The Murder of Tammy Jo Blanton

Tammy Jo Blanton's body is found in her bathtub by police responding to a welfare check request. Just the night before, September 10th, 2014, Blanton called 911, saying that her ex-boyfriend, Joseph Oberhandsley, would not leave the front of her home. The welfare check had been requested by Blanton's friend and co-worker when Blanton did not show up for work. When police arrive at the home, Joseph Oberhandsley answers the door, covered in blood. Police find signs of a forced entry, and ultimately Tammy Jo Blanton's body. She has not only been stabbed repeatedly, but her body mutilated and also cannibalized.

In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss the differences between dismemberment and mutilation, the perspective of the judge and jury when it is revealed that injuries to the body are post-mortem, and the horrific details in the case of Tammy Jo Blanton’s murder.

Show Notes:

0:30 - Introducing Tammy Jo Blanton’s murder

1:30 - Tammy Jo Blanton calls the police because her ex-boyfriend, Joseph Oberhansley would not leave her home

3:00 - Describing the initial murder scene

5:00 - Cause of death: sharp force injuries. Multiple stab wounds all over her body.

10:00 - How exactly does the body stop functioning when you are stabbed to death?

12:30 - Post-mortem vs Antemortem

13:30 - The additional “twisting of the knife” when injuries to a deceased body are post-mortem

14:00 - Section 2: Walking into the crime scene

16:30 - A section of Tammy Jo’s chest is open, a parts of her heart and a lung are missing

18:00 - The differences between dismemberment and mutilation

20:00 - A jigsaw was found on the scene. This continues to show evidence of how much time it took to mutilate the body

23:00 - Section 3: Joseph Oberhansley’s mental state and the trial for this case

27:00 - Oberhansley’s criminal record included shooting his own mother, shooting and killing the teenage mother of his child. He had also shot himself, attempting suicide in the past.

29:30 - An exploration into the different types of cannibalism

33:00 - Joseph Oberhansley was sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole

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