On a snowy January evening in 2011, 27-year-old teacher Ellen Rae Greenberg was found dead in the Philadelphia apartment she shared with her fiancé. The original autopsy recorded the death as a homicide; the medical examiner’s office later changed that ruling to suicide after a meeting with the Philadelphia Police Department. Reports describe 20 stab wounds, many to the back of the neck and head, plus 11 bruises in various stages of healing.

Her fiancé, Samuel Goldberg, told police he returned from the gym to find the door locked from the inside with a swing latch, forced his way in, and found her on the kitchen floor. In his 911 call he first said she had stabbed herself and later suggested she may have fallen on a knife. The scene was cleaned by a crime scene cleaning crew shortly after the initial investigation, a point criticized by the family’s attorneys.

Greenberg’s parents have campaigned publicly, insisting the wounds could not have been self-inflicted. The case was reviewed by multiple offices and moved between agencies because of perceived conflicts; no arrests or suspects have been announced. The Chester County District Attorney later placed the investigation in inactive status, citing an inability to prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.