The wife of a celebrity hairstylist was slapped with the maximum sentence on Monday after she was found guilty of getting her porn-star lover to murder the stylist for a $1.6 million life insurance policy.
Mom of two Monica Sementilli, 53, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in Los Angeles after jurors convicted her of murdering her husband, Fabio Sementilli, in 2017 at their posh home in Woodland Hills, Calif., ABC 7 reported.
Sementilli “was the mastermind in this conspiracy to commit murder,” LA County Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen said — mocking the idea that her porn-star lover Robert Baker, 49, had the “intelligence to plan such a brutal, well-thought-out slaughter.”
“Defendant was the prime mover in this execution of a human being and consequently I am utilizing my discretion to impose the more serious of the sentences,” the judge said, rejecting the defense team’s request for a “lesser term of 25 years to life in prison.”
Sementilli had wanted to score $1.6 million in Fabio’s life insurance funds while avoiding a divorce, prosecutors had told her trial.
It was a “completely senseless murder driven by the defendant’s greed and her lust,” Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said during sentencing.
“Without her and her plotting, her planning the murder of her husband, he would be alive today,” she said. “She and her lover showed Fabio Sementilli no mercy. She’s not deserving of any mercy of this court.”
Baker, a sex offender and former porn star, testified that the mother of two had nothing to do with the plot to kill her husband.
“I murdered him because I wanted her,” Baker told the court.
Baker fatally stabbed Fabio in his neck and torso on his back patio on Jan. 23, 2017, as a third accomplice, former Oregon parole officer Christopher Austin, held him down.
After the slashing, Baker took off in Fabio Sementilli’s black 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera, which was found abandoned miles away from the luxury home.
Sementilli and the couple’s daughter, Isabella, found his body minutes later.
Austin, 39, said Sementilli didn’t take part in the killing but claimed that she left the door unlocked for them.
Baker confessed to his crime of passion, pleaded no contest in July 2023 to murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and is serving life without the possibility of parole, while Austin was slapped with a 16-year sentence.
Two of Fabio’s sisters also urged the judge to impose the maximum sentence, as they gave their victim impact statements, telling the court their brother’s murder was “an unimaginable betrayal.”
“Only a demon could orchestrate the murder of a loving husband and savagely time it so her own daughter would come home to find her father’s lifeless body lying in a pool of blood,” Loretta Picillo said, according to ABC 7.
The couple’s youngest daughter, Isabella, said she hopes “justice will prevail over time.”
Shortly after Sementilli was sentenced, the family released a statement saying they have “unwavering love, support and belief in her innocence.”
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to proving her innocence and bringing the truth to light. This is not the end of her story. We will exhaust every legal avenue available to ensure that justice is truly served,” her family said in the statement, according to ABC 7.
Fabio’s work was featured on networks like TLC, and he was the vice president of education for Wella, the Salon Professional Division of P&G, before he died.
The beloved hairstylist’s client list included Jennifer Lopez, Russell Crowe, Jackie Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt, among other Hollywood’s finest, according to ABC.
