According to court documents, a Southern Indiana man was arrested after admitting to authorities that he murdered his ex and ate her organs. Joseph A. Oberhansley, 33, is charged with the fatal stabbing of 46-year-old ex-girlfriend Tammy Jo Blanton, abuse of a corpse, and breaking and entering in the case.
After Blanton didn’t show up for work last Thursday, police went to her home to look for her around 10 a.m. When they asked Oberhansley about Blanton’s whereabouts, he acted suspiciously. According to a police affidavit, there was a cut across the suspect’s knuckles.
Officers reported finding a folding blade in Oberhansley’s back pocket, covered with what looked like blood and hair. After one officer walked through the house and called Blanton’s name, he eventually found her bloody body under a camping tent draped over the bath tub; her skull was crushed.
Police also found a plate with what seemed to be skull bone and blood on it, and a skillet and set of tongs with blood on the handles. Police said that Oberhansley admitted to removing several of his ex’s organs and eating them, cooked and raw.
When Joseph Oberhansley appeared before Judge Vicky Carmichael on Monday, he claimed that authorities arrested the wrong person. He told the judge, “that’s not my name. Obviously you got the wrong guy.” He said his name was “Zeus Brown” and that he didn’t know his age or if he was a US citizen. Carmichael said that he would be assigned a public defender.
Oberhansley is no stranger to the law. As reported by The Associated Press, he was convicted of manslaughter in the 1998 shooting of his then girlfriend, 17-year-old Sabrina Elder who had recently given birth to their son. He also shot his mother in the back and arm after she attempted to protect Elder. He was released in 2012 and has since had additional encounters with the law.