Indiana Supreme Court upholds life sentence for Oberhansley
May 17—JEFFERSONVILLE — The Indiana Supreme Court has upheld the life sentence of Joseph Oberhansley, who was convicted in the brutal slaying of Tammy Jo Blanton in Jeffersonville in September 2014.
Oberhansley sought to have the life without parole sentence revised, as his attorney argued before the Supreme Court last month that her client's mental health wasn't taken into consideration. His attorney, Victoria Casanova, also alleged the jury didn't return a proper verdict form in weighing aggravating and mitigating circumstances.
In the opinion written by Justice Christopher Goff, the Supreme Court found that the jury did "make the necessary weighing determination."
"And reviewing Oberhansley's sentence, we do not find compelling evidence casting his crimes or his character in a positive light," Goff wrote in the opinion, which was released Wednesday. "Consequently, we decline to revise his (life without parole) sentence."
Along with Goff, three other Supreme Court justices concurred with the opinion. Justice Geoffrey Slaughter agreed in part.
Oberhansley was convicted of murdering Blanton, his ex-girlfriend. Officers had responded to Blanton's home in September 2014 after a coworker notified police she hadn't shown up for work. The coworker said a man, later determined to be Oberhansley, had answered Blanton's phone, claimed to be her brother, and said Blanton had left to care for her father.
The night before, Blanton called Jeffersonville Police to her home stating that Oberhansley was trying to kick her door down. She had previously told a coworker she ended her relationship with Oberhansley after he had assaulted her. A police officer located Oberhansley outside of Blanton's home, and he agreed to leave the scene.
The next day at Blanton's home, police encountered Oberhansley and found "blood everywhere" when they entered the residence. Body tissues were discovered in the home, and Blanton's body was found in the bath tub. An autopsy revealed Oberhansley inflicted 25 sharp force injuries, including eight stab wounds, on Blanton.
After initially accusing others of killing Blanton, Oberhansley admitted to police that he had committed acts of cannibalism on her.
Oberhansley, who was convicted in 2000 of manslaughter and attempted murder in the killing of his girlfriend in Utah when he was 17, was ruled incompetent to stand trial before his first murder trial.
He spent nine months in a hospital and was ruled competent to stand trial. Oberhansley initially filed notice that he would plead insanity as a defense. The state and Oberhansley agreed to a deal in which he would remove his insanity plea in exchange for prosecutors seeking a life without parole sentence instead of the death penalty.
That trial ended in a mistrial. The next attempt to try Oberhansley failed due to lack of sufficient jurors. Oberhansley was again declared incompetent, but was later deemed fit to stand trial.
In September 2020, he was found guilty of murder and burglary and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
"As to the nature of the murder in this case, Oberhansley himself characterizes it with these words: 'Gruesome. Horrific. Brutal.'," Goff wrote in the Supreme Court opinion. "His brief points to no aspects of his crimes which might alleviate their severity. Indeed, no 'positive light' can be cast on them."
Clark County Prosecutor Jeremy Mull reacted to the Supreme Court decision on Wednesday.
"I am happy that this hard-fought trial verdict and sentence was upheld by the Indiana Supreme Court," Mull said. "I hope that the family of the victim can rest a bit easier now that the result of the proceedings has been reviewed and upheld."
