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yesterday

Monica Sementilli Sentenced to Life Without Parole for Husband’s 2017 Killing

Prosecutors tied encrypted messages with witness testimony to her role in orchestrating her husband’s ambush

FILE - An unknown visitor arrives at a gated house in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, where homicide detectives are investigating the death of Fabio Sementilli. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
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Monica Sementilli, left, and Robert Baker are seen in LAPD booking photos. (Image courtesy of LAPD)

Overview

  • A Los Angeles jury convicted Sementilli in April of first-degree murder with special circumstances and conspiracy before Judge Ronald Coen imposed life without parole on June 23.
  • Prosecutors said she colluded with her racquetball coach and lover, Robert Baker, to stage what looked like a home-invasion in order to collect a $1.6 million life insurance payout.
  • Court records revealed she exchanged roughly 275 messages via the Viber app with Baker in the days around the Jan. 23, 2017, stabbing of Fabio Sementilli in their Woodland Hills backyard.
  • Baker, now serving life without parole after a July 2023 no-contest plea to first-degree murder and conspiracy, admitted during Sementilli’s trial that he killed Fabio because he wanted her.
  • Christopher Austin, who testified that Baker recruited him and said Monica wanted her husband gone, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in January and received a 16-years-to-life sentence in May.