Philadelphia medical examiner confirms Ellen Greenberg suicide

Philadelphia’s chief medical examiner has reaffirmed that first grade teacher Ellen Greenberg died by suicide, concluding after a six month reexamination that the injuries she sustained in 2011 were self-inflicted. The review, completed by Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Lindsay Simon and provided to city officials this week, examined autopsy findings, scene evidence and investigative records from Greenberg’s Manayunk apartment where she was found dead on January 26, 2011.

Greenberg, then 27, was discovered by her fiancé with a large kitchen knife protruding from her chest and what prosecutors and later reports documented as about 20 stab wounds. Dr. Simon’s report identified three additional superficial perforations, bringing the total to 23, and described the distribution of wounds as unusual but medically possible to inflict on oneself. The report concluded there were multiple shallow hesitation wounds, no defensive injuries, no evidence of forced entry or a third party in the apartment, and no DNA from the fiancé on the knife. It also noted that Greenberg had been receiving psychiatric treatment for anxiety and that prescription bottles for several medications were present in...