A man charged, along with his alleged lover, in the 2017 stabbing death of the woman’s husband, a prominent hairdresser, at his Woodland Hills home, pleaded no contest on Friday to first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Robert Louis Baker also admitted to special circumstance allegations of murder for financial gain and murder while lying in wait in the killing of Fabio Sementilli, 49, which took place on January 23, 2017.
Judge Ronald S. Coen of Los Angeles Superior Court immediately sentenced Baker to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Baker’s alleged partner in the crime, Monica Sementilli, is still awaiting trial.
The pair had pleaded not guilty in August 2017, with prosecutors alleging that they conspired to kill her husband in order to obtain his life insurance proceeds.
According to the indictment, the two communicated via cell phones and encrypted communication applications to plan the murder of Fabio Sementilli. Baker allegedly solicited an unknown co-conspirator to assist him in the killing.
Monica Sementilli allegedly forwarded an email to Baker about how to access her home’s video surveillance system. She then left to go shopping, establishing an alibi for the time of her husband’s killing.
According to the indictment, Baker and the unknown co-conspirator attacked Sementilli from behind while he was sitting on the back patio. Baker cut himself on his left index finger during the attack.
After the attack, Baker went into the kitchen to wash off the victim’s blood and destroy evidence, leaving his own blood behind. He also attempted to stage a robbery and burglary in the master bedroom.
Monica Sementilli waited for her youngest daughter to arrive home and find her father’s body before returning to their home. She then called a Los Angeles Police Department detective several times to inquire why her husband’s life insurance policy proceeds were being withheld.
Paramedics pronounced the victim dead when they responded to his home on Queen Victoria Road. They found Fabio Sementilli in a pool of blood on an outdoor patio area.
Homicide detectives determined that Sementilli had been stabbed multiple times in the neck and upper body. The victim’s black 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera, with paper plates, was missing.
According to the indictment, Baker parked the car on Califa Street in Woodland Hills four hours after the killing.
Investigators believe Baker and Monica Sementilli had been having an affair for about a year and a half. Police suspect that she stood to gain around $1.6 million from a life insurance policy on her husband’s life.
In June 2017, Monica Sementilli’s attorney, Leonard Levine, stated that his client had no involvement in her husband’s killing and expressed hope for her complete exoneration once all the facts were revealed.
Fabio Sementilli was a well-established hairdresser who served as the vice president of education for Wella, the salon professional division of Procter and Gamble, according to Salon Friday magazine.
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