Norma Dodge remembers her grandson being a loving young man -- the kind of kid who would "always put his arms around me -- he'd say he loved me and he kissed me."
But when Joseph Oberhansley's half-brother and father died violent deaths within weeks of one another in 1997, the teen, now 18 years old, reportedly changed -- sinking into a desperate, sad life and regular drug use.Oberhansley grabbed headlines last December after he was accused of shooting and killing his 17-year-old former girlfriend Sabrina Elder, and shooting his mother, Brenda Self, before turning the gun on himself.
He survived and was later charged with murder and attempted murder. His mother also survived.
During a preliminary hearing Thursday, several family members, including Self, testified Oberhansley suffered deeply after his half-brother committed suicide and his father's suspicious death.
Dodge said her grandson became indifferent and irritable after the deaths and frequently carried around his father's ashes.
"(Joseph) said he should have been there for his dad . . . because his dad needed him," Dodge said.
There was little argument from attorneys on both sides about details of the Dec. 9 shootings. Oberhansley's grandmother, his mother, and his 13-year-old sister, Alesha Olsen, all testified the defendant fired a gun in the living room of Dodge's West Valley City home.
Dodge recalled Oberhansley walked into her home Dec. 9, glassy-eyed and looking like he was "in another dimension."
The defendant then paced up and down the hall several times before he walked into Dodge's small living room and began shooting, according to court testimony.
Self said she was holding Elder and Oberhansley's newborn baby when she heard gunfire. She rushed to put the baby down, then got down on the ground to offer first aid to Elder, who had been shot. While she laid across the girl, she said she felt a sting in her back after being shot herself. She was also shot in the arm.
Olsen, Oberhansley's sister, testified she grabbed the baby and ran out of the room when the shooting began.
At this point, Dodge said, she rushed from the kitchen into the living room and saw Oberhansley turn the gun on himself and fire.
Defense attorney Ron Yengich spent much of the hearing fleshing out details of Oberhansley's drug use and personality changes after his father and brother died.
Amanda Thomas, Oberhansley's purported girlfriend at the time of the shooting, said she and Oberhansley used drugs on a regular basis.
While under the influence of drugs, Thomas testified, Oberhansley would sometimes vent his anger with Elder. The defendant was upset that Elder was living at his grandmother's house and he didn't think the newborn baby was his, Thomas said.
Sometimes when Oberhansley was high he would say he would like to kill Elder, said Thomas, but added that she didn't think he was serious because she thought it was simply the drugs talking.
After Thursday's testimony, 3rd District Judge Ronald Nehring scheduled a June 11 hearing to consider a defense argument that the case should be handled as manslaughter, a lesser charge, instead of murder.