LOS ANGELES (Court TV) — Monica Sementilli was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the brutal murder of her husband, who was found stabbed to death at the couple’s home in 2017.
Monica Sementilli cries during her sentencing on June 23, 2025. (Court TV)
Sementilli was found guilty of murder and conspiracy in the murder-for-hire of celebrity hairstylist Fabio Sementilli. Jurors found that Monica plotted with her lover, Robert Baker, to continue their affair and cash in on Fabio’s $1.6 million life insurance policy.
While the sentence for first-degree murder is life in prison without parole, Judge Ronald Coen had the option of sentencing Monica for the conspiracy charge in a range from 25 years to life. Judge Coen gave her the maximum, saying he found that she was the “mastermind” of the conspiracy, noting that “Baker did not have the intelligence to plan such a brutal, well-thought-out slaughter.”
CA v. Monica Sementilli: Celebrity Stylist Murder Trial
Looking towards Monica’s future, Fabio’s youngest sister told the judge she had searched online for “what happens in a female prison.” “I read that inmates make sure newcomers get a brutal welcome,” Marella Sementilli told the Court. “Disgusting food … and poor hygiene. And I can’t deny I like the sounds of that. With every holiday, I will grow more at peace knowing Monica is eating food that even the rats don’t want to eat.”
Eight members of Fabio’s family spoke at Monica’s sentencing, not mincing words as they described Fabio’s murder as a “premeditated execution, carried out by cowards, driven by a woman with no soul.” Stephanie Avola, Fabio’s niece-in-law, referred to the defendant as “a soul devoid of humanity,” and reminded Judge Coen that prosecutors said Monica planned the murder so that her youngest daughter would find her husband’s body. “Only a devil could carry out something so calculated, so cruel and so utterly heartless against her own child,” Avola said. “Let her be forgotten as the clump of nothingness that she is.”
Fabio’s sister, Loretta Picillo, referred to Monica as “sex-crazed and demonic.” “You had it all, Monica, and you threw it away. You burnt it to the ground,” Picillo said. “For what? Lust? Greed? Attention? There’s a darkness living inside of you that no mortal can understand your evil treason. You’re rotten, through and through.”
Monica’s two daughters, whom she shared with Fabio, both spoke about their love for both of their parents. “We’re trying our best to move forward,” Gessica Sementilli said. “We only had five months to grieve our father before we lost our mother, too. I truly thought that this trial would bring some kind of closure, that we’d be able to grieve together the three of us and begin healing. But instead my sister and I will be doing what we’ve done the last eight years: we’re gonna pick each other up, we’re gonna carry on and we’re gonna stay strong.”
Christopher Austin, who pleaded guilty to stabbing Fabio with Baker, was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison when he was sentenced in May. Baker was sentenced to life in prison without parole after pleading no contest to murder charges.
