The wife of celebrity hairstylist Fabio Sementilli has been found guilty of plotting his murder in order to avoid a messy divorce and receive millions in life insurance payouts.
On Friday, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced Monica Sementilli had been convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, with special circumstances that the crime was financially motivated and involved “lying in wait.”
Monica Sementilli is the third person convicted in the high-profile case. Her co-defendant and lover, Robert Louis Baker, previously admitted to killing the popular hairdresser at his Woodland Hills home on Jan. 23, 2017.
According to Hochman’s office, Baker stabbed Fabio Sementilli as he sat on his patio and then fled the scene in the victim’s stolen Porsche.
Fabio suffered stab wounds to his neck and torso, and he was found later by his daughter. Detectives at the time called his killing a “particularly vicious murder.”
In March, Baker, a former porn star and convicted sex offender, took the stand in Monica Sementilli’s trial and claimed full responsibility for the killing, saying that it was a crime motivated by passion.
A third defendant, Christopher Austin, described as Baker’s accomplice, was convicted of second-degree murder in the case. Austin, a former Oregon parole officer, was with Baker during the deadly stabbing, holding the victim down and covering his mouth as as Baker stabbed him multiple times.
Austin countered Baker’s claim that Monica Sementilli wasn’t involved in the killing, testifying that she intentionally left the door unlocked for them.
“This was a cold and calculated crime motivated by greed and betrayal,” Hochman said in a news release issued Friday. “We extend our deepest sympathies to Fabio Sementilli’s loved ones as they continue to mourn his tragic loss.”
He continued by thanking his prosecutorial team and the detectives who “painstakingly” pieced together the sordid details of the high-profile case over the course of eight years, “overcome the lies and deception of Monica Sementilli and her lover who thought they had made a clean getaway.”
Monica Sementilli is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23 at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles.
Baker was previously sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for killing his lover’s husband. Hochman says Monica Sementilli is eligible for that same sentence.
Christopher Austin, meanwhile, received a 16-year sentence for second-degree murder for his role in the violent killing.
