Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office Referring Ellen Greenberg Case Back To Philadelphia DA's Office
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Ellen Greenberg, a Philadelphia school teacher, was found stabbed in her Manayunk apartment nearly 20 times back in 2011. The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office determined her death was a suicide, but her parents never believed it. Now, the case is being sent back to Philadelphia's District Attorney's Office.
While the case shifts from the state AG's Office to the Philadelphia DA's Office, Greenberg's parents say they just want justice for their daughter.
"We have a mission to get justice for our daughter," Josh Greenberg said.
Sandee and Josh Greenberg have been living a parent's worst nightmare for years.
Their daughter Ellen Greenberg was found stabbed nearly 20 times in her Manayunk apartment back in 2011. Her death was ruled a suicide, but her parents claim otherwise. They say it all doesn't add up and questioned her death.
"Ellen was a victim of a savage brutal homicide," Josh Greenberg said. "Our daughter could not have performed the acts of that suicide. Impossible."
On Friday, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office referred the case back to the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office due to accusations of a conflict of interest.
It was originally sent to the AG's office due to Larry Krasner's involvement in the case before becoming the city's DA.
The Attorney General's Office said they regret that their efforts have not brought more closure. Its full statement reads:
"The Office of Attorney General has referred this case back to the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office pursuant to Pennsylvania law. Our office performed an exhaustive review and conducted new forensic analysis, which has been shared to the extent permitted under Pennsylvania law. Unfortunately, after four years of work, new expert testimony and information has been publicly alleged but withheld from our investigators and new accusations of a conflict of interest have been made against our office.
Building public trust in the criminal justice system is a core priority for the Office of Attorney General. A primary purpose of case conflict referrals is to help law enforcement avoid simply the appearance of a conflict so the public has full faith in the outcome of criminal investigations. 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.
As a result, we believe it is in the best interest of the public for this case to be referred to another office. Therefore, we are sending this case back to the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office so that it may be referred to another county pursuant to Pennsylvania law.
We wish Ellen's family nothing but the best and our office regrets that, despite our extensive work, our additional efforts have not brought more closure to the questions around her death."
The Greenbergs say they just want the truth and an unbiased option.
"Number 1, we want to get the suicide changed to undecided or homicide," Josh Greenberg said. "Number two, we want an impartial investigation, and number 3, we want somebody to lead the investigation who will be impartial."
They vow to keep fighting in their daughter's name.
"Ellen's case is very, very important to us," Sandee Greenberg said.
"This is our mission, this is our purpose," Josh Greenberg said. "This is what keeps us going."
Eyewitness News reached out to the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. We have not heard back at this time
