[ad_1]
CLARK COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE / AP
The jury convicted Joseph Oberhansley of murder and robbery.
An American accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and eating parts of her body was found guilty of one count of murder on Saturday (NZT).
Jurors deliberated for about five hours before announcing the guilty verdict against Indiana man Joseph Oberhansley in the death of Tammy Jo Blanton.
The body of the 46-year-old victim was found in his home on the morning of September 11, 2014, severely mutilated with more than 25 cutting force injuries and multiple blunt force injuries, authorities said.
The jury convicted Oberhansley of murder and robbery, but reached a not guilty verdict on the rape charges against him.
READ MORE:
* The trial in the United States of a man accused of cannibalism and murder begins with a warning
* 9-year-old boy charged with murder after five people died in a US mobile home fire.
* No lawyer, no charges: Drinking driver evades conviction for violation of his right to legal advice
Clark County Prosecutor Jeremy Mull in his closing statement challenged Oberhansley’s testimony on Friday as the only defense witness that he suffered head injuries when forced to confess after nearly three hours of police questioning following the discovery of Blanton’s body.
Oberhansley testified that “two blacks” were at his home when he arrived around 4 am that day and said they were responsible for Blanton’s death and for knocking him out. He woke up when the police knocked on the door looking for the victim.
He said on the stand that he did not know who had consumed some of Blanton’s organs after his death.
Mull asked the jury to consider why the men violently killed Blanton but left Oberhansley unconscious with no further injuries.
“We all know they didn’t do that,” Mull said. “We all know that Joseph Oberhansley killed Tammy Blanton.”
Defense attorney Bart Betteau argued that Oberhansley’s version was reasonable and that the prosecutor had not presented evidence to show that Oberhansley committed the crime.
“You have to be aware that there is an idea that you should not deliberate on this case (or) take everything I say seriously,” he said. “You may think that’s what people want you to do.
“But you don’t have that luxury. You took an oath, ”Betteau said.
Oberhansley faces a possible sentence of life in prison without parole. Prosecutors abandoned an attempt to seek the death penalty last year.
The jurors come from Allen County, in northeastern Indiana, due to the intense media coverage the case has received in the southern part of the state.
