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Man Accused Of Killing And Eating His Ex-Girlfriend Deemed Competent For Trial
Alleged cannibal Joseph Oberhansley, who was convicted of killing another woman nearly 20 years ago, has reportedly referred to himself as Zeus in court.
He’s accused of killing and eating his ex-girlfriend and reportedly has referred to himself as Zeus, but a state psychiatrist has found him mentally fit enough to stand trial.
Joseph Oberhansley, 37, is the main suspect behind his ex-girlfriend’s murder in September 2014. Tammy Jo Blanton, was found dead and under a tarp inside her Jeffersonville home, according to the Courier Journal in Louisville, Kentucky. Police believe that Oberhansley broke into her home, raped her and stabbed her to death before eating parts of her body. Oberhansley has always maintained his innocence and since 2014 has claimed that two other men killed his ex.
Oberhansley’s competency has long been debated. In October 2017, after three medical evaluations, Clark County Circuit Court Judge Vicki Carmichael ruled him incompetent to stand trial but ordered him into the care Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction, with an eye toward restoring his competency to stand trial in the future.
A psychiatrist at Logansport State Hospital filed a report last month deeming Oberhansley competent, Clark County Prosecuting Attorney Jeremy Mull said, according to the Courier Journal.
His competency can still be contested by his defense attorneys, the Courier Journal reported. If it’s not contested, a trial date is expected to be set sometime in the next few weeks. If it is, the juge will have to issue a final ruling.
In court this week, Judge Carmichael read a letter aloud penned by Oberhansley, "I'm just so tired of dealing with all this stuff and being locked in this cage. I just want to be executed,” the Courier Journal reported.
Oberhansley also reportedly shouted out in court that he wants to fire his defense attorneys.
"They're trying to control my thoughts," he reportedly told the judge. "They're trying to control my mind."
It wouldn’t be Oberhansley’s first reported court outburst. In an earlier court outburst, Oberhansley called himself Zeus, WAVE3 in Louisville reported.
Nearly 20 years ago, Oberhansley was convicted of manslaughter for killing his 17-year-old girlfriend while high on meth when he was a teenager, according to a 2014 Courier Journal report. He then shot his own mom before shooting himself in the face. Later, he told a parole board that the bullet lodged inside him calmed his rage. At the time, he had a tattoo on his back which bore the words “murderous deeds.” He was out on parole during the alleged cannibal incident.
[Photo: Clark County Jail]
