CBS 48 Hours: Who Are Monica Sementilli and Robert Baker & What Were They Accused Of?

Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.

CBS 48 Hours will look into the case against Monica Sementilli and her lover, Robert Baker, for murdering her hairstylist husband, Fabio Sementilli. The upcoming episode “The Monica Sementilli Affair” airs on the network this Saturday, March 9, 2024, at 10 p.m. ET. The synopsis says, “When a renowned hairstylist is killed poolside, investigators look at his wife. Was her alleged affair with her racquetball coach a motive for murder?”

According to People Magazine, two individuals sneaked into Fabio and Monica Sementilli’s Woodland Hills home in Los Angeles on January 23, 2017. The intruders then fatally stabbed Fabio, a father-of-three, who was home alone at the time. The incident initially appeared as a home invasion burglary gone wrong. However, surveillance footage and DNA evidence helped crack open the case.

Investigators closed in on Robert Baker, a convicted sex offender, after finding blood evidence that linked him to the crime. They believed Baker and Monica were having an affair and alleged that they wanted to collect Fabio’s life insurance money. Authorities eventually arrested both suspects in June 2017.

Monica and Baker were charged with murder with the special circumstance allegations of lying in wait and financial gain, among other charges. The latter pleaded no contest in July 2023 and received a life sentence with no parole. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reported that Monica pleaded not guilty and is now awaiting trial.

What were Monica Sementilli and Robert Baker accused of?

The LA Times stated that in June 2017, several months after Fabio Sementilli’s murder, police detectives arrested his wife, Monica Sementilli. They also arrested her alleged lover, Robert Baker, a convicted sex offender, revealing Monica’s extramarital affair. Prosecutors claimed that the duo murdered the famed hair stylist Fabio because they wanted to collect $1.6 million in life insurance.

Per the report, then-Captain of the Los Angeles Police Department, Billy Hayes, claimed that Fabio Sementilli was a direct target in the case. Hayes alleged that Monica Sementilli and Robert Baker had been in an intimate relationship for more than a year.

LAPD officers found 49-year-old Fabio stabbed in his home after responding to a 911 call. Surveillance around the house showed two hooded men entering the property and attacking the father-of-three. The intruders then fled the scene in the victim’s Porsche. Another surveillance recorded them abandoning the vehicle five miles away. Detectives found blood evidence inside this vehicle, which then led them to Robert Baker, a convicted sex offender.

Baker and Monica Sementilli’s indictment took place in August 2017, reported CBS News. The indictment stated that the duo “communicated via cell phones and encrypted communication applications regarding their plan to kill victim Fabio Sementilli.” It also mentioned Baker’s alleged plot to solicit “an unknown co-conspirator to assist him in killing.”

The indictment alleged that Monica told Baker through email to access their home’s video surveillance system. LA Times further stated that evidence showed she and Baker had remote access to the security system. The prosecution accused her of allegedly notifying her lover that her husband was home alone that afternoon, and she left to go shopping to establish an alibi.

Prosecutors said that Monica allegedly led her 16-year-old daughter to discover the crime scene. She only returned home afterward. Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman told a grand jury, “Monica fully intended for Fabio to be murdered. She wanted him out of the way because she wants to be with Robert Baker. She’s unhappy in her marriage, even though at the same time she’s acting like the loving, adoring wife.”

The outlet stated that Monica Sementilli has pleaded not guilty to all charges in Fabio Sementilli’s murder case. She is awaiting trial. On the other hand, Robert Baker pleaded no contest in July 2023 to one count each of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Baker also admitted the special circumstance allegations of murder for financial gain and murder while lying in wait. Following this, he received a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

CBS 48 Hours’ new episode will premiere on March 9, 2024.

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