[Twenty Wounds Behind a Locked Door]: The Suspicious Death of Ellen Greenberg

Ellen Greenberg was found with twenty stab wounds, including ten to the back of her neck, yet the case was closed as a suicide. She was in the middle of making a fruit salad for the next day when she died. The knife was found buried in her chest, but her hands were clean.

In this episode, we explore the impossible physics of a suicide involving wounds through a zipped hoodie, a swing-bar latch that can be opened from the outside, and a neuropathology report that simply does not exist. Was this a psychotic break during a blizzard, or a crime scene staged to look like one? The forensic evidence and the 911 call tell two completely different stories.

• Victim: Ellen Rae Greenberg, 27, first-grade teacher.
• Date: January 26, 2011.
• Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
• Case Status: Officially ruled a suicide, but currently under active court-ordered review as of late 2024.

• - Ellen sustained ten stab wounds to the back of her neck and head, an anatomically difficult feat for a suicide.
• - The knife was found embedded four inches deep in her chest, penetrating a zipped-up hoodie.
• - Fresh orange slices and blueberries were found on the counter, prepared minutes before her death.
• - The "locked" swing-bar latch on the door can be easily bypassed from the outside with a simple tool.
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Ellen Greenberg, Philadelphia cold case, Venetian Lofts death, suspicious suicide, forensic pathology, homicide investigation, Manayunk mystery, true crime English.