Convicted killer accused of murdering fiance and eating portions of her brain, heart, and lungs

[Cali_Democrat]

Convicted Killer Joseph Oberhansley Allegedly Murders Fiance, Eats Her Brains

A convicted Indiana killer faces ghastly, new murder charges after allegedly killing -- then eating -- the girlfriend who'd posted his bond on earlier charges.

A probable cause statement released Monday and obtained by WAVE3 says Joseph Oberhansley allegedly stabbed his girlfriend Tammy Jo Blanton to death before eating portions of her brain, lungs, and heart.

Blanton called Jeffersonville police at 3 a.m. on Sept. 11th saying Oberhansley, 33, was trying to get inside her home. Police sent him away, but they returned at 10 a.m. to check on Blanton at the urging of her coworkers.

When officers arrived, they found Blanton's bloodied body in a bathtub with sections of her skull cut out. According to the report: "[Oberhansley] further admitted to cooking a section of her brain and eating it."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/15/joseph-oberhansley-eats-brains_n_5825696.html?utm_hp_ref=crime

[lob1]

1. That's a 3 game suspension.

[nolabear]

11. ...

[In_The_Wind]

2. Holy crap!

[Tumbulu]

3. So now, when someone is caught trying to break and enter, why isn't the person

put in jail- right there and then? Why are these guys always released?

And only 10 years for killing his girlfriend and almost killing his mother????? Why aren't these buys in jail for life?????? Really??????

I am so sick of our culture not taking these violent actions seriously and nipping them in the bud.

This is so tragic and it could have been prevented, in fact most abuse like this can be. It requires first offenses to be punished with long jail sentences as a starter.

[samsingh]

21. people like him is the reason i support the death penalty

[Nuclear Unicorn]

22. But not the RKBA.

[Politicalboi]

28. Me too

If there's no question to guilt, why let them breathe. I like to watch Forensic Files, and they had a case where the guy killed his sister, and only served 7 years, and killed again when out. Get rid of scum like this, or lock them up for life with NO parole.

[samsingh]

29. i think as society we are too lenient with ourselves by risking innocent lives from proven

murderers

[lpbk2713]

23. No room in the jails.

They are filled to capacity with marijuana possession violators.

[Uncle Joe]

34. Probably because of overcrowded prisons full of people for possession of/or selling cannabis.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/marijuana-lifers_n_4578030.html

At least 25 people have been condemned to live out their days behind bars because they were involved in the marijuana trade, according to The Human Solution, a pot advocacy group. Some played relatively small roles in larger distribution rings and got life sentences in part because they refused to plead guilty and testify against associates. Others held positions of power in major trafficking organizations.

James Romans, a divorced 42-year-old father of three from Indiana, says he belongs in the former category. But last year, a federal judge ruled differently, sentencing him to life based on evidence suggesting that he helped run a multimillion dollar operation.

Whatever his role, the case raises questions about the fairness of punishing marijuana offenders with the criminal justice system’s harshest penalty short of death.

“It doesn’t seem to me in this day and age, when states are debating whether marijuana should be legal, that people who traffic in it should be spending their lives behind bars,” said David Zlotnick, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and an expert on drug sentencing laws at Roger Williams University School of Law in Rhode Island. “If we’re not sure whether this drug should even be an illegal narcotic, why are we sending people to jail for life for it?”

[cali]

4. Why the fuck was this creature out of prison?

from the link:

Oberhansley has a long criminal history going back to at least 2000 when he was convicted of manslaughter and attempted murder for killing his then-girlfriend Sabrina Elder, 17, and critically wounding his mother, the Desert News reported at the time.

Just days before the killing, Elder had given birth to Oberhansley's child.

He was released on parole in 2012, but in 2013 he was in trouble for allegedly choking out another patron in a bar and resisting arrest. He was naked during the attack.

Two months ago, Oberhansley was arrested following erratic driving that sparked a slow-speed police chase. Blanton paid a $1,000 bond to secure his release.

[Tumbulu]

5. exactly my question

Does the culture have a need for violent men to be around scaring women into their "places".....?

[Feral Child]

7. Hell of an extrapolation.

I can't explain why this person was paroled, but I really don't think that conspiracy by Parole Board members to intimidate females in general is at all reasonable.

This type of unsupported, far-fetched musing is not doing the Feminist Movement any good.

Frequently Parole Boards around the country make rash decisions for unexplainable reasons, but a misogynistic conspiracy as an explanation sounds, quite frankly, a little outre'.


Look, before any one decides that I'm a member of the "He-Man Women Haters Club", I actually believe there is a conspiracy, through such actions as anti-abortion legislation and others, to marginalize women and cast them as 2nd class citizens, but releasing maniacs isn't believable as a tactic.

[Tumbulu]

8. Look, I am 58 years old and have seen so many brutal men

released from prison early or not imprisoned at all for their violence. Look at OJ, killing his wife and then the kids are given to HIM to raise, not the grandparents?????? A proven murderer?

You seriously do not see a pattern here?

My first encounter with this pattern was when a convicted rapist who had just been released from prison after serving a mere 6 year sentence (as he had only left the woman blind and paralyzed for life, had not KILLED her after all) broke into an apartment that I shared with another woman, but did not attack us. The police were unable to arrest him as he had only broken in!!!!!! We were supposed to wait as bait for him to come and be in the act of violence before they could arrest him. They knew who he was, they had finger prints. We got the hell out of that apartment, but who did the guy attack since we had left? Why wasn't he back in jail for breaking and entering?

What sort of an idiotic policy is this? One would think these times were over, but a professor I know was just looking around for a new apartment for a grad student...her apartment had recently been broken into by a paroled rapist.....again, nothing.

Why wouldn't I think that this is a pattern. Look at this story- the guy was trying to break in, she called the police and they did not even arrest him? They allowed him to come back and murder here. They are complicit.

This is hardly a conspiracy theory, this is an observation. Violent men are allowed out of prison regularly. The question I posted is why? Why as a society are they all allowed out? What purpose does it serve for these sorts to be running around?

[Feral Child]

9. I don't mean to offend

but I don't think further discussion of this theory will be productive.

Good night, Tumbulu.

[nomorenomore08]

33. It doesn't necessarily have to be occurring on a fully conscious level.

I wouldn't call it a "conspiracy" but there is a certain, generally unexamined tendency to be more lenient with certain violent criminals - most often, those who victimize women or minorities. It doesn't occur in every case, but the general tendency is there.

[Feral Child]

36. I'm sure you believe this.

I don't.

There are a myriad of justifications that parole boards use to excuse early release for violent criminals; overcrowding, assurances by defense attorney's of rehabilitation, political expediency. These crims can be guilty of anything from muggings to rape or murder. When the released engage in recidivism it often comes to public attention and there's an outcry against the practice.

I don't believe there's any support for your supposition that there's a pattern in these releases of choosing criminals that have victimized women or other minorities. Can you actually produce any research that validates your premise? If so, I'd be interested in seeing it.

As i said before, there is certainly an overt conspiracy by conservative legislators and judiciary to enact laws or make trial decisions that specifically target women. The far right establishment has every intent to disenfranchise women.

Belief that parole boards systematically release prisoners that have a modus operandi of targeting women with the intent of silencing feminists, consciously or not, seems to be an extended reach and with out studies supporting this theory, I believe we should reject it. Again, I'm willing to re-examine my stance if evidence exists of such a practice.

Proposals such as yours, if unproven, damage the credibility of the Feminist Movement. The right-wing strategy of suppressing female equality through bad legislation and establishment of judicial precedent is clear and obvious. We need to focus on what is certain rather than expound conjecture and gossip that can be refuted. Any stance other than fact-based certainty just provides ammunition to the enemy and weakens our argument.

Frankly, it makes us look paranoid and delusional.

[nomorenomore08]

38. "Belief that parole boards systematically release prisoners that have a modus operandi of targeting

women with the intent of silencing feminists."

That's not what I meant. All I meant was that criminals who target women and minorities are frequently given a pass, relatively speaking - lighter sentences etc. Such sentencing clearly reflects deep-seated cultural biases on some level.

[Feral Child]

39. Conjecture and personal belief.

No valid studies or research to justify your beliefs.

I won't discuss this further. You are going to believe what you want to believe and no rationale, fact-based discussion is possible.

I, personally, will concentrate on countering the very real tactics of oppression used against women and won't fritter away any more of my time discounting bogeyman theories.

[hifiguy]

6. That is a damned good question.

Someone had better have a good answer.

[jberryhill]

13. She's not around to answer

If by "someone" you mean "the girlfriend who'd posted his bond on earlier charges"

[justiceischeap]

10. If only he'd had some pot on him when arrested...

I know that seems a glib reply but it's also true. We have harsher sentencing laws for drugs like marijuana than we do for violent offenders.

Also, it seems women who end up killing their abusers get longer sentences than the abusers ever do. It seems we punish people more severely for hurting a fetus than the women that carry them.

[jberryhill]

12. Apparently because she wanted him out of prison

"Blanton paid a $1,000 bond to secure his release."

[cali]

16. no. and one prosecutor has already resigned over this.

and he murdered in 2000. He should still be behind bars for that.

way to blame the victim- who although she was an idiot- was not responsible for him being on the street.

[jberryhill]

18. "not responsible for him being on the street"

At this particular time, yes, she posted his bond.

That has nothing to do with the earlier release.

And, no, I'm certainly not suggesting that she posted his bond so that he could kill her and eat her brains.

However, there are addtional screwups here. Having been out on bond and found stalking her house, telling him to "go home" was not the correct response either. Being out on bail is subject to good behavior.

[Tumbulu]

35. Out of prison, ok, but she called the police

For help that night. Don't blame the victim! I blame the police and system, why in the world was the bail so low? Why was he out from his other murder?

[NuclearDem]

14. Jesus fucking Christ!

[DeadEyeDyck]

15. before everyone gets so self righteous

who here can say, with a straight face, that they have never eaten someone's brains and lungs?
Before you cast the first stone...

[beam me up scottie]

25. Oh, way to defend the

people who HAVE eaten someone's brains and lungs.

[ZombieHorde]

31. Sigh...so true. *drops rock and walks away* nt

[Soylent Brice]

37. ...

[hunter]

17. I suspect he was a model prisoner and "Born Again" or something.

So sad. This story is a nightmare.

Teen pleads guilty to slaying girlfriend

By Derek Jensen
Deseret News staff writer

Published: Saturday, Jan. 8 2000

A dead father and brother, a drug binge and lack of sleep made for a deadly combination the night Joseph Oberhansley arrived at his grandmother's West Valley home on Dec. 9, 1998.

Apparently without being provoked, Oberhansley walked into the house, pulled a gun out of a bag and shot his girlfriend, Sabrina Elder, who just days before had given birth to the couple's child. After several shots, one fatal bullet hit her in the head. Oberhansley, 18, then shot and wounded his mother, Brenda Lee Self, before turning the gun on himself.

His apparent suicide attempt failed, and Friday morning in 3rd District Court, Oberhansley pleaded guilty to manslaughter for killing his girlfriend and attempted murder for shooting his mother. Both crimes are second-degree felonies.

.

.

.

Yengich called the plea deal a "fair compromise" and added that the injury Oberhansley sustained from shooting himself in the head has actually made him a calmer person.

"The injury he sustained actually has had a beneficial affect because of the portion of the brain that was injured," Yengich said.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/807842/Teen-pleads-guilty-to-slaying-girlfriend.html?pg=all

[samsingh]

20. i guess they were wrong. letting someone out of prison who did womething like this

is immoral and in this case it clearly resulted in a new death.

[Blue_Tires]

27. +1

[samsingh]

19. i believe he also killed his earlier girlfriend the latest victim decided to

post his bail.

[ScreamingMeemie]

24. No. He served time for manslaughter on that one.

The bail thing was for a police chase. It's in the article. He was out on $1000 bail, which shouldn't have happened.

[deafskeptic]

26. I think this is the male version of Katherine Knight.

I think I should stop reading true crime stories like this one just before dinner.

[malaise]

30. She posted his bond?

WTF!!!

[Number23]

32. "Police sent him away"

Let that sink in.

"Police sent him away"