Ellen Greenberg's parents and their attorneys are demanding accountability after a district attorney's office decided not to pursue 'move forward' in the case of the 27-year-old teacher, who was found stabbed 20 times, was ruled a suicide, instead asserting that the investigation was incomplete and failed to address critical evidence that points to murder.
They say it was not a thorough investigation and "they did not investigate the core issues which we have raised which establish Ellen was murdered," according to an X post by Newsnation's Brian Entin.
Ellen Greenberg's parents lawyers react to DA decision not to move forward with criminal case. They say it was not a thorough investigation and "they did not investigate the core issues which we have raised which establish Ellen was murdered." pic.twitter.com/LieUtvB9hj
— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) November 8, 2024
On Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, the Chester County District Attorney's Office declared that they were unable to establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a crime had occurred, leading them to classify the investigation as inactive, according to NBC Philadelphia.
"This standard of proof—beyond a reasonable doubt—makes the criminal investigation different than other legal cases or issues that surround Ms. Greenberg's death," a spokesperson for the Chester County District Attorney's Office wrote. "Because we cannot meet our burden of proof with the information and evidence presently available, we placed this investigation in an inactive status."
Joseph Podraza Jr., the attorney for Greenberg's parents, issued a statement in reaction to the Chester County District Attorney's Office's decision.
"Our conviction about Ellen having been murdered does not change due to the announcement by the Chester County District Attorney's Office. Admittedly, the investigation conducted by the Chester County District Attorney's Office was extremely limited and constrained. The Office told us that they did not investigate the core issues which we have raised which establish Ellen was murdered, and that evidence remains unchallenged. The independent forensic expert who they said they consulted during the course of the investigation was similarly bounded by his own limited background, an undergraduate degree in entomology (the study of insects) and a masters in criminal justice, but no medical school training, nor any training in the specialty of forensic pathology, both of which are necessary in order to competently assess the evidence uncovered in this case to date.
On January 26, 2011, the 27-year-old was discovered dead in the kitchen of her apartment on Flat Rock Road in Philadelphia by her fiancé. The first-grade teacher had been stabbed 20 times, NBC Philadelphia also revealed.
Both the Philadelphia Police and the District Attorney's Office conducted investigations into her death. The police initially classified it as a suicide, citing the locked apartment door and the absence of defensive wounds on her boyfriend, who claimed to have found her after breaking down the door.
Philadelphia's Medical Examiner, Marlon Osbourne, originally ruled the death a homicide, pointing to the numerous stab wounds, including 10 to the back of the neck. However, after police publicly disputed the findings, Osbourne reversed the ruling to suicide without offering an explanation.
