A third suspect who was recently arrested and charged with murder in the 2017 stabbing death of a prominent hairdresser at his Woodland Hills home pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a newly added count of conspiracy.
The conspiracy count alleges that Christopher Austin, 38, conspired with Monica Sementilli and Robert Louis Baker to kill Sementilli's husband, Fabio.
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The criminal complaint alleges that Monica Sementilli informed Baker that her husband was alone at their home the afternoon of Jan. 23, 2017, and that Baker and Austin attacked him as he sat on the back patio.
The complaint also alleges that Austin held the victim down and covered the victim's eyes as Baker stabbed him several times with a knife and that Austin stabbed the victim in the neck with a knife, and that both men attempted to clean up the crime scene and destroy evidence.
Baker had allegedly told Austin that the victim's wife wanted to get her husband's life insurance money, and Austin allegedly received money from Baker to purchase airline tickets to fly from Anchorage, Alaska, to Los Angeles, in January 2017 and then received a roll of gold coins from Baker after the killing, according to the complaint.
Monica Sementilli, 52, is awaiting trial on murder and conspiracy charges stemming from her husband's killing. She is due in court next Tuesday for a pretrial hearing.
Baker pleaded no contest in July 2023 to one count each of first- degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He also admitted the special circumstance allegations of murder for financial gain and murder while lying in wait.
Monica Sementilli and Baker were arrested by Los Angeles police in June 2017 and charged with murdering her 49-year-old husband, with a conspiracy charge subsequently being added against them. They were indicted just over two months later on the same charges.
Deputy District Attorney Heather Steggell told a judge at a hearing earlier this month that Austin was arrested in the state of Washington and subsequently extradited to Los Angeles County, where he remains behind bars in lieu of just over $2 million bail while awaiting his next court appearance Dec. 2.
One of Monica Sementilli's attorneys, Leonard Levine, told reporters after Baker's plea that the defense was confident that his plea and his "truthful testimony will finally establish once and for all that Monica Sementilli had nothing to do with the planning or the murder of Fabio Sementilli, her husband. And we're looking forward to the trial, which we believe will establish that fact."
Baker's attorney said then that he did not know if his client is going to be called to testify in Monica Sementilli's trial.
"My client obviously exercised his constitutional right and I support his right to do that. It's not something done lightly," defense lawyer Michael Simmrin told reporters.
Family members told Superior Court Judge Ronald Coen that they have been devastated by Fabio Sementilli's death.
One of the couple's daughters, Gessica, said her father's memory will "live on forever," but said she and her sister, Isabella, will "continue to stand by our mother as we have for the last six years."
One of the victim's sisters, Loretta Picillo, said Baker and Monica Sementilli "ruined our lives" and said she was repulsed by the fact that Monica Sementilli had "mourned with our family."
She said she is "haunted" by the terror of what happened and wondered how many times her brother had pleaded for mercy before being killed.
"I will never forgive you," Picillo said, directly addressing the defendant.
Another of the victim's sisters, Mirella Sementilli, told the judge that one of the most traumatic things was having to tell their sick mother that her son had been murdered in a spot he loved. She said he will "live forever in her hearts" and pledged to make it her life's work to speak the name of her brother, whom she said is "revered by tens of thousands of hairdressers."
Luigi Sementilli, the victim's son from a prior marriage, said his family has suffered tremendously because two people found in their hearts the capacity to commit a brutal murder.
Fabio Sementilli was an established hairdresser who served as vice president of education for Wella, the salon professional division of Procter and Gamble, according to Salon Wednesday magazine.
The prosecution alleges that Monica Sementilli and Baker conspired to kill her husband, with plans to obtain the husband's life insurance proceeds.
The two allegedly "communicated via cell phones and encrypted communication applications regarding their plan to kill victim Fabio Sementilli" and Baker allegedly "solicited an unknown co-conspirator to assist him in killing victim Fabio Sementilli," according to the August 2017 indictment.
The indictment alleged that Monica Sementilli forwarded an e-mail to Baker about how to access her home video surveillance system, notified him that her husband would be alone on the afternoon of Jan. 23 and then left to go shopping to establish an alibi.
Baker and the "unknown co-conspirator" allegedly saw Sementilli sitting on the back patio and attacked him from behind, with Baker allegedly cutting himself on his left index finger during the attack, according to the indictment.
Baker allegedly "went into the kitchen to wash off the victim's blood and destroy evidence, leaving his own blood behind" and attempted to stage a robbery and burglary in the master bedroom, the indictment alleged.
Monica Sementilli allegedly waited for her youngest daughter to arrive home to find her father's body before returning to their home, and subsequently called a Los Angeles Police Department detective several times to inquire why her husband's life insurance policy proceeds were being withheld, according to the indictment.
The victim was pronounced dead by paramedics who responded to his home in the 5000 block of Queen Victoria Road at about 5 p.m. and found the Canadian-born stylist in a pool of blood in an outdoor patio area.
Homicide detectives determined that Sementilli had been stabbed several times in the neck and upper body. The victim's black 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera, which had paper plates, was missing.
The car was allegedly parked by Baker on Califa Street in Woodland Hills four hours after the killing, according to the indictment.
Police said investigators believe Baker and Monica Sementilli had been having an affair for about a year and a half, and she stood to gain a sizeable benefit -- around $1.6 million -- from a life insurance policy on her husband.
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