Inside a Wife's Plot to Murder Her Hollywood Hairstylist Husband Fabio Sementilli

Christine PelisekSat, March 7, 2026 at 1:13 PM UTC

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Fabio SementilliCredit: Courtesy Stephanie Avola -

Fabio Sementilli, 49, was found murdered in the backyard of his home in Woodland Hills, Calif. on Jan. 23, 2017

Fabio's wife, Monica, and two accomplices, including her lover Robert Baker, were sentenced for their role in the killing

The case is the focus of the upcoming episode of People Magazine Investigates

The cries of a teenage girl reached 911 dispatch shortly before 5 p.m. on Jan. 23, 2017. “My dad is outside, and he’s bleeding. He won’t wake up!” said 16-year-old Isabella Sementilli. Minutes earlier she had arrived at her family’s home in swank Woodland Hills, Calif., to find her father, Canadian-born hair-care executive Fabio Sementilli—who once styled the hair of Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Love Hewitt—alone and unconscious.

Police who responded to the call discovered the house, where Fabio, 49, lived with his wife, Monica, and daughters Gessica and Isabella, in disarray, and the body of Fabio, stabbed seven times from behind, near his favorite chair on the patio.

“It appeared kind of a surprise attack,” recalls retired Los Angeles Police Department detective Barry Telis.

Fabio Sementilli and MonicaCredit: Los Angeles Police Department

But who would want Fabio—a seemingly happily married, well-liked figure nicknamed Big Daddy—dead? The question would dog authorities for nearly a decade during their investigation and prosecution of his spouse and two co-conspirators – now featured in “The Final Cut,” the March 9 episode of People Magazine Investigates on Investigation Discovery and streaming on HBO Max.

Crime sceneCredit: Los Angeles Police Department

Initially interviewed on the day of her husband’s murder, Monica, 54, a former makeup artist who met Fabio in Toronto and married him in 1997, told police she had left Fabio at home while she ran an errand at 3:30. She returned to find Isabella, just home from school, calling 911. “Monica was upset,” says retired detective Ryan Verna.

But days later, when Monica hosted a memorial for Fabio, her behavior struck some guests as odd. Fabio’s sister Lori Picillo recalls seeing her with Robert Baker, a trainer at her gym. “They are talking very close,” says Picillo. “We thought they must be good friends.”

Surveillance showing two joggers heading toward Fabio Sementilli's home.

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Investigators soon uncovered a darker connection between Monica and Baker, 63, who had previously worked in adult film. DNA from blood samples lifted at the crime scene and in Fabio’s Porsche, which police found abandoned five miles from the house, was a direct match for Baker, a convicted sex offender listed in CODIS, the national DNA database.

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Robert Baker and Monica SementilliCredit: Los Angeles Police Department

When police began trailing Baker, they soon observed him meeting Monica at bars and suspected he could be one of two figures seen on security footage near Fabio’s house minutes before he was killed.

In the months that followed, Monica frequently posted tributes to Fabio on social media while pressing police to release his $1.6 million life insurance settlement. “[She was] not like, ‘Who killed my husband?’ ” recalls Detective Telis. “It was, ‘I want the money. Show me the money.’ ”

Monica Sementilli and Robert Baker in the back of a police carCredit: Los Angeles Police Department

They were arrested together in June 2017: Monica was charged with masterminding a plot to murder her husband for his money, while Baker faced a first-degree murder charge. Both pleaded not guilty, but while they were awaiting trials that were delayed for years, Baker suddenly changed his plea to guilty in 2023.

Monica Sementilli on trial; Christopher Austin 2024 mugshot; Robert Baker in courtCredit: ABC7/KABC-TV Los Angeles; Court TV

Then, after years of searching for the second figure seen on video, investigators tracked down Christopher Austin, 40, Baker’s friend and accomplice. Austin confessed to police and pleaded no contest to second-degree murder. He went on to testify against Monica, and she was convicted on April 11, 2025.

Monica and Baker were sentenced to life without parole; Austin is serving 15 years to life.

Meanwhile, Fabio’s family remains devastated. “Monica grieved with us. She held us tight,” says Picillo. “We were all shocked to the core.”

"The Final Cut," a new episode of People Magazine Investigates, airs March 9 at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery and streams on HBO Max.

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