initial ruling from homicide to suicide based on evaluation of the case file, additional information provided to him by police, and a consultation he claims he obtained from an outside neuropathologist (though no record of that consultation exists and Podraza still contends it did not happen).

Osbourne's statement said he's since become aware of information that draws his suicide ruling into question, including whether someone witnessed Goldberg breaking the door down, whether it was broken down at all, whether Greenberg's body was moved, and whether two cuts to her spinal column could have been administered after she died.

While he believes the ruling should be changed, Osbourne said in his statement that "It is my understanding that I am no longer empowered to amend Ellen's death certificate myself because I no longer maintain a Pennsylvania medical license and am no longer employed by the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office."

Podraza contends, as he has all along, that Osbourne does have the power to change his ruling under Pennsylvania code.

"But we didn't believe it worth a fight because the bottom line is that's a skirmish, we wanted the war, and the war is him conceding this should not be a suicide," he said.

Requests for comment to Osbourne's lawyer, Marc B. Bailkin, were not returned.

The first civil suit

Podraza believes the city Medical Examiner's Office should change the death certificate in light of Osbourne's statement, but if that doesn't happen, the Greenbergs' first civil lawsuit, which is up for a hearing before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania later this year, could pave the way.

Filed in 2019 against Osbourne and the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office, that suit — which is being defended by the city's law department — seeks to have the manner of Ellen Greenberg's death changed from suicide back to homicide or undetermined.

Podraza said he believes Osbourne's new statement will "help us tremendously" in both ongoing lawsuits.

"The predominant reason is that it gives credence from the other side that Ellen's death is not a suicide," he said. "The refusal to date of the defendants to not follow Osbourne's action of saying this is not a suicide really demonstrates their lack of regard for the Greenbergs or any other citizens."