Dr. Lindsay Simon, the chief medical examiner for the city of Philadelphia, has found Ellen Greenberg’s death to be a suicide.
Hulu miniseries Death in Apartment 603: What Happened to Ellen Greenberg? recently brought to light the unusual circumstances surrounding Greenberg’s death. The three-part documentary series also served among the “Materials Reviewed” for Dr. Simon to reach her conclusion.
Greenberg’s death is unusual for a suicide. She was found dead in early 2011 by her fiancé, Sam Goldberg, with a knife sticking out of her chest, 20 noted stab wounds (three more incisions would be found later by Simon) and 11 contusions. That doesn’t sound like a suicide, but one piece of evidence overruled foul play — Greenberg and Goldberg’s shared apartment door had been latched from the inside.
Goldberg had to physically break through the latch to find Greenberg in the kitchen. There were no signs of struggle in the apartment, no valuables missing and no one else’s DNA (including Goldberg’s) on the knife protruding from Greenberg’s torso. Their apartment building had 24/7 security and was equipped with several cameras, which captured footage of Goldberg’s alibi — a visit to the gym. Though really it was the logistics of the door latch that led first responders to their conclusion.
There were no cameras in the hallways to capture Goldberg forcibly entering their apartment. Cell phone records show Goldberg called and texted Greenberg asking her to unlatch the door dozens of times. Greenberg’s death was ruled a suicide on the scene, a decision that did not preserve the apartment properly for additional study.
Greenberg had a history of emotional struggles, primarily anxiety. Greenberg, a young teacher, had been feeling especially anxious about getting grades in by a deadline. She expressed the feelings with various individuals, and there was no evidence of domestic violence or other issues between Greenberg and Goldberg. Goldberg has since married and started a family; he declined to participate in the Hulu miniseries.
Greenberg’s family and friends did not accept the ruling of suicide, and an autopsy agreed with them. Subsequent reports from various consultants were a mixed bag, with some finding homicide and others suicide. The consultants’ reports were also among Simon’s reviewed materials.
Simon’s report found no defensive wounds on Greenberg’s body, which was consistent with other reports, and identified numerous “hesitation wounds” — shallow incisions consistent with being initial attempts at self harm. Hesitation wounds are exploratory, for lack of a better word, neither deep nor (in most cases) deadly.
Greenberg’s stab wounds were all on her posterior head/neck, right neck and central front torso, Simon found. “While the distribution of injuries is admittedly unusual, the fact remains that Ellen would be capable of inflicting these injuries herself,” she wrote.
“With all of the information considered … Greenberg’s death is best classified as ‘Suicide,’” Simon concluded.
