A man who butchered his ex-girlfriend before feasting on her body parts has been jailed for life without parole.
Last month, Joseph Oberhansley was found guilty of murder and burglary in relation to the death of Tammy Jo Blanton, who was 46-year-old, more than six years ago.
At Clark County Court on Tuesday, Clark Circuit Judge Vicki Carmichael sentenced 39-year-old Oberhansley to life based on a jury recommendation.
Blanton’s badly mutilated body was found by police at her home on 300 block of Locust Street in Jeffersonville, Indiana, on the morning of September 11, 2014, after she had failed to show up for work.
Police said Oberhansley, also of Jeffersonville, acted suspiciously when officers asked him about Blanton’s whereabouts after knocking on her door at about 10 a.m, The Courier-Journal reported.
According to a police affidavit, there was a fresh cut across Oberhansley’s knuckles and officers found a folding knife in his back pocket smeared with what appeared to be blood and hair.
An officer walked through the house while calling Blanton’s name, before discovering her bloody corpse under a vinyl camping tent draped over the bathtub, the affidavit said.
An autopsy later revealed Blanton had died of multiple sharp force trauma to the head, neck and torso and that parts of her brain, lungs and heart were also missing.
The affidavit said police also found a “plate with what appeared to be skull bone and blood” on it as well as a skillet and pair of tongs which had blood on the handles.
Police said Oberhansley, of Indiana, told officers he had removed several of Blanton’s organs and had eaten them, both cooked and raw. Tissue was also discovered in a garbage can, the affidavit added.
The 46-year-old had suffered 25 sharp force injuries and multiple blunt force injuries, according to police.
Oberhansley had testified that “two Black guys” had been at the victim’s home when he arrived around 4 a.m. that day. He said they were responsible for Blanton’s death and had knocked him unconscious and that he only awoke when police knocked on the door looking for the victim.
Oberhansley was also sentenced to six years to be served concurrently on the burglary charge, local media reported.
Prosecutors dropped an attempt to seek the death penalty last year.