EXCLUSIVENancy Grace reveals new evidence in Ellen Greenberg 'suicide' case that may have damaged Josh Shapiro VP chances
Nancy Grace has revealed a catalogue of evidence in the case of Pennsylvania teacher Ellen Greenberg whose death was controversially ruled a suicide after she suffered 20 stab wounds.
The case was catapulted even further into the spotlight recently when Josh Shapiro emerged as a potential running mate for Kamala Harris.
As the state's Attorney General Shapiro had doubled down on the suicide ruling and blocked an attempt by Ellen's family to have the case reinvestigated.
That has been cited as one of the reasons Shapiro was not selected by Harris, who opted for Minnesota Governor Tim Walz instead.
On January 26, 2011 Ellen, 27, a first-grade teacher with a 'megawatt smile,' was found dead in her Philadelphia apartment.
Ten of the 20 stab wounds were to her neck and the back of her head.
Assistant Philadelphia Medical Examiner Marlon Osbourne initially ruled her death a homicide, but changed it to suicide after a meeting with police and prosecutors.
In her upcoming book What Happened to Ellen? An American Miscarriage of Justice, Nancy reveals a series of reasons why she believes that should be changed back to homicide.
Ellen Greenberg, a 27-year-old elementary school who was found with 20 stab wounds in 2011.
Ellen Greenberg's family are fighting to overturn a medical examiner's ruling of suicide
Crucially, an expert tells her three of the wounds were inflicted post-mortem.
And her investigation uncovers that a lawyer present at the meeting with the medical examiner has been given immunity in the case.
Last week, Pennsylvania's Supreme Court finally agreed to hear arguments from Ellen's parents, Joshua and Sandee, as they try to gain legal standing to challenge the suicide ruling.
Nancy, who has visited with the Greenbergs, told Dailymail.com they have been through 'Hell and back.'
Commenting on the three post-mortem wounds, Nancy said: 'Her heart is no longer beating and she's still stabbing herself, really?'
An expert also said one of the stab wounds 'nicked' Ellen's spinal cord cutting the dura, the membrane around it, yet she would have had to be still stabbing herself after that.
In addition, Ellen was also found sitting propped up against a kitchen cabinet.
'Why is there then blood going horizontally from her nose toward her ear? I believe in the law of gravity,' said Nancy. 'The scene was staged, her body was moved. There's been a cover up.'
This graphic shows knife wounds Ellen suffered to her neck and chest, that pierced her brain and severed her spinal cord
Another graphic show's Ellen's spinal cord had been severed and her brain pierced in two forceful stabs to the neck
She added that Ellen would have had to stab herself with a right hand motion, going left to right, then rotate the knife and stab right to left. 'That did not happen,' she said.
She added that the kitchen was 'extremely clean' when there should have been a 'bloodbath'.
'It stinks to high heaven. How can anyone go along with that?' she said.
At the time, no fingerprints were taken from the knife found still plunged in Ellen's chest, and police did not video the scene,
No luminol was used at the scene to look for signs of diluted blood.
The apartment manager was given permission to have it professionally cleaned. He took video before and after, but the video was 'lost' by police.
Former prosecutor Nancy Grace has been investigating the case for years
Ellen's parents Joshua and Sandee have been campaigning for 13 years to overturn the suicide ruling
Nancy said a female prosecutor who was at the meeting with the medical examiner in 2011 had been given immunity in the case.
'Why do people get immunity? Usually when the state believes that person has information.
'We have been told the female prosecutor that has been given immunity was in the meeting with the medical examiner,' she said.
Shapiro's involvement came to the fore again in recent weeks.
It reemerged that Shapiro had been Pennsylvania Attorney General when in February 2022 his office announced it had reviewed the case and stuck by the suicide ruling.
In July 2022 Shapiro recused himself from the case without offering a detailed explanation.
In a statement his office said: 'While the Office of Attorney General does not have an actual conflict in this matter, circumstances beyond our control have created the appearance of a conflict and our involvement is no longer serving one of the primary purposes of the District Attorney’s original conflict referral.'
Josh Shapiro 'doubled down' on the suicide ruling when he was Pennsylvania Attorney General
Shapiro was at one point the favorite to be Kamala Harris' running mate
Shapiro's 'mishandling' of the case had caused 'anger, hurt, outrage' for Ellen's family, Nancy said.
'lt hit the fan when Shapiro was on the shortlist for VP.
'Instead of saying this is beyond wrong he doubled down. He blocked a reinvestigation of the case, he fought it tooth and nail.
'What they should have done is say we don't know what happened so lets have a hearing.'
Nancy described Ellen as a 'poster teacher for first grade' who loved her students.
She was also a 'Daddy's girl' who loved going to sporting events with her father and played softball.
She said it had been a 'very long ordeal' for the Greenbergs as they try to get the ruling changed. 'They tried and tried and tried,' she said.
Ellen was found with 10 stab wounds from a 10-inch knife to her neck and the back of the head, and 10 to her stomach, abdomen, and chest.
Her fiancé Sam Goldberg told police he broke down the door, which was locked from the inside, found her, and attempted CPR while on the phone with 911.
The Greenbergs sued the medical examiner's office and Osborne in 2019 but were rejected by the Commonwealth Court last September.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has no granted their appeal to hear the case as a 'matter of statewide importance'.
Ellen Greenberg, 27, was discovered on the kitchen floor of a locked apartment with a 10-inch kitchen knife lodged in her chest
Ellen died at her apartment in Philadelphia on January 26, 2011
Following that decision Sandee told Dailymail.com: 'We're smiling, we're very optimistic. I hope we're making our daughter proud. There's been a lot of frustration, but we haven't given up,' Sandee said.
The court will hear arguments on whether 'executors and administrators of an estate have standing to challenge an erroneous finding recorded on the decedent's death certificate.'
Nancy said she wanted the case 'ruled appropriately' as a homicide and anything else would be 'putting the cart before the horse'.
'Then and only the will this case proceed to an appropriate homicide investigation,' she said.
