Death Investigation Report by Stephen Olszewski:  Read Report

8:27 PM: Detective arrived to the scene at 20:27 and was met by Fifth District Police, Snipes 6358 and Young 6960, holding the log. NWDD Sgt. Ferguson 446, Det Veal 9216 and Det Reve 9020, the assigned. DC 11-05- 001577. Homicide Sierra 9103 and Peters 851 arrived a short time later.

The decedents fiancé Samuel Goldberg DOB along with his family and some friends are also present.

• Ellen’s body was found on the hardwood kitchen floor, located just inside the door entrance.
• The decedent is found supine with her head and some of her upper body/shoulders resting against the lower half of the white kitchen cabinets next to the range.
• Her body, starting with the head is facing north and the legs west.
• She is clad in a zipper up dark colored shirt over-top a t-shirt, grey sweatpants, underwear, and light brown UGG boots.
• A pair of eyeglasses are on the floor to the right of the decedent.
• A white towel is grasped in her left hand.
• A hair tie or scrunchie is on her right wrist.
• There are no personal effects on the body.

Upon further examination of the body, the decedent has a knife embedded in her left chest, through her clothing. There are multiple stab wounds examined at the scene; at the chest where the knife is located, a few superficial grouped nearby, one to the left upper chest near the clavicle, 2 more at the mid chest between and just below the breasts. There are defects to the shirts consistent with the underlying wounds.

• There are no defense injuries to the hands, wrists or forearms.
• The right hand is closed in a loose fist.
• Postmortem findings at arrival at 20:27 and 21:55 are the same.
  The body is mostly flaccid. The hands appear to be slightly stiff.
• The body is cool to the touch at the extremities and warm to the touch at the torso, front and back.
• Lividity is inconspicuous.

Body:

Findings are consistent with current position of the body. Blood is present on the head, in tile hair and neck:

• The right hand has blood on it
• On the front side of her shirts, along her pants on tile front side and on the top of both of her boots is blood.
• The right boot has blood on the sole.
• The blood around her his generally confined to the area of the body, on the floor underneath and on the face of the cabinets behind her.
• One small blood spatter is on tile cabinet to the left of the body.
  
• Two separate drops of blood spatter are on the granite counter top above her.

Kitchen:

• Two kitchen knives are in the sink adjacent to the body. They are free of any blood or tissue.
• The sink underneath is dry and also bears no evidence of blood or tissue.
• A knife block is on the counter between the sink and range. It is turned over to the side.
• The three utensils are a spatula, fork and pearing knife, all that bears no evidence of blood or tissue.
• The knife in her body is consistent with the knife set found in the sink and in the block.

Bedroom:

Inside a bedroom drawer, Mr. Olszewski recovered the Victim’s prescription drugs, which included

• Two types of anti-anxiety medication and a sleep aid. 
• The medication had been prescribed by Dr. Ellen Berman, a psychiatrist, who saw the patient on three occasions in the two weeks preceding her death.

Fiance Sam Goldberg Statement 

• Goldberg told the officers who responded to the 9-1-1 call that he had left the couple’s sixth-floor apartment to visit their building’s gym at approximately 4:45 p.m.
• Approximately 45 minutes later, Mr. Goldberg said, he returned to the sixth floor but found the apartment door’s swing bar lock engaged from the inside.
• Goldberg explained that he returned to the building lobby to try to reach the Victim via cell phone calls and text messages. When approximately one hour had passed without a response, Mr. Goldberg said, he decided to enter the apartment by force.
• Goldberg stated that he returned to the sixth floor accompanied by a building security guard, later identified as  Philip Hanton*, and forced open the door. 
• Once inside, Mr. Goldberg discovered the Victim seated on the kitchen floor, with her head slouched over.
• Goldberg recounted that he immediately called 911. In accordance with the emergency operator’s instructions, Mr. Goldberg lifted the Victim’s slouched head in order to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). At that moment, Mr. Goldberg discovered the knife lodged in the Victim’s chest. 
• Medics arrived and pronounced the Victim dead at 6:40 p.m.

Note: * In a written declaration Mr. Hanton stated that that he did not accompany Mr. Goldberg to the sixth floor on the night in question and was not present when Mr. Goldberg entered the apartment.  Hanton Declaration

Key Observations from the Crime Scene Report

Apartment Condition

• Well-kept and clean, no signs of a struggle.
• No missing items, valuables untouched (suggests no robbery or forced theft).
• Three laptops found in different locations:
• One in the kitchen (likely Sam Goldberg’s).
• One in the master bedroom (Ellen’s personal laptop).
• One in another bedroom (likely her work laptop).

Locking Mechanism & Forced Entry

• The swing bar lock was broken with screws loose, indicating it was forced open.
• This contradicts any claim that Ellen was locked inside voluntarily and suggests an external force was needed to enter.

No Evidence of Suicide

• No suicide note or any clear indication of intent found in the apartment.
• No explicit messages on her devices indicating a final goodbye or self-harm intentions.

Rear Patio as an Alternate Exit

• Only other exit was the 6th-floor balcony.
• Snow was undisturbed, meaning no one left that way.
• This supports the theory that no intruder escaped via the balcony.

Weather Conditions & Apartment Temperature

• Winter snowstorm was ongoing.
• Apartment temperature 69°F.
• Further supports that Ellen had been inside for some time before her death.

Read Report

Incident Overview

• Date of Incident: January 26, 2011
• Time of Police Response: 6:33 PM
• Location: 4601 Flat Rock Road, Apt. #603
• Victim: Ellen Greenberg (27-year-old White Female)
• Height & Weight: 5’6″, 125 lbs
• Cause of Death: Multiple stab wounds
• Initial Manner of Death Ruling: Homicide (per Dr. Osbourne, Medical Examiner)

Crime Scene Details

Victim’s Body:

• Found: Lying on the kitchen floor, resting against the lower kitchen cabinets.
• Position: Supine (lying on her back), head facing slightly north, legs west.
• Injuries: Multiple stab wounds, including one with a kitchen knife still protruding from her chest.
• Clothing: Wearing a dark gray hooded sweatshirt, light gray sweatpants, and tan UGG boots, all blood-stained.
• Left Hand: Holding an off-white towel (not visibly blood-stained).
• Right Hand: A pair of eyeglasses was found next to it.
• Right Wrist: Had a black hair tie (scrunchie).
• Face: Covered in blood.

Apartment Scene

• Front Door:
• Tan-colored with apartment number 603.
• A Jewish religious prayer inside a glass container was affixed to the right of the door.
• Lock was damaged—screws were partially pulled out.
• Interior Layout:
• Bathroom to the left after entering.
• Bedroom converted to a family room/work area:
• Closet inside the bedroom door.
• Sofa and footrest against the north wall.
• Table with four chairs against the south wall.
• Flat-screen TV on the east wall.
• School papers & test papers on the table.
• Blood Evidence:
• Blood was found on multiple pillows in the apartment.
• The location of the blood on the pillows raised further questions about whether the incident occurred in another part of the apartment before the body was found in the kitchen.
• The presence of bloodstains outside the immediate crime scene suggested possible movement of the victim or struggle before her death.

Autopsy & Medical Examiner’s Report

• Conducted at the Office of the Medical Examiner.
• Examiner: Dr. Osbourne.
• Findings:
• Cause of Death: Multiple stab wounds.
• Manner of Death: Initially ruled Homicide.

Key Observations –  Report

• Blood was found on pillows, indicating that she may have been injured in a different location before collapsing in the kitchen.
• Multiple superficial wounds were present along with deeper stab wounds.
• Her left hand held a towel with no visible bloodstains, raising questions about whether she attempted to stop the bleeding.
• The position of the knife in her chest and the multiple stab wounds raised suspicions about the nature of the attack.
• The police initially treated the case as a homicide, given the stab wounds and circumstances of her death.

First Autopsy Report – Homicide

 2011-01-28 – Police Activity Sheet

January 27, 2011, 9:00 AM Dr. Marlon Osbourne performed Ellen Greenberg’s autopsy and initially ruled her death a homicide.

Since the police had left the scene after their initial response, they needed to prepare affidavits to obtain a search warrant to re-enter the apartment. By the time the warrant was secured, the apartment had already been cleaned by a crime scene cleanup crew hired by property manager Melissa Ware:

Apartment Crime Scene Cleanup:

Early Morning on January 27, 2011 Melissa Ware, Senior Property Manager at Venice Lofts Apartments, received a call from a male relative of Samuel Goldberg requesting access to retrieve personal items for the funeral. 

After confirming with the Philadelphia Police Department that there were no entry restrictions, Ware called the fiancée’s Uncle and told him he could have access to the premises and relayed the PPD’s recommendation of a crime scene clean-up service. Without hesitation, Schwartzman agreed for the fiancé’s family to pay the costs for the crime scene clean-up service and Ware arranged for the services to be completed before Schwartzman and his son arrived at the complex. Arrangements were made with the Crime Scene Cleanup to clean up the apartment on the same day.

Once apartment was cleaned, she called James Schwartzman who showed up and removed not only a suit from the apartment but also Ellen’s purse, cell phone, and laptop.

• Before the cleanup, Ware supervised a video recording of Apartment #603 to document its condition. After completion, she informed Goldberg’s relative—believed to be his uncle—that the apartment was ready. She then granted him access and was present while he retrieved the requested belongings.  Melissa Ware Statement
  

Search Warrant:

Dr. Osbourne initially concluded that the manner of the Victim’s death was homicide. As a result of his determination, PPD detectives obtained a search warrant identifying various items in the apartment “of evidentiary value in the investigation of a homicide by cutting instrument.” When the PPD detectives arrived to execute the warrant the day after the Victim was found, they discovered that the kitchen had been scoured and a number of the apartment’s contents removed.  Search Warrant

January 28, 2011 – Ellen’s Funeral

• Ellen’s funeral takes place in Harrisburg, PA.
• Despite having possession of Ellen’s personal belongings, the fiancé’s family and attorney did not return them to Ellen’s parents.

January 29, 2011 – Police collected Laptops and Phone from Sam Goldberg’s uncle.

• item #1- White Apple Macbook laptop computer, Serial# 4585106S67C.
• item #2- White Apple Mac Book laptop computer, Serial# W880427L363.
• item #3- Black Apple Macbook laptop computer, Serial# W8744OSZ0HC.
• item #4- Purple ‘’SPECK” IPhone (AT&T), Model# MC608LL, Serial# 7U033CPXA4S, Ph# (717) 579-9258

Circumstances: Items secured for investigation regarding a Homicide Investigation at 4601 Flatrock Rd in Apt 603.  Property Receipt

Search Warrant – Ellen Greenberg Homicide

P roperty Receipt Ellen Greenberg Homicide