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Philadelphia Medical Examiner Reaffirms Suicide Finding in 2011 Ellen Greenberg Case

The ruling follows a court-ordered reexamination stemming from the family’s settlement with the city.

Overview

  • Chief Medical Examiner Lindsay Simon issued a 32-page review concluding Greenberg could have self-inflicted the wounds despite their unusual distribution.
  • The report cites no signs of a struggle or intruder, no DNA other than Greenberg’s on the knife, and corroborated gym alibi evidence for her fiancé through surveillance and keycard records.
  • Simon notes Greenberg’s treated anxiety and recent insomnia medication as factors that could increase the energy to act on anxious thoughts.
  • Attorneys for Greenberg’s parents condemned the review as deeply flawed, pointing to 3D reconstructions, unexplained bruises, missing surveillance footage, and an intact lock as inconsistent with suicide.
  • The determination arrives just before a scheduled Oct. 14 court hearing and fulfills a reexamination required by a Feb. 2025 settlement, even as the original autopsy pathologist now says he no longer believes the death was a suicide.