Wife And Reputed Lover Plead 'Not Guilty' To Fatally Stabbing Husband in Woodland Hills

LOS ANGELES - The wife of a prominent hairdresser and her reputed lover pleaded not guilty Thursday to capital murder and conspiracy charges involving the man's stabbing death at his Woodland Hills home in January.

The indictment, handed up Aug. 18 and unsealed last Friday, charges Monica Sementilli, 45, and Robert Louis Baker, 55, in the Jan. 23 killing of Fabio Sementilli.

The two already had been charged in June with the 49-year-old man's killing, with the indictment expected to allow the case to proceed to trial more quickly.

The pair is due back in court Sept. 7 for a hearing on whether the grand jury transcript should remain sealed.

The murder charge includes the special circumstance allegations of murder for financial gain and murder by means of lying in wait. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty against Monica Sementilli and Baker.

The conspiracy charge lays out details of the prosecution's case against the two, with the indictment alleging that the pair agreed to kill her husband and planned to obtain her husband's life insurance proceeds after the killing.

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 indictment.

The indictment alleges 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 for the time of her husband's killing.

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 alleges.

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 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.

In June, Monica Sementilli's attorney, Leonard Levine, told reporters his client was not involved in her husband's killing.

"My client adamantly denies any involvement whatsoever in the murder of her husband, and we are hopeful that when all the facts come out she will be totally exonerated," he said.

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 Thursday magazine.

City News Service / Image via Shutterstock