The wife of a celebrity hairstylist has been found guilty of orchestrating his murder — with help from her porn actor lover — in a plot to collect life insurance money.
Following a 10-week trial, Monica Sementilli, 53, was convicted of one count of murder with special circumstance allegations involving financial gain and one count of murder while lying in wait in the 2017 death of 49-year-old Canadian hair executive and father of three Fabio Sementilli.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Monica burst into tears as the verdict was read.
Prosecutors had said Monica concocted the plan to kill Fabio with her lover Robert Baker, a convicted sex offender and ex-porn-actor-turned-racquetball instructor, in the hopes of collecting his $1.6 million life insurance money.
“This was a cold and calculated crime motivated by greed and betrayal,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement after the Friday, April 11 verdict. “Today’s verdict ensures that those responsible for this ruthless act will be held accountable. Our office remains steadfast in the pursuit of justice for victims and their families. We extend our deepest sympathies to Fabio Sementilli’s loved ones as they continue to mourn his tragic loss.”
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During the trial, prosecutors alleged that Baker and his accomplice Christopher Austin, both wearing hoodies, jogged up to the couple’s Woodland Hills home on Jan. 23, 2017, snuck onto the property and attacked Fabio, who was known as “Big Daddy” by his friends and family, while he was home alone in the backyard watching television.
He was attacked from behind and suffered seven stab wounds to the neck, chest and thigh. His femoral and carotid arteries were cut.
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After the murder, Baker and Austin ransacked the couple’s bedroom and took the DVR from the garage where the home security footage was stored. They then stole Fabio’s 2008 Porsche 911, which was discovered abandoned about five miles away two days later.
Austin, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder earlier this year, testified that Monica had purposefully left the door of their home unlocked the day of the murder and that Baker had told him she wanted Fabio “gone,” per the Times.
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“Everything he did he did after he got a text message, which told me he was talking to her via text message,” Austin said, according to the Times. “I did not hear him talk to her on the phone … but everything happened in sequence.”
Baker, who entered a no contest plea to killing Fabio in 2023, denied that Monica had anything to do with the murder.
“I murdered him because I wanted her,” he testified, the Los Angeles Times reported. “She had nothing to do with it.”
Monica is facing a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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