GUILTY: Accused ‘cannibal killer’ convicted of killing ex-girlfriend, eating parts of her organs

An Indiana man accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death and eating parts of her body was found guilty Friday in a Clark County court, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported.

Joseph Oberhansley, 39, initially confessed to the brutal crime but later walked that confession back, saying two men broke into Tammy Jo Blanton’s house that day, knocked him cold, and killed her, as CrimeOnline previously reported.

Oberhansley, testifying in his own defense, said he didn’t know why the men had so savagely attacked Blanton and merely left him unconscious, and that he had no idea who had cooked and eaten parts of her brain, heart, and lungs.

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Blanton, 46, was found in the bathtub of her Jeffersonville, Indiana, home on September 11, 2014. She had 25 stab wounds and blunt force injuries on her mouth, throat, chest, and fingers.

Joseph Oberhansley, 39, allegedly told detectives that he cooked and ate the parts of her body that he cut out, as CrimeOnline previously reported.

Blanton had called police on September 11, 2014, saying her ex-boyfriend was trying to break in. Police arrived and convinced him to leave. But prosecutors said he returned, broke into the house, kicked in the bathroom door where she’d fled to escape him, and then stabbed her to death. He used an electric jigsaw to remove parts of her organs, which he cooked and ate. All of that Oberhansley told police after they took him into custody.

When police found him at his home that day, he had a cut on his knuckles and a bloody knife in his pocket.

Other testimony revealed that DNA found on several items found at the crime scene matched both the suspect and the victim. Those included a frying pan, a kitchen tong, a dinner plate, a knife, various untensils, and a shirt found on the bathroom floor.

The jury found Oberhansley guilty of murder and burglary but acquitted him on a charge of rape, the Courier-Journal said.

Oberhansley’s first trial, in August 2019, was declared a mistrial after a witness for the state brought up his criminal past during questioning by the prosecution.

See previous reporting on the case.

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