Fabio Sementilli, a beloved Canadian hair executive known as “Big Daddy,” was brutally murdered in the backyard of his Woodland Hills, California home on January 23, 2017. He was watching TV when two men crept up and attacked him from behind, stabbing him seven times in the neck, chest, and thigh. The attack was vicious—his carotid and femoral arteries were severed, leaving him no chance of survival.
At first, police thought it was a burglary gone wrong. But as they dug deeper, a shocking twist emerged: prosecutors claimed that Fabio’s wife, Monica Sementilli, had masterminded the killing with her secret lover, Robert Baker, in a plot to cash in on a $1.6 million life insurance policy. Baker, a former porn actor and convicted sex offender turned racquetball instructor, was accused of carrying out the crime with an accomplice, Christopher Austin.
The two men, dressed in hoodies, reportedly jogged to the Sementilli home, sneaked into the backyard, and ambushed Fabio. After the attack, they ransacked the couple’s bedroom, removed the home’s security DVR, and fled in Fabio’s Porsche 911, which was found abandoned two days later, about five miles away.
But Baker recently took the stand with a surprising claim—he insisted Monica had nothing to do with the murder. “I killed him because I wanted her,” Baker testified. “She had nothing to do with it.” Despite this, prosecutors pointed to other evidence linking Monica to the crime, including Austin’s testimony that she left the house door unlocked for them on the day of the killing. He also stated that Baker received text messages guiding him throughout the attack.
Baker, who had cut his finger during the attack, left behind DNA evidence that eventually led police to him. Once investigators began connecting the dots, Monica also fell under suspicion. Authorities said she seemed unusually eager to collect Fabio’s life insurance payout, allegedly pressuring both the insurance company and the police for answers just days after his death.
Baker later pleaded no contest to the murder in 2023 and is now serving a life sentence without parole. Austin also admitted to second-degree murder in exchange for a plea deal. Almost five months after the killing, Monica was arrested and charged with murder, accused of orchestrating a cold-blooded plan to get rid of her husband.
