(WHAS11)--The man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend in Jeffersonville then cannibalizing her body was back in court on May 4.
The hearing on Monday was to officially add to the charges against Joseph Oberhansley to include rape and to hear a request by the defense to allow Oberhansley to be held with other inmates in the jail.
In September 2014, police said Oberhansley broke into Blanton's home, stabbed her to death and ate her organs.
The defense claims that being in isolation since September 2014 has caused Oberhansley's mental health to deteriorate.
The judge denied that request but a review will be conducted to move him into a different area of maximum security.
According to the prosecution, an autopsy of Oberhansley's former girlfriend, Tammy Blanton, showed evidence of rape. The judge granted the additional charge of rape.
Prosecutors tell us the charges Oberhansely faces means he is eligible for the death penalty.
"I have listed three separate aggravating factors at the death penalty request. Indiana Law requires only one, but in this case I have alleged three of those. There is the dismemberment, burglary and now rape,"Jeremy Mull, the Clark County Prosecutor, said.
During the reading of the charges, Oberhansley claimed the charges are nothing more than lies and deception and he was the one being robbed.
Oberhansley says he is righteous and a man of enlightenment and that he was too good looking to rape anyone.
His trial will be held on August 2, 2016 because the defense says a death penalty case requires them to gather all documents needed in the case and some of those records are out of state.
