Philly judge slams city for slow-walk of medical reexamination in case of woman stabbed 20 times and ruled suicide under then-AG Josh Shapiro

In the case of Ellen Greenberg's death, which was ruled a homicide then switched to suicide after she died in 2011 with 20 stab wounds to her back and front, a settlement with the city and Greenberg's family demanded that the medical examiner’s office in Philadelphia conduct a “expeditious” reexamination of Greenberg's death. However, five months after that settlement agreement was signed, the office has not been able to complete the reevaluation, leading to Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Linda Carpenter slamming the city attorney Michael Pestrak and the city solicitor’s office in a remote court hearing on Wednesday.

"It’s ridiculous and you obviously just don’t care and that’s probably why the Greenbergs are so frustrated, because if the city cared, expedited means a week or 10 days,” Carpenter said, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Now so much time has gone by how will they have any faith that it was done fairly? Justice delayed is justice denied.”

During the hearing, Carpenter considered conducting a hearing to change Greenberg's cause of death on the woman's death certificate to "undetermined" from "homicide" herself. “Why don’t I put this back on the trial list, say the settlement hasn’t happened, there’s been a breach of the settlement?”

After Joseph Podraza Jr, who represents Greenberg's parents, Carpenter, and Pestrak met in a private room for more than half an hour, the judge agreed to continue the case until October 14. “We’ll see where we are then,” she added. “I’ve heard the city. I understand that there has been a process that’s been going on and while I did express some concern that it wasn’t as expeditious as the court thinks expeditious means, I do understand that there are other things that go on in the city.”

Greenberg, 27 at the time of her death, was found with over 20 stab wounds in the back of her neck. The case has grown to be controversial in recent years, and her fiancé at the time, Samuel Goldberg, claims that she died by suicide and was suffering with mental illness. At the time, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro, had backed the claim that it was a suicide.

Goldberg called 911 on January 6, 2011, to report that Greenberg was on the floor and there was "blood everywhere" at 6:31 pm. He had told authorities that he went to the gym beforehand, but when he returned to his apartment, the door was locked, and he could not open it. He said that he could not contact Greenberg by phone, so he broke down the door. However, according to a letter cited by reporter Gavin Fish, Goldberg called his cousin, Kamian Schwartzman, and missed a couple of calls from his uncle, James Schwartzman, in the minutes leading up to the call with authorities. Both family members, who are lawyers, arrived as early as 6:34 pm, according to the letter, but later told authorities they came around 7:30 pm.

In 2024, Pennlive also reported Greenberg's "body was slumped against a kitchen cabinet in a seated position. However, an attorney for Ellen's parents said in court ... that her body had been moved." A pathologist who spoke to CNN also said that he found evidence of strangulation when he reviewed the autopsy materials in the case.