JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (WDRB) -- The southern Indiana man accused of killing and eating his ex-girlfriend will not face the death penalty.
A motion filed June 28 in Clark County says Joseph Oberhansley will not be eligible for the death penalty, when he goes to trial.
Oberhansley's trial is scheduled for Aug. 19 with a jury brought in from Hamilton County in central Indiana. Lawyers agreed that the jury will not be sequestered, since they will not be considering a capital case.
Oberhansley will also not use an insanity defense, which his attorneys had promoted in January. Oberhansley filed a motion in May to withdraw insanity as a defense. He told the judge he is 100 percent sane and felt using the defense would be like admitting guilt.
He faces murder and other charges after authorities say he broke into the Jeffersonville home of 46-year-old Tammy Jo Blanton in September 2014, raped her, fatally stabbed her and ate parts of her body.
At a hearing in May, psychiatrist Dr. Timothy Allen testified that he believes Oberhansley has an unspecified psychotic disorder, noting that he hears things no one else does, and that he's paranoid. However he did not go as far as to say the accused killer is incompetent to stand trial.
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