JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (WDRB) -- Joseph Oberhansley, who was found guilty last week of murdering his ex-girlfriend in Jeffersonville in 2014, could spend the rest of his life in prison.
A jury recommended the sentence, without parole, around 5:30 p.m. Monday.
The jury deliberated for about five hours Friday before finding Joseph Oberhansley guilty of breaking into 46-year-old Tammy Jo Blanton's home on Locust Street and killing her on Sept. 11, 2014. Police found her mutilated body under a shower curtain in a bathtub, with more than 25 sharp force injuries and multiple blunt force injuries, according to court documents and testimony.
The jury convicted Oberhansley of murder and burglary but found him not guilty of rape.
Clark County Prosecutor Jeremy Mull decided against seeking the death penalty in 2019 after the defense agreed not to bring up his past history of mental illness.
The trial was held in Clark County but the jury was seated in Allen County in northeastern Indiana because of the intense media coverage the case has received in the southern part of the state over the past four years.
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- Tammy Jo Blanton's friend begs for closure 5 years after brutal murder
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- Indiana man accused of murdering, cannibalizing ex-girlfriend claims he's 'completely innocent'
- Jeffersonville man accused of killing, cannibalizing girlfriend moved to mental hospital
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Copyright 2020 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
