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Who Killed Jamie Carroll? Couple Both On Trial After Body Found in Basement of Historic Mansion
One of the suspects in Jamie Carroll's murder insinuated his partner's jealousy was the motive in a new episode of Snapped: Killer Couples.
A couple invited a man into their Louisville, Kentucky home for a night of drinking, drugs, and partying — and then that man was never seen or heard from again.
The relationship between Jeffrey Mundt and his boyfriend, Joey Banis, is at the center of the latest episode of Oxygen’s Snapped: Killer Couples, airing Sundays at 6/5c.
“There’s only three people who truly know what happened in that room that night, and only two of them came out alive,” said Barry Baisden, friend of Jamie Carroll, to Snapped: Killer Couples.
Who Are Jeffrey Mundt and Joey Banis?
Mundt and Banis met through an internet dating site in the fall of 2009. After only a few weeks of dating, Banis moved into Mundt’s mansion in a historic part of Louisville, renowned for its homes once owned by wealthy bourbon barons.
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Mundt was part of the tech world and had previously overseen a university-wide IT project at Northwestern University near Chicago before moving to Louisville. Banis, meanwhile, had a troubled past with a criminal history, and had recently been released from prison before meeting his boyfriend.
What Happened the Night of June 17, 2010?
Louisville police responded to the home of Mundt and Banis around 9 p.m. after getting a 911 call from Mundt, where he claimed Banis was trying to attack him with a hammer after he attempted to break up with him.
“My boyfriend is attacking me,” Mundt said on the 911 call. “He’s trying to get into the room where I’m hiding. Please. He’s breaking down the door.”
But when officers spoke to Banis outside in a police squad car, Banis told them Mundt had killed someone in November 2009.
Upon further questioning, Banis told police the victim’s name was Jamie Carroll.
Banis admitted Carroll was a drug dealer, and that he and Mundt had invited him over to their home in November to get drugs. Banis also claimed Mundt had recently lost his job, and needed money to keep up his affluent lifestyle.
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He alleged Mundt hatched a plan to kill Carroll and steal the bag of cash from drug deals he’d brought to the house.
Banis then told officers after the three were high on drugs, Mundt was in bed with Carroll, when they began to struggle.
“At that time, there was a scream, like no one had ever heard,” Justin Brown, Banis’ attorney, told Snapped: Killer Couples. “When he wheeled around, he saw Jeffrey Mundt armed with a knife, stabbing and slicing at Jamie over and over and over again.”
Banis claimed Mundt pulled out a gun and shot Carroll. The two then moved the body to the wine cellar in the basement of the mansion, and dug a hole in the dirt floor, burying Carroll.
“He said that if I didn’t keep my mouth shut, he was going to kill me and my family,” Banis alleged to police in a recorded interview.
The Investigation into Jamie Carroll's Death
Unsure whether or not to believe Banis’ horrifying story, Louisville police searched the basement of the mansion, digging a hole and finding a storage Rubbermaid container with a body inside, which was identified as Jamie Carroll’s.
Blood was found in the drain of a bathtub in the home, as well as a possible bullet hole in the wall.
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But when officers questioned Mundt about what happened to Jamie Carroll, Mundt pointed the finger at Banis and described his violent behavior.
“Jeffrey [Mundt] continuously talked about how in fear he was of Joey [Banis], and you almost feel sympathetic to him as the victim,” said detective Collin King, Louisville Metro Police, to Snapped: Killer Couples. “We had no reason not to believe him. I’m like, ‘this poor guy,’ he’s a very, very likable guy. Very articulate. Very well-educated.”
Police found Carroll’s car had been impounded from an alley near Mundt’s mansion, and he hadn’t been seen or heard from after missing a sentencing in a drug case in December 2009.
Possible Murder Motive in Carroll Case Revealed
Police thought Banis was the clear suspect in Carroll’s murder, until Banis revealed a possible motivation for Mundt to be mad enough to kill the drug dealer. Banis shared with police that he met Carroll on a dating service after getting out of prison and had been in a relationship with him at the same time he began a relationship with Mundt.
“[Mundt] didn’t really like Jamie and Jamie didn’t really like him,” Banis said to police in a taped interview. “Both because there was some, I guess, basically jealousy.”
Banis’ lawyers argued this was reason enough for Mundt to be the killer.
“Joey [Banis] and Jamie Carroll were lovers,” Brown claimed. “They had a relationship. The odd man out in that room, that night, was Jeffrey Mundt.”
Prosecutors decided to charge both men in the homicide.
“They both admitted that this happened,” Darren C. Wolff, defense attorney, told Snapped: Killer Couples. “They both admitted to being involved. So, what did they do? They do what they do in most cases like this, which is put them both on trial —let the jury make that decision.”
Jeffrey Mundt and Joey Banis on Trial
Joey Banis was tried for the murder of Jamie Carroll first, in February 2013. The prosecutors painted him and Jeffrey Mundt as a “twisted” couple who murdered Carroll for money.
“Their relationship was just such a ball of dysfunction,” King said. “You have two evil people here that just meshed well and become one evil person.”
Banis was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.
In May of 2013, Mundt went on trial, but there was a twist — a confession video found on Banis’ computer was played as evidence in court.
“Myself, my co-counsel, and of course Joey [Banis], we know that that confession was made under duress,” Wolff claimed. “It was made under threat of death.”
The confession video had an impact on the jury. Mundt was found not guilty of murder, but was convicted of tampering with evidence and robbery. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, but only served one year of that sentence. He was released on parole in August 2014.
Banis will be eligible for parole in 2030, at the age of 58.
“Today, even still, I’m not 100 percent certain if one killed Jamie Carroll and the other helped, or both did it together,” David Domine, a true-crime author, told Snapped: Killer Couples.
Watch new episodes of Snapped: Killer Couples, Sundays at 6/5c on Oxygen or on the Oxygen app.
