Real Life Hannibal Lector: Indiana Man, Joseph Oberhansley, Kills Ex-GF, Eats Her Heart, Lungs & Brain [Video]

Video inside

Written by Baylee Pulliam for The Courier Journal

A Southern Indiana man accused of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend told police that he mutilated her body and ate several of her organs, according to court records.

Joseph A. Oberhansley, 33, who appeared in Clark Circuit Court on Monday, is accused of killing Tammy Jo Blanton, 46, of the 300 block of Locust Street. He is charged with murder, abuse of a corpse and breaking and entering in the case.

"After you've been prosecuting for so long, you think you've seen everything," Prosecutor Steve Stewart said. "... I've never seen this."

Oberhansley — who has a previous conviction for manslaughter in Utah — was arrested Thursday after police came to Blanton's house looking for her because she hadn't shown up for work. Police said he acted suspiciously when officers asked him about Blanton's whereabouts after knocking on the door about 10 a.m.

There was a fresh cut across his knuckles, according to a police affidavit made public Monday in court.

Based on their observations, the affidavit said, the officers searched Oberhansley for weapons and found a folding blade tucked in his back pocket, covered with what appeared to be blood and hair.

An officer then walked through the house calling Blanton's name before finding her bloody body under a vinyl camping tent draped over the bathtub, the affidavit said. Her skull had apparently been crushed, the affidavit said.

An autopsy Friday revealed Blanton died of multiple sharp force trauma to the head, neck and torso, and that parts of her heart, lungs and brain were missing.

Police also found a "plate with what appeared to be skull bone and blood" on it, the affidavit said, as well as a skillet and pair of tongs with blood on the handles.

Police said Oberhansley told officers he removed several of Blanton's organs and ate them, both cooked and raw. Tissue was found in a garbage can, the affidavit said.

'The Wrong Guy'

When he appeared in shackles Monday before Judge Vicki Carmichael, Oberhansley said he could not have committed the crimes.

While Joseph Oberhansley is accused of the gruesome acts, he said, "that's not my name. Obviously you've got the wrong guy."

Instead, he said, his name was actually "Zeus Brown." And he said he did not know how old he is and whether he is a U.S. citizen.

Carmichael said a public defender would be assigned to him.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Mull, a chief deputy prosecutor, said he was "not buying" the defendant's story. "There's a motive and a reason" for Oberhansley's denials, he said.

"There's no doubt in my mind that he is responsible for" Blanton's murder, Mull said.

Relationship trouble

Jeffersonville police said they had visited Blanton's house about seven hours before finding her body.

According to the affidavit, officers came to the house about 3 a.m. after Blanton called police saying that Oberhansley was trying to break in. After police arrived, Oberhansley agreed to leave while saying that "police always side with women," according to the documents.

Police stayed with her for several minutes after he left, the affidavit said.

Oberhansley's mother Brenda Self said he awoke her about 3:30 a.m. at her home, according to the affidavit. She said Oberhansley was upset about his job and the incident at Blanton's house, and she followed him to his 2002 Chevrolet Blazer to talk to him. He then left alone, she said.

Criminal history

The Blanton case is not Oberhansley's first brush with the law.

He served time in Utah after being convicted of manslaughter in the 1998 shooting death of his teenage girlfriend, 17-year-old Sabrina Elder, who had recently given birth to their son, The Associated Press reported.

The incident occurred in the suburban Salt Lake City home of Oberhansley's grandmother. He also shot his mother in the back and arm as she tried to defend Elder, according to the AP. Oberhansley then put the gun to his chin, and his brain was damaged when the bullet entered his frontal lobe.

He was released from prison in 2012.

He currently is charged in two separate cases in Clark County. He was charged in March 2013 with putting a man in a chokehold then resisting police trying to break up the fight, and last July with leading Jeffersonville police on a car chase that crossed into Kentucky, Mull said.

Oberhansley was arrested by Louisville Metro Police, Mull said, adding that he charged Oberhansley with criminal recklessness and resisting law enforcement in that case.

Oberhansley was arrested on a warrant, and Mull said he requested a $25,000 full-cash bond because Oberhansley had a criminal record and was a "danger to the community." But a deputy prosecutor not under Mull's supervision and, he said, "without my knowledge or approval" met with Oberhansley's attorney and agreed to reduce the bond.

Oberhansley was released for around $500, Mull said.

He is being held without bail in Blanton's murder. His trial has been set for Feb. 16.

Reporter Baylee Pulliam can be reached at (812) 298-5601 or on Twitter at @BayleePulliam. The Associated Press contributed to this report.