How a Hollywood hairstylist's murder by wife's ex-porn star lover revealed secrets, lust, and desire for life insurance payday

More than eight years have passed since a popular Hollywood hairstylist was stabbed to death on the patio of his home in an affluent San Fernando Valley neighborhood outside Los Angeles, California.

Now a high-profile murder trial has opened — and it has revealed secrets, lust, and a desire for a huge life insurance payday, all stemming from a deadly love triangle.

'Deny everything and don’t talk.'

Celebrity hairstylist Fabio Sementilli, 49, was found bleeding to death on the patio of his Woodland Hills home on Jan. 23, 2017. His 16-year-old daughter Isabella called 911 while trying in vain to save her father.

Sementilli suffered seven sharp force wounds to his face, jawline, chest, neck, arm, and thigh — and his wounds proved fatal.

Initially, police believed the stabbing death was connected to burglars who had committed a string of home thefts in the San Fernando Valley. The bedroom of Sementilli's home was ransacked, and his Porsche was stolen. The vehicle was found abandoned two days after his murder about five miles from the crime scene.

However, detectives noted that the alleged burglars didn't steal the Hollywood hairstylist's $8,000 Rolex watch — it was still on his wrist.

A neighbor's security camera also captured video of two hooded figures running near Sementilli's house around the time of the slaying.

In addition, on the day Fabio Sementilli was murdered, a neighbor's security camera caught his 52-year-old wife, Monica Sementilli, driving her black Ford F-150 pickup truck. Prosecutors said she drove to a Target retail store, and video appeared to show an individual getting into her truck in the parking lot.

Prosecutors accused Monica Sementilli of making a trip to Target to establish her alibi, according to CBS News.

Another man emerges

Detectives discovered that Monica Sementilli had a close relationship with Robert Louis Baker — a former porn star and convicted sex offender.

The pair reportedly met at the West Hills L.A. Fitness, where Baker was a racquetball coach.

Police said Monica Sementilli and Baker were seen together in cars, bars, a comedy club, and on two trips to Las Vegas, as well as an excursion to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

LAPD detectives hatched a plan to secretly listen to Monica and Baker from a van parked near the home she previously shared with her late husband.

With that, police pulled over the pair when Baker was driving Monica's black Ford Mustang GT on June 14, 2017 — less than six months after the murder. Officers allegedly told the couple that the car they were in might have been stolen. Monica and Baker were handcuffed and placed in the back seat of a police cruiser.

But little did the pair know that cops had wired the police vehicle to record their conversation.

Monica was recorded telling Baker, "Somebody must have talked. Somebody is doing this to us."

She also reportedly told him, “Deny everything and don’t talk.”

'Prosecutors have argued that Monica Sementilli "was the mastermind" of the plot to kill her husband, a Canadian hairstylist and executive of the German hair-care giant, Wella.'

The pair was arrested and taken to the LAPD Van Nuys Station for questioning.

On the day of her arrest, a detective told Monica that Baker's blood was found inside her home.

She allegedly said she "cracked" Baker on the finger with a racquet and he bled all over a racquetball court. Monica added that she gave him a towel and then brought that bloody towel home with her.

Investigators allegedly found DNA belonging to Baker at the crime scene. What's more, his DNA already was in a police database because he was a registered sex offender after being convicted for lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor in 1993.

According to prosecutors, Baker cut his left index finger when he killed Fabio.

The Los Angeles Times reported, "In more than 50 days of trial, prosecutors have argued that Monica Sementilli 'was the mastermind' of the plot to kill her husband, a Canadian hairstylist and executive of the German hair-care giant, Wella. Her goal was to pocket $1.6 million in life insurance and avoid the complications of getting a divorce, prosecutors allege."

Prosecutors also pointed out that Monica Sementilli upgraded the security camera system at her home six months before Fabio's brutal murder — but the upgrade allegedly allowed her to remotely access her surveillance cameras from her cell phone.

Prosecutors accused her of forwarding the security camera system's log-in credentials and user manual to Baker on the same day of the upgrade.

At the time Fabio Sementilli was killed, phone records reportedly showed Monica Sementilli's iPhone was connected to her home's IP address and that the phone was consuming a large amount of data consistent with streaming live video.

Prosecutors allege that she was watching live video from her home security cameras.

According to the indictment, detectives discovered thousands of phone calls and text messages exchanged between Monica and the ex-porn star.

During a grand jury hearing in August 2017, friends of Monica Sementilli and Baker testified that they went out on double dates and saw affectionate behavior between the pair.

Baker also allegedly admitted to buying burner phones — one of which was in Monica’s purse when she was arrested in her Ford Mustang GT.

Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman spotlighted that Monica Sementilli actually used the burner phone during her late husband's funeral proceedings in his hometown of Toronto, Canada.

Baker also allegedly admitted that Monica Sementilli sent him naked photos of herself with her wedding ring still on her finger shortly after her husband's murder.

“Everyone grieves differently,” Baker proclaimed.

At the conclusion of the grand jury hearing, Monica Sementilli and Baker both were indicted for murder and conspiracy, and they both pleaded not guilty to the murder of Fabio Sementilli.

However, Baker on July 7, 2023, changed his plea in connection with the hairstylist's murder from not guilty to no contest.

Baker was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

An alleged accomplice surfaces

Police determined that Christopher Austin, a parole officer in Oregon, was Baker's accomplice in killing Fabio.

Detectives said Baker transferred money between two of his bank accounts for Austin. Baker also bought an airline ticket for Austin to travel from Anchorage, Alaska, to Los Angeles before the slaying, according to the police.

Austin was arrested in October 2024 and then convicted of second-degree murder in connection with his role in the killing.

He is scheduled for sentencing next month and is facing up to 16 years in prison.

Austin said he and Baker had been to Sementilli's house before and knew the layout — and Austin also told the jury that Baker revealed to him a crucial piece of information.

He said Baker "told me ... she is gonna leave the door unlocked," and Austin allegedly testified that he opened the patio door and grabbed Fabio Sementilli by the mouth to muffle any screams while Baker repeatedly stabbed him.

In addition, Austin reportedly told the jury that the hairstylist’s widow “wanted him dead” so she could collect the life insurance payout and avoid a messy divorce.

But Baker testified at Monica Sementilli's trial last week that she had nothing to do with her husband's murder.

“I murdered him because I wanted her,” Baker told jurors in a Los Angeles courtroom. "She had nothing to do with it."

You can view video here of Baker explaining in court why he killed Fabio Sementilli.

Monica Sementilli’s attorney, Blair Berk, said during opening statements that there was no evidence that her client plotted to kill Fabio Sementilli.

"There is no statement, no text, no recorded phone call,” Berk said, adding that Monica Sementilli was “duped into believing that Robert Baker” didn’t do it.

Despite Baker being in prison, the pair reportedly continued to communicate via three-way calls using a third-party number.

"Baker acknowledged that in one secret message sent to him in prison, Monica Sementilli asked him to send her something personal of his," the Los Angeles Times reported. "Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies later seized a toothpaste tube that contained Baker’s semen, and prosecutors say he intended to have it delivered to the defendant."

Monica Sementilli, through her attorneys, has maintained her claim that she had no part in her husband's death.

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