Ellen Greenberg’s fiancé Sam Goldberg breaks cover as feds reopen probe into her ‘suicide’… as late teacher’s mother shares incredible sign sent from beyond the grave
The former fiancé of Philadelphia schoolteacher Ellen Greenberg appeared stony-faced and refused to speak after it emerged the controversial investigation into his ex-partner’s death is being reopened.
Sam Goldberg, 43, sporting a scruffy beard, grey sweatpants and a black jacket and beanie, ignored questions about the case and rushed inside the Manhattan building where he now lives in a $1.88 million apartment with his wife and two children.
When approached by the Daily Mail on Thursday, the sports executive refused to share his thoughts on federal prosecutors re-opening the investigation into Greenberg’s 2011 death.
Greenberg, 27, was found by her then-fiancé with more than 20 stab wounds to her body, including to her heart and the back of her head, and her death was initially ruled a homicide before being controversially classified as a suicide.
While Goldberg remained silent on the news, Greenberg’s mother Sandee told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview that she was overjoyed to see her daughter’s case revisited in a new investigation.
‘It’s very good news in that it takes things out of the state of Philadelphia which we cannot trust and places it in the hands of the federal government,’ she said.
‘There’s been so much corruption they need fresh eyes on it… It’s been a very long time coming. January 26 will be 15 years but we’re gaining momentum and Ellen knows.’
The case, which has been plagued by allegations of a ‘cover-up’, received renewed attention late last year as officials again ruled that Greenberg’s death was a suicide when it was re-evaluated by the city of Philadelphia.
Prosecutors will not be focusing on the manner of Greenberg’s death with the new investigation, according to local media, but are instead centering questions on how a variety of agencies handled the case.
Sam Goldberg, 43, the former fiancé of Philadelphia schoolteacher Ellen Greenberg, remained silent as he was asked for his take on federal prosecutors re-opening of the investigation into her death
Goldberg, 43, sporting a scruffy beard, grey sweatpants and black jacket and beanie, ignored reporters and rushed inside his Manhattan building where he now lives in a $1.88 million apartment with his wife and two children
It follows news that the heavily scrutinized investigation into the death of Ellen Greenberg, who was found dead by her then-fiancé, Sam Goldberg, is set to be reopened by federal prosecutors
Footage of Goldberg on Thursday showed the 43-year-old, who works for the LIV golf league, refusing to answer questions on whether he was pleased to see prosecutors probe the investigation into his former fiancé’s death.
Goldberg has never been named as a suspect or been accused of any crime in connection to Greenberg’s death.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the new probe is not expected to re-evaluate the ruling that Greenberg’s death was a suicide, and will instead look into whether any missteps by investigators at the time could amount to criminal corruption.
Greenberg’s parents have long sought answers over her death and say they do not believe that she could have inflicted the many stab wounds on herself, which included her being found with a kitchen knife sticking out of her heart.
Speaking to the Daily Mail on Thursday, Sandee said she believes her daughter visits her in signs – butterflies and the tinkle of windchimes.
On Wednesday, the day that Ellen’s parents learned their daughter’s case was to be re-opened, Sandee said: ‘I was playing golf and an orange butterfly flew right into my face, it touched me. That’s the day the news broke. That was Ellen, I have no doubt.’
On the investigation, she added: ‘We’re so excited and so are our attorneys. We don’t have a lot of details yet but it’s official that the feds are investigating and that will hopefully uncover more truth.’
The family’s attorney Joe Podraza told the Daily Mail that the medical examiner’s conclusion last year that the death was a suicide was ‘tripe, an embarrassment to the City, and an insult to Ellen and her family.’
Following news of the new investigation, Podraza said in a statement to the Inquirer that Greenberg’s parents are ‘ecstatic’ that the case is being reopened.
In 2011, Greenberg was discovered with more than 20 stab wounds to her body, including to her heart and the back of her head, as seen in the Philadelphia medical examiner’s analysis. Her death was initially ruled a homicide before being controversially switched to suicide
Greenberg’s parents have long sought answers over her death and say they do not believe that she could have inflicted the many stab wounds on herself. Her fiancé Sam has never been named a suspect or been accused of a crime in connection to Greenberg’s death
Footage of Goldberg on Thursday showed the 43-year-old, who works for the LIV golf league and is now married with two children, refusing to answer questions over whether he was pleased to see prosecutors probe the investigation into his former fiancé’s death
‘If that is in fact correct and accurate, that the federal government is going to investigate… this is exactly what we’ve wanted all along,’ he said.
‘It’s unfortunate it’s taken more than seven years to get to this point but we are really grateful and thankful to the US attorneys and, of course, are available to assist in any way we can in helping their investigation.’
When Greenberg was found in her apartment by Goldberg, investigators at the scene immediately treated the incident as a suicide because he told them the apartment was locked from the inside.
Although he said he broke down the door to get inside, police found there were no signs of a break-in when Greenberg died and said she had no defensive wounds.
Her death was ruled a homicide the next day by then-Philadelphia medical examiner Marlon Osbourne, noting that she suffered knife wounds to the back of her neck, heart, and many bruises in various stages of healing.
Investigators returning to the apartment the next day found that it had been professionally cleaned and that devices owned by Goldberg had been removed by Goldberg’s uncle, James Schwartzman, who was at the time the Chairman of the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board.
In a lawsuit brought by Greenberg’s family in 2022, they alleged that errors in the handling of the investigation and evidence from the apartment was ’embarrassingly botched’ and resulted in a ‘cover up.’
Greenberg’s mother Sandee told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview she was overjoyed to see her daughter’s case receive a new investigation
Greenberg’s family said a ruling last year stating that her manner of death was suicide was ‘an embarrassment to the City, and an insult to Ellen and her family’
In October last year, the case received renewed national attention thanks to a Hulu documentary, which brought scrutiny on Goldberg and his actions at the time of Greenberg’s death.
This included the documentary revealing Goldberg’s call to 911 when he found her body, as he told dispatchers she ‘fell on a knife.’
In remarks to the Daily Mail after the program came out, Goldberg said things had been ‘awful’ since its release.
The Daily Mail asked Goldberg if he felt he had been ‘screwed over’ by the documentary, which explored Greenberg’s final days.
‘Yeah I have been. It’s awful and it sucks,’ he told the Mail, which was one of the first times he had spoken of the case. ‘But I have nothing else to say,’ he added at the time.
The new probe is set to focus on the way agencies handled the investigation, and not specifically on Greenberg’s manner of death.
A spokesman for the US Attorney’s Office said it could ‘neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation’ following news that new subpoenas had been issued.
Other agencies involved in Greenberg’s case include the Philadelphia Police Department, the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, the Philadelphia Law Department, and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.
In 2024, errors in the investigation were acknowledged by Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court, even as it dismissed a lawsuit brought by Greenberg’s family to change her manner of death certificate.
In a ruling, the court said it had ‘no choice under the law’ to have it changed, but admitted, ‘this court is acutely aware of the deeply flawed investigation of the victim’s death by the City of Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) detectives, the City of Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office (DAO), and the MEO [Medical Examiner’s Office].’
