Disclaimer: The article has mentions of stabbing.
The 14-year-old cold case of first-grade teacher Ellen Greenberg continues to haunt many even today. With her family and friends still seeking answers, the case seems to have reached a dead end.
For the unversed, the 27-year-old woman was discovered dead with multiple stab wounds at her Philadelphia apartment in 2011, while there was a raging blizzard outside. The nature of her death, over 20 brutal knife stabs, left everyone perplexed, and it was even more shocking when the medical examiner reclassified the case from possible homicide to suicide.
Well, it all dates back to the ill-fated events of January 26, 2011. Ellen Greenberg, a first-grade teacher, returned to her apartment after all schools in Philadelphia were closed due to a Nor’easter.
As per first-hand accounts, she changed, worked on pending student grades, and even washed some blueberries for a salad. Everything went on normally for Ellen. However, when her fiancé and TV producer Sam Goldberg returned upstairs after his gym session, things had already turned for the worse.
If you need evidence that it wasn’t a suicide beyond “nobody stabs themselves in the back of the fucking head 10 times,” you’re in luck. Gavin Fish has compiled about 1,200 pages of case documents through FOIA requests and years of work.https://t.co/WrtX3QCGWE
— Le Shitposteur (@LeMerdeposteur) September 23, 2025
Sam, who had stepped out for a workout at 4:45 PM, was unable to get back in since the door of their apartment was locked. He continuously texted and called Ellen for almost an hour before he decided to break in from a different side, only to find his fiancée lying unconscious in a pool of blood on her kitchen floor. Sam was shocked beyond measure to see blood tripping all over the white cabinets and immediately dialed 911 for help. As the dispatcher asked him to remove Ellen’s shirt and perform CPR to resuscitate her, Sam got a significant blow when he saw a 10-inch serrated knife sticking out of his fiancée’s chest.
“Oh my God! She stabbed herself. She fell on a knife. I don’t know. Her knife is sticking out.”– Those were Sam Goldberg’s haunting words to the dispatcher when he discovered Ellen. When the first-grade teacher was taken for autopsy, a total of 20 stab wounds were found all over her body, including some on her neck, spine, and the top of her head. There were a total of 11 bruises all over Ellen in different stages of healing. The medical examiner, Dr Marlone Osbourn, based on these results, categorized her death as a homicide.
Ellen Greenberg, a 27-year-old teacher, was found in her Philly apartment in 2011.
🔪 20 stab wounds
💥 11 bruises in different healing stages
🩸 Knife lodged in her chest pic.twitter.com/WHVaVA2KIs— Nightcap Crimes (@NightcapCrimes) September 22, 2025
Shockingly, Ellen Greenberg’s parents were given the final shock when, on April 4, 2011, Osbourn, due to unspecified reasons, changed the category of her death from homicide to suicide. It meant there would no longer be any criminal charges that would be filed in an attempt to nab the possible killer. Moreover, what turned the case even more baffling was that not a single investigation or suspect was directed towards Sam Goldberg, who was the only person besides Ellen living in the apartment.
Fast forward to now, and the cold case of Ellen Greenberg’s death has gotten a docu-series to its name. Titled “Death in Apartment 603: What Happened to Ellen Greenberg?”, it is produced by Nancy Schwartzman in partnership with Dakota and Elle Fanning’s production company, Lewellen Pictures. The three-part series will begin streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers.
ABC News Studio recently dropped the gripping trailer of the docu-series, which also features exclusive interviews with Ellen’s friends, parents, and other family members. It also grants rare access to the case file, including Sam Goldberg’s call recording when he dialed 911, along with real crime scene photos and much more.
