Ellen's death was ruled a suicide. She was found with 20 stab wounds.

On January 26, 2011, at 6:30pm, Sam Goldberg frantically called emergency services.

"I just walked into my apartment; my fiancée's on the floor with blood everywhere," he told the dispatcher.

Then, more than two minutes later, he added a detail that would haunt the case for more than a decade: "A knife was sticking out of Ellen's chest."

When the operator pressed him for clarification, he insisted, "She stabbed herself!" before revising his claim: "She fell on a knife."

The next day, Dr. Osbourne conducted an autopsy and noted something alarming: Ellen Greenberg, a 27-year-old school teacher, had suffered 20 stab wounds, including multiple to the back of her neck.

She also had 11 bruises in various stages of healing. Osbourne initially ruled her death a homicide, writing that she had been "stabbed by another person".

Yet the Philadelphia police saw things differently, and approached the case as a suicide from the outset. Their reasoning? Ellen had been found alone in her locked apartment, with no sign of forced entry.

"After Sam spoke with the detectives, they believed Ellen was experiencing mental health issues," a neighbour recalled from conversations that evening. "So instead of investigating this, they called it a suicide on scene."

The new Disney+ documentary Death in Apartment 603: What happened to Ellen Greenberg? investigates Ellen's death and raises serious questions about the investigation itself, including critical decisions around holding the crime scene and the ruling of suicide.

The docuseries features more than 20 new interviews with those who knew Ellen best, including close friends, family members, and her former students and colleagues.

Watch: Josh and Sandee fight for justice for their daughter Ellen Greenberg. Post continues after video.

At the time, investigators were so convinced of their theory of suicide that they released the scene without calling in the Crime Scene Unit.

"I remember a call coming in from Manayunk. It was mentioned that it was a suicide," Donna Jaconi, former Philadelphia CSI said.

"If it was to be a suicide, there was no reason to hold the scene. And so basically, we didn't go out." 

By the time they returned, the apartment had been professionally cleaned, erasing any potential evidence.

In fact, according to the property manager of the apartment, Sam's uncle had called and asked to retrieve some personal effects before the funeral. The property manager claimed that when she asked the police, they directed her to call a cleaning service to clean the apartment.

"The apartment is being professionally cleaned by a company called Crime Scene Cleanup. And the very next day, all of Ellen's electronic devices were taken by her fiancé's uncle, who's not even related to Ellen," the former assistant district attorney added.

Following discussions with law enforcement, Dr. Osbourne reversed his initial conclusion and changed Ellen's manner of death to "suicide".

But Ellen's parents, Josh and Sandee Greenberg, refused to accept it.

Determined to get answers, the Greenbergs sought out independent experts.

Cyril Wecht, a renowned forensic pathologist, deemed the case "strongly suspicious of homicide".

Another pathologist, Wayne Ross, pointed to a haemorrhage in Ellen's neck muscles, suggesting possible strangulation. He also noted her bruises were "consistent with a repeated beating".

A crime scene reconstructionist argued that Ellen's body appeared to have been moved post-mortem.

Image: Hulu

And then there was the apartment door — a crucial element in the police's suicide theory.

Initially, reports claimed that Goldberg had been accompanied by a security guard when he forced the door open, proving it was locked from the inside. But that narrative soon began to crumble.

The building manager, Melissa Ware, testified that the latch could swing shut on its own, meaning it wasn't necessarily locked. A security guard later said that he hadn't been present when Goldberg forced the door open.

Even phone records cast doubt on relatives' claims that they were on the line with Goldberg at the time.

For 14 years, the Greenbergs fought an uphill battle. In November 2024, Goldberg issued a statement to CNN, condemning what he deemed the "pathetic and despicable attempts to desecrate [his] reputation and her privacy by creating a narrative that embraces lies, distortions and falsehoods in order to avoid the truth. Mental illness is very real and has many victims."

Then, in a stunning turn of events, Dr Osbourne changed his stance yet again.

As part of a legal resolution with the Greenbergs, Osbourne signed a document stating that new information had led him to reconsider.

He wrote, "It is my professional opinion Ellen's manner of death should be designated as something other than suicide".

He specifically cited doubts about Goldberg's timeline, whether the door had truly been locked, and whether Ellen's body had been moved before police arrived.

Osbourne's reversal was a breakthrough for the Greenbergs, but it wasn't enough to force the city to change Ellen's official cause of death. He admitted that since he no longer held a Pennsylvania medical license, he had no authority to amend the death certificate himself.

Image: Hulu

As jury selection began for the Greenbergs' lawsuit against city officials, the case was suddenly resolved behind closed doors.

Former Chief Medical Examiner Sam Gulino and Detective John McNamee denied wrongdoing, and their attorneys declined to comment. Within hours, the jury was dismissed, and the Greenbergs' second lawsuit — which sought to change Ellen's cause of death — was also settled.

While the specifics of the settlement remain unclear, the Greenbergs felt a sense of closure.

"The Greenbergs have been fighting this for 14 years," said Will Trask, one of their attorneys. "They're exhausted. They spent their retirement on this case… All they wanted was for Dr Osbourne to admit that he was wrong, and that their daughter didn't kill herself. And that's what they got."

For Josh Greenberg, it was like breathing a sigh of relief.

"We fought very long to get this," he said. "To get justice for our daughter. And we did."

You can watch Death in Apartment 603: What happened to Ellen Greenberg? on Disney+.

Feature Image: Lamb McErlane Attorneys at Law.