Indiana Official Linked To Alleged Cannibalism Case Resigns

Deputy prosecutor agreed to a reduced bond for a man now accused of killing his girlfriend and eating parts of her body

A southern Indiana deputy prosecutor who agreed to a reduced bond for a man who later was accused of killing his girlfriend and mutilating and eating parts of her body has resigned.

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jeremy Mull said Tuesday the unidentified deputy prosecutor resigned for unrelated reasons.

Mull says 33-year-old Joseph Oberhansley of Jeffersonville should have still been in jail at the time he is accused of killing his 46-year-old girlfriend, Tammy Jo Blanton. Oberhansley was charged Monday with murder, abuse of a corpse and breaking and entering.

He previously had been charged in two separate cases in Clark County. Mull said he had Oberhansley's bond set at $25,000 cash only, but Oberhansley was released after posting a bond of about $500.

The News and Tribune and The Courier-Journal reported that Oberhansley told Judge Vicki Carmichael on Monday that his name was Zeus Brown and that "obviously you've got the wrong guy."

According to a probable cause affidavit, Oberhansley told police he ate a portion of her brain, her heart and part of a lung, both cooked and raw.

Police told The Courier-Journal they found a "plate with what appeared to be skull bone and blood" on it.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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