Naman Shrestha
The lavish Woodland Hills residence of Fabio Sementilli, a popular celebrity hairdresser, turned into a gruesome crime scene on the afternoon of January 23, 2017. Not only that, the police also found evidence of theft as the house was ransacked and his car was stolen by the perpetrators. Upon further investigation, they tied his wife, Monica Sementilli, to the crime as well. In the episode titled ‘The Widow of Woodland Hills’ of NBC’s ‘Dateline,’ the focus is on her involvement in the murder and her subsequent intense trial.
Monica Sementilli Was Secretly Involved With Another Man
It was in Toronto, Canada, where the celebrity hairdresser Fabio Sementilli first crossed paths with Monica, a makeup artist. She started out as one of his clients and later formed a romantic relationship with him. In 1997, the couple exchanged vows and tied the knot, surrounded by their loved ones. Over the years, they welcomed two daughters — Gessica and Isabella — into the world while also raising Fabio’s son named Luigi from a previous relationship. Nearly a decade after the wedding, in 2008, the family moved to Los Angeles, California, where they led a lavish life as Fabio formed a celebrity clientele.
Everything seemed to be going great in the Sementilli household until the fateful day of January 23, 2017, arrived. That late afternoon, when Monica and her 16-year-old daughter Isabella returned home after shopping, they found Fabio stabbed to death by their house pool. As the investigators dug deep into the matter, several disturbing facts came to light. It turned out that Monica had been involved in an extramarital affair with Robert Louis Baker, a guy she met at the gym, since 2016. As per Robert’s accounts, they used to schedule their meet-ups regularly based on her schedule.
Monica Sementilli Reportedly Masterminded the Plan to Kill Her Husband to Be With Her Secret Lover
According to reports, Monica and Robert wished to collect Fabio’s $1.6 million life insurance money and start a new life together, which led them to devise a plan to get the former’s husband killed. They started materializing the plan as Robert placed GPS tracking devices on their target’s vehicles in order to track him and kill him when the right opportunity arose. He even reportedly took help from one of his trustees, Christopher Austin. On the fateful day, Monica went out with Isabella, leaving Fabio home alone and a window of opportunity for the execution of her murderous plan. She even reportedly kept the door unlocked while leaving. Soon, Robert and Christopher were spotted jogging toward the Sementilli residence in Woodland Hills, California, wearing hoodies to conceal their identities.
After sneaking inside the property, they reportedly caught the hairdresser by surprise and stabbed him to death on the patio of his home. The killers then ransacked the house and stole the DVR with the home security footage. They left the scene of the crime in Fabio’s 2008 Porsche 911, as seen in the surveillance footage of the area. Initially, the authorities believed that it was the case of a robbery gone wrong. However, when the blood found at the crime scene led them to Robert and Christopher, they also connected Monica to the murder. After gathering enough evidence against her, the police arrested her, alongside Robert Baker, in June 2017. At first, they were charged with murder, but later, they were also indicted for a conspiracy charge.
Monica Sementilli is Currently Awaiting Her Sentencing Hearing
After nearly eight years, in January 2025, Monica Sementilli finally stood trial for being involved in the murder of her husband, Fabio Sementilli. During the trial, the prosecutors claimed that she masterminded the entire plot and conspired with her secret lover, Robert Baker, to have the celebrity hairdresser killed so that they could collect the life insurance money and start a new life together. However, the convict, Robert, testified that the defendant was in no way responsible for Fabio’s demise. He told the jurors, “I murdered him because I wanted her. She had nothing to do with it.”Adding to that, the defense claimed that Monica was guilty of having an affair, not of murder. “For that, she is responsible and will live with that for the rest of her life. But adultery is not murder,” her attorney said. The other convicted accomplice, Christopher Austin, also took the stand in the trial.
He admitted that she had left the door to their home unlocked on purpose so that he and Robert could easily enter the property and carry out the killing. During the closing arguments, the defense attorney emphasized, “She was having an affair with someone who murdered her husband. But she did not commit or orchestrate or conspire to commit the murder of her husband.” On the other hand, the prosecution argued, “She’s the one who destroyed so many lives and their entire family. No one else did that, there’s no one else to blame…They destroyed evidence, they deleted evidence, they tried to hide the planning behavior so that they could have this new future together.” After an intense 10-week trial, the 10-man and two-woman jury deliberated for nearly nine hours in the span of three days before returning with a guilty verdict.
Finally, on April 11, 2025, 53-year-old Monica Sementilli was found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the 2017 killing of her husband, Fabio Sementilli, in their Woodland Hills house. Following her conviction, Fabio’s sister, Mirella Sementilli, expressed her relief, claiming that justice had been served. “It’s the most beautiful day for our family. Our spirits are lifted. My brother can now rest in peace and the murderers that have deceived him are exactly where they belong today,” she said. Meanwhile, Monica’s defense counsel was left disappointed and announced, “…we will pursue every legal avenue to obtain her eventual exoneration and her freedom.” With her sentencing scheduled for June 23, 2025, Monica is currently held up in an LA County jail, facing a life imprisonment sentence without the possibility of parole.
Read More: Robert Louis Baker: Where is Fabio Sementilli’s Killer Now?
