Accused black widow Monica Sementilli pestered homicide detectives regarding her murdered husband Fabio’s $1.6-million insurance policy.
Prosecutors have spent the past week in Los Angeles Superior Court presenting evidence as they seek to send the raven-haired beauty to prison for life.
Monica, 53, is charged with first-degree murder in the 2017 slaying of her famous hairdresser husband, Fabio Sementilli, 49, formerly of Toronto. He was found stabbed to death on the patio of their Los Angeles residence.
Prosecutors say the motives were two of the oldest: Sex and money.
For 18 months, Monica carried on a torrid affair with her porn star-turned-racquetball coach Robert Baker. The pair were arrested six months after Fabio Sementilli’s murder.
TRIAL ROUND-UP SO FAR
FRIDAY
— The jury heard several audio recordings, including Monica Sementilli’s first interview with cops on the day of the murder and several phone calls that she made to detectives asking for updates in the investigation.
— Detectives Ryan Verna and Gene Parshall constructed a timeline for the day of the murder using CCTV from a neighbourhood security camera.
— Cops were baffled by the presence of Fabio’s $8,000 Rolex. If it was a robbery, why not take the watch?
— Monica told detectives she could not remember her racquetball coach’s last name. All she knew was that his first name was “Rob.”
— She called Det. Gene Parshall numerous times asked about updates, DNA evidence and a query “of when the insurance policy money could be released.”
THURSDAY
— On Day 3, the prosecution presented crime scene photos of the Sementilli’s Woodland Hills home and evidence leading to the arrest of Monica, her lover, Baker, and the alleged murder plot’s third wheel, Christopher Austin.
— Verna said DNA results revealed that Baker — a convicted sex offender whose DNA is in the system — was present at the crime scene. Ironically, he became a suspect on Valentine’s Day 2017.
— LAPD officer Gabriel Rebolledo — the first officer on the scene — testified that Sementilli’s daughter Isabella told him “she felt guilty she had gotten her new car stolen,” and feared that led the killers to her home.
— Housekeeper Delia Riviera Pacheco testified the home was thoroughly cleaned and nothing was out of place when she left the home just after 2 p.m. on the day of the murder.
WEDNESDAY
— The state’s first witness was paramedic Daryl Yoshihashi who responded to the Sementilli home after Isabella Sementilli called 911 to report the brutal assault on her father.
— On the day Monica and Baker were arrested, they were together in her brand-new black Mustang GT. Baker was driving.
— Cops placed the lovebirds in the back of a patrol car, together, and a video recording captured them talking, sometimes whispering.
— Monica allegedly told Baker: “Deny everything and don’t talk.”
— Homicide detectives began watching Monica and Baker not long after Fabio was murdered. Cops captured them together at bars, a comedy club and on a lover’s getaway to Las Vegas.
The defence is arguing Monica was a promiscuous sex cheat but not a killer. Instead, they’re pointing the finger at the “charming” and “manipulative” Baker. He pleaded no contest in 2023 to first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Baker was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Monica Sementilli could face the same sentence if she is convicted as charged.
@HunterTOSun