Crime + investigation
After a meth-fueled tryst turned deadly, the 37-year-old victim was buried in a makeshift grave in the basement.
Getty Images/iStockphotoA wild night of illicit drugs and group sex culminated in a gruesome killing and two former paramours pointing the finger at each other after keeping the murder a secret for months.
In June 2010, Jeffrey Mundt—a successful IT professional and former university employee—locked himself in the bathroom and called 911 from his home in Louisville, Ky., to report that his live-in boyfriend, Joey Banis, threatened to kill him when he tried to end their relationship, according to police.
After the First 48
"After The First 48" takes viewers through the dramatic period between arrest and conviction, from the investigation to the trial, the verdict, and beyond.
Responding officers arrested Banis, then 38, on suspicion of domestic violence. But on the ride to the police station, he made a horrifying confession.
“He said, ‘Before you take me to jail, I need to talk to a detective, because there's a body buried in our basement,’” Louisville Police Det. Collin King tells A&E Crime + Investigation.
A&E previously documented the case in a season 4 episode of After the First 48.
According to police, Banis alleged that seven months earlier in December 2009, he and Mundt, also 38 at the time, participated in a meth-fueled threesome with Jamie Carroll, a convicted drug dealer who Banis met online.
Carroll, 37, agreed to meet up with Banis and Mundt at their home in Old Louisville, where they spent the evening getting high and having sex, police said.
As the night went on, Banis told investigators he was watching porn when suddenly “there was blood flying” everywhere.
“Jamie and Jeff were in bed naked and before I knew it, Jeff had stabbed Jamie,” Banis purported during a police interview.
Banis alleged Mundt then shot Carroll with a revolver and forced him to help stuff the victim’s body in a plastic storage container before they buried it in a makeshift grave in their unfinished basement, according to authorities. He said Mundt threatened to kill him if Banis called police.
Banis provided investigators with a hand-drawn map, leading them to the spot where Carroll’s decomposed corpse was hidden beneath the Louisville home, per After the First 48. Police then brought Mundt in for an interview, during which he denied having any knowledge of the body in the basement.
“He's a very likable guy,” King admits. “He was just so manipulative and so convincing with his story, but still, I felt something was off.”
Mundt continually denied having killed Carroll, but seconds before he was to undergo a polygraph test, he admitted to having knowledge of the murder.
Mundt told authorities he witnessed Banis slit Carroll’s throat and shoot him during their drug-fueled encounter. Mundt said he was forced to help get rid of the victim’s body and keep the murder a secret out of fear for his life.
“Mundt said he was scared if he called police that Banis would kill him and his cats, so that's why he didn't say anything,” King explains.
The ex-lovers told eerily similar stories about the events that unfolded that fateful night. The only difference: the killer.
“In my opinion, Mundt was the brains behind the murder,” King alleges. “He's a complete and utter sociopath.”
But Mundt had no prior criminal record, and he had a respected career in the IT sector. On the other hand, Banis had a rap sheet and previously served time for drug offenses.
“Banis would do anything Mundt asked him to do,” King claims. “Mundt was the puppeteer. Banis was the bad boy.”
A medical examiner determined Carroll—who was never reported missing because he was scheduled to report to prison on a drug charge the day after he was killed—died from six stab wounds and a single gunshot wound to the head, according to police.
His death was officially ruled a homicide, and both Mundt and Banis were arrested on charges of first-degree murder, robbery and tampering with evidence, per authorities. They were tried separately.
Jeffrey Mackey and Alexis Nieves murdered another couple.
Jeffrey Mackey and Alexis Nieves murdered another couple.
Banis went to trial first, in February 2013.
His defense strategy was to pin the murder on Mundt, who they alleged was driven to kill out of jealousy. Banis’s attorney said that, while Banis and Mundt were in a relationship, Banis also became physically and emotionally involved with Carroll, Mundt felt left out. But Mundt delivered a blow to their case when he testified against his former boyfriend and claimed that Banis was the lone perpetrator who stabbed and shot Carroll. He accused Banis of threatening to kill him next if he didn’t help get rid of the body and keep the murder a secret.
Mundt claimed that he remained silent out of fear for his safety.
“I live with that regret every day,” he told the court, according to authorities.
Banis was convicted of complicity to murder, robbery and tampering with evidence. Banis admitted at sentencing to covering up the crime but maintained his innocence. He was sentenced to life in prison and will be eligible for parole in June 2030, according to jail records.
Mundt’s trial commenced three months later.
His team, including high-profile criminal defense attorney Steven Romines, suggested their client was a victim.
“Jeff Mundt was very successful,” Romines tells A&E Crime + Investigation. “He had lived his entire life and never got a speeding ticket. He meets Joey Banis online, and about six weeks later, he's got a body in his basement.”
During the two-week trial in May 2013, the defense introduced a smoking gun: a videotaped confession in which Banis recorded himself holding Mundt at gunpoint in a motel room, as seen on After the First 48.
“Banis is on video admitting to the crime, saying he killed Carroll,” Romines explains. “He threatened Mundt and held him hostage. And obviously, that's pretty powerful.”
The jury agreed, despite Banis testifying against his ex-lover.
Mundt was subsequently acquitted of Carroll’s murder but was still found guilty of robbery and tampering with evidence.
He was sentenced to three years for robbery and five years for tampering, to run consecutively. Mundt only served one year in prison, according to police, and was released on parole in August 2014.
It’s unclear what he’s up to now, but King alleges Mundt “100% got away with murder.”
“I think he's one of those sick individuals that wanted to see what it’s like to kill. And I think Banis was a bad boy that was either so in love with him, or so gullible, or so ignorant and dumb that he just went along with it,” he says.
King maintains the former beaus were a dangerous duo.
“When these two got together, it was just a complete and utter deadly combination that ultimately ended in death,” King purports. “They were both complicit in the murder of Jamie Carroll.”
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Tristan Balagtas is a Las Vegas-based crime writer and reporter. She previously reported for People and TV news stations in Washington and Texas. Tristan graduated from the University of Nevada Las Vegas with a bachelor's degree in journalism.
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