Monica Sementilli: Wife sentenced for LA hairstylist husband's murder
Monica Sementilli sentenced to life for murder of husband
Monica Sementilli,who was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for masterminding the killing of her husband -- a prominent hairdresser -- at the home they shared with their two daughters in Woodland Hills was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
LOS ANGELES - Monica Sementilli, who was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the 2017 stabbing death of her husband, Fabio Sementilli, was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
What we know:
Sementilli, 53, was found guilty on April 11 of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of her 49-year-old husband, Fabio Sementilli, on January 23, 2017, at the Woodland Hills home they shared with their two daughters.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen rejected a defense bid to have her sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Monica Sementilli found guilty
The 10-man, two-woman jury deliberated about eight hours and 45 minutes over a three-day period before finding Sementilli, 53, guilty of murder and conspiracy, and also found true the special circumstance allegations of murder for financial gain and murder while lying in wait.
The backstory:
Fabio Sementilli was stabbed to death in the backyard of the Woodland Hills home he shared with Monica and their two daughters, shortly before the couple's 20th wedding anniversary.
Monica Sementilli was arrested in June 2017, along with her lover, Robert Baker, and initially charged with murder.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Monica Sementilli: Verdict reached in trial of wife charged with hairstylist husband's murder
A conspiracy charge was later added.
Other defendants
What we know:
Monica Sementilli's lover, Robert Baker, 63, pleaded no contest in July 2023 to first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, admitting the two special circumstance allegations.
The judge said Sementilli's lover, Robert Baker, "did not have the intelligence to plan such a brutal, well-thought out slaughter."
He is currently serving a life prison sentence without the possibility of parole.
Baker, a convicted sex offender and former adult movie actor who was called to the stand during the defense's portion of Sementilli's trial, maintained that the mother of two had nothing to do with the plan to kill her husband. He said he formed his own plan to murder Fabio Sementilli, saying, "I wanted her to be around me and with me more -- like all the time."
A third defendant, Christopher Austin, 39, pleaded no contest in January to second-degree murder. He was sentenced in May to 16 years to life in state prison as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Jury gets case of wife charged with celeb hairstylist husband's murder in Woodland Hills
At the time of his arrest last year, Austin was working as a parole and probation officer in Oregon.
What they're saying:
"In listening to the evidence in this matter, I do find that defendant was the mastermind in this conspiracy to commit murder," Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen said in rejecting a defense bid seeking to have Monica Sementilli sentenced to the lesser term of 25 years to life in prison on the conspiracy charge rather than the murder charge on which she was also convicted April 11. "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 couple's oldest daughter, Gessica, expressed her disappointment with Austin's plea deal, stating, "We are the ones who lost a father. We are the ones who lost a mother."
Their youngest daughter, Isabella, who discovered her father's body, directly addressed Austin at his sentencing, saying he had "the audacity to cry on the stand" and was a "coward stupid enough to blindly trust someone like Robert Baker." She added, "... I will fight for you to rot in prison the rest of your life." Both daughters have consistently maintained their mother's innocence.
Mirella Sementilli, one of Fabio's sisters, in a statement read in court, told Austin that her family had been "traumatized by your choice to say nothing. You chose to be present. You chose to take part. There will never be forgiveness, never."
In closing arguments, Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman asserted that "it's very obvious that the defendant, along with her lover, murdered Fabio Sementilli along with assistance from Christopher Austin."
She described the murder as "committed for financial gain as well as for other motivations -- in other words, for their future together," and called the plot the ultimate act of "betrayal."
What's next:
Sementilli is expected to appeal her conviction.
The Source: Information for this story is from previous FOX 11 reports and City News Service.