Greenberg was found in her kitchen with 20 stab wounds and a knife in her chest with a half-made fruit salad on the countertop during a blizzard on Jan. 6, 2011.

Her parents, Dr. Josh and Sandee Greenberg, have been entangled in legal battles with the government since their daughter’s death, fighting the determination that it was a suicide.

Oral arguments were heard Dec. 11 in a Philadelphia courtroom as part of a 2022 lawsuit the Greenbergs filed that accuses local officials and the medical examiner’s office of covering up their daughter’s death and participating in a “concealed conspiracy for the purpose of disguising Ellen’s homicide as a suicide,” according to legal documents.

This was the first time the Greenbergs sat in a courtroom and listened to arguments in their daughter’s case.

“I feel like we’re advocating for her,” Sandee said in a statement to Fox News Digital after the hearing. “We are getting closer to justice for Ellen. We are very determined and not giving up.”

At the time of her death, Greenberg had sent out save-the-date notices for her wedding with Sam Goldberg, who said he returned home from a gym, broke down the door, and found his fiancée’s body in their shared apartment in Manayunk, a quiet neighborhood in Philadelphia.

In the hour before Goldberg called 911, he sent Greenberg a series of calls, emails, and eerie text messages, according to court records.

Between 5:32 p.m. and 5:54 pm, Goldberg’s last nine texts to Greenberg included the following: “Hello,” “open the door,” “what r u doin,” “im getting pissed,” “hello,” “you better have an excuse,” “what the f***,” “ahhh,” and “u have no idea.”

Goldberg called 911 at 6:33 p.m., and Greenberg was pronounced dead by medics shortly thereafter.

A forensic pathologist with the city medical examiner’s office at the time, Dr. Marlon Osbourne, initially ruled Greenberg’s death a homicide, according to court documents. Then he reversed course after meeting with police behind closed doors and officially ruled it a suicide.

The Greenbergs have argued that officials involved in their daughter’s case “grossly botched” the investigation and conspired to cover it up as a result. The Greenbergs also accused them of intentionally causing the couple emotional distress.

“I don’t think anyone disagrees the crime scene should have been handled differently,” Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Erdos said during the Dec. 11 hearing, Greenberg family attorney Joe Podraza confirmed with Fox News Digital. “The fact the death certificate still lists the cause of death as suicide is puzzling.”

The Greenbergs and outside investigators have questioned why authorities allowed the crime scene to be professionally cleaned and sanitized before detectives arrived with a search warrant, according to court records.

“I don’t think anyone disagrees the crime scene should have been handled differently,” Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Erdos said during the Dec. 11 hearing, Greenberg family attorney Joe Podraza confirmed with Fox News Digital. “The fact the death certificate still lists the cause of death as suicide is puzzling.”

“Just as Dr. Osbourne was conducting his autopsy … ultimately concluding Ellen’s death was a homicide, the premises where Ellen was murdered were thoroughly cleaned,” documents state.

The Greenbergs have also questioned why Goldberg’s uncle, James Schwartzman, a prominent Pennsylvania judge, was allowed to enter the apartment and remove a number of Ellen’s belongings, including her computer and cellphone.

During last week’s hearing, Erdos dismissed one of the defendants in the lawsuit against city officials involved but withheld judgment on the other four defendants. Erdos asked Podraza to file briefs outlining how he intends to show a jury that the remaining defendants directly and intentionally, not just recklessly, inflicted emotional distress upon the Greenbergs.

“It’s a steep climb but not an impossible climb. … You have a fighting chance,” Erdos said during the hearing in reference to the Greenbergs’ lawsuit.

The defendant dismissed was Lyndsey Emery, a former pathologist with the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office who was asked in 2019 to examine a section of Greenberg’s preserved spinal column. The other four defendants named in the lawsuit include Osbourne, the former city pathologist who conducted Greenberg’s autopsy; former Chief Medical Examiner Sam Gulino; retired Homicide Sgt. Tim Cooney; and Homicide Det. John McNamee.

Over the years, forensic pathologists, crime scene experts, former law enforcement officials, and attorneys have expressed doubts about Greenberg’s suicide ruling. And Goldberg recently broke his silence on the death of his bride-to-be, seemingly believing otherwise.

“When Ellen took her own life, it left me bewildered. She was a wonderful and a kind person who had everything to live for. When she died, a part of me died with her,” Goldberg told CNN in his first public statement about Greenberg’s death.