At the Woodland Hills home, one of the wives of a celebrity wife, he testified last week that she killed her husband and didn’t have a part to collect $1.6 million, about eight years after the horrific stab death of celebrity hairstylist Fabio Sementiri, 49, at her trial.
The 49-year-old victim was found to be bleeding on the patio by her daughter Isabella Fabio on January 23, 2017.
Former porn star and convicted sex offender Robert Lewis Baker, 62, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the case and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. His accomplice, Oregon parole officer Christopher Austin, was convicted of second-degree murder for his role in the murder.
Scheduled for next month’s sentence, he faces up to 16 years in prison for murder and personal use of the knife.
According to Austin’s testimony, he and Baker enter the couple’s unlocked front door and discover Fabio is sitting on the back patio.
In a Times report, Austin opened the patio door and testified that he grabbed Fabio with his mouth to fill the screams while Baker stabbed him.
The victim was later found to have seven sharp, forceful wounds on his face, jaw, chest, neck and thighs.
Baker and Austin then fled the victims’ Porsche and abandoned them about five miles away.
Monica Semenrilli and Robert Baker were seen in images released by police. (LAPD) Fabio and Monica Cementilli seen in this outdated photo. Fabio sementilli was seen in a Facebook post in 2016. Fabio and Monica Cementilli are seen in this undated photo.
However, prosecutors argue that Monica Semenrilli, now 52, the wife of Fabio, who pleaded not guilty to accusations of murder and conspiracy, is a major factor in the conspiracy to kill her husband, and according to the era, the goal is to collect life insurance payments and avoid a messy divorce.
Having admitted to being lovers, Baker and Monica met at West Hills La Fitness, where Baker was a racquetball coach.
Austin, a star witness for the prosecution, testified that it was the stylist’s wife who left the front door of the house for the two men, despite Baker’s recent testimony that he had murdered a celebrity stylist because he wanted Monica for himself.
Austin further said that although he had never heard directly from Monica, Baker called her his “girl,” she said she and Fabio were in an abusive marriage, that she wanted her husband to leave, and the murder was due to insurance payments, the Times reported.
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About a month after the murder, police were able to link Baker’s DNA to blood evidence at the scene in Woodland Hills. His previous conviction for indecent conduct with a minor in 1993 meant that his DNA was recorded.
Investigators also noticed that the home’s security record system was well hidden, but was removed after the murder. According to the Times, forensic technology experts have testified that they have recovered instructions from Monica to Baker on how to find a security DVR, and tied the pair together on suspicion of murder.
It was Facebook posts and bank records that ultimately brought the two men together. Baker reportedly bought Austin’s tickets from Anchorage to Los Angeles before the murder, and then gave him a roll of gold coins.
After becoming suspects, investigators monitored Monica and Baker for several weeks, watching together at the bar, a comedy club, and then travelling to Las Vegas and driving together.
The pair was handed over at Monica’s Black Mustang in June 2017, with Baker behind the wheel.
According to The Times, the video recording system was placed behind a police car and reportedly told Monica “denies everything and don’t talk.”
Regarding Monica’s defense at trial, co-defense advisor Blair Burke said in a statement in a statement that there was no evidence that her client planned to kill her husband and “robert Baker had been fooled for believing in Robert Baker.”
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