A beloved celebrity hairstylist is found murdered in his own home. Was it a burglary gone wrong or something more sinister? His family searches for justice and answers. Who killed Fabio? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What happened in the trial of Fabio Cementilli?
Tonight, the bombshell trial that just wrapped. It could be a big movie or TV series, but it's real. These are real people. This really happened.
Hey guys, Fab here for another Fab Style episode.
What was about to happen to Fabio, nobody could believe. His daughter Isabella opened the door. She goes to the patio and lets out a scream, sees her father slumped over in his favorite chair. There's blood everywhere. They killed Fabio. They killed Fabio. Who would want to do these things to you? And why? How do you answer that question?
Chapter 2: Who discovered Fabio Cementilli's body?
Had this been a case of a home invasion robbery that turned deadly. Authorities now investigating if knock-knock burglars may be to blame. Maybe that knock-knock burglar ain't no knock-knock burglar. There's a twist here.
The knife is personal for the quantity of times he was injured with it. I thought this is really personal. They were on this torrid trail of love and murder. There's no way. There's got to be a mistake.
It's a sunny Monday.
And as 16-year-old Isabella Semantilli pulls up to her family's house in Los Angeles, it's about 5 p.m. Three minutes later, Isabella is screaming into her cell phone. In just a few minutes, law enforcement and emergency vehicles converge on the site, but Isabella's father is dead.
Police say the victim was stabbed to death at his home. He's been identified by police as 49-year-old Fabio Simantelli. At the house, distraught family and friends gather into the night. Isabella is there, along with Fabio's older daughter, Jessica, and his widow, Monica, who is inconsolable, speechless with shock and grief.
And I'm sitting with Monica, and she could not put words together. She was like, I'm not a wife anymore, over and over. To have somebody murdered in their home, it freaked all of us out. These kinds of things don't happen at Wembley House.
Yet Fabio Cementilli's murder did happen, and it happened in cushy Woodland Hills, California. This brazen killing would reveal secrets that would tear this family apart. And since we first brought you this story in 2024, new video and shocking new revelations direct from the courtroom. This is a homicide case that's going to look like a Hollywood movie, except that it's reality.
The explosive trial and verdict, some eight years in the making. And in this case, what you heard was that the defendant deceived everybody.
Hey everybody, how you doing? My name is Fabio Cementilli.
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Chapter 3: Was Fabio's murder a random act or targeted?
I could have. I could have. And I didn't, he was just so excited about it. Can you believe it, Murr? They want me. He felt the need, he had to go. By 2011, Fabio is living his best life in the warm California sun, along with Monica and their two daughters, eventually moving to that neighborhood of Woodland Hills.
The area that Fabio Monica bought a house in LA is in a very, very nice part of Woodland Hills. Perfect kitchen, perfect patio, perfect porch. By early 2017, 49-year-old Fabio is already making plans for a 50th birthday blowout later that year. Seemed like he was living the American dream. the life that a lot of people would want, right?
But then came that fateful January day when Isabella came home and went out to Fabio's patio office, where she was greeted by a scene of horror. Okay, do you know what happened? Dad.
Fabio Cementilli was living large and loving it. Married to his second wife, Monica, he brought her and their two daughters far from the lives they'd known back in Toronto, all the way to Southern California. Where his dreams of sunshine and success, they were coming true.
The area that Fabio and Monica bought a house in L.A. is in a very, very nice part of Woodland Hills. He does everything you can think of to this house. It's almost perfection. He even redo the security systems, so they got the fanciest and the best.
That security system, it let Monica monitor comings and goings remotely, even when no one's home. And Fabio's on the road a lot, glad-handing and hugging as a hair industry VP, posting exuberant updates from his worldwide travels on social media.
He loved checking in with his audience that he developed on social media, his friends and family, right? So here we've got one of his famous airplane pictures. He was traveling all the time. He was a go-getter, man. He was everywhere at once. He was everywhere at once. That's the best way to put it, yeah.
But at his house, with a Rolex on his arm and a Porsche in the garage, the prosperous executive, he struck a more cordial tone.
Hey guys, Fab here for another Fab Style episode.
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Chapter 4: What role did the Knock Knock Burglars play in Fabio's murder?
My dad, my dad. On arrival, police say they found the victim lying in his outdoor patio. He was pronounced dead at the scene. We were learning some shocking details about the case as soon as we arrived on scene. Detectives right away said that this was extremely gruesome and bloody scene.
Monica texts me, please come over, I need you. And I was like, duh, duh, duh, duh, of course. So I drive over and this lady comes out of Monica's house. And I was like, yeah, my friend Monica who lives there asked me to come over. And she goes, okay, come with me, but just don't step in the blood. And I was like, um, okay. It's beyond, it's just beyond, it's just horrible.
Even as his family mourns elsewhere in the house, the investigation into Fabio's death is already underway. LA police surveying this hideous scene. Inside, police discover that Fabio has been stabbed to death. He's got several wounds in the neck, and he's been stabbed in the thigh, directly into his femoral artery. It seems an area targeted to cause maximum bleeding.
Cops determining that Fabio had been alone in the house for about 80 minutes before his body was discovered by Isabella. Monica telling police she'd been running errands at a nearby mall. No motive has been determined, but police say burglaries have increased significantly in the area. You know, it's presented by the initial investigators. Oh, maybe it's a burglary gone wrong.
Some suspects came into this house, ended up killing the owner and leaving. One of the things we've determined is that there was a sports car that was parked here that's missing. Fabio's pricey Porsche? It's been stolen. His home has been hit at the same time that a crime ring, dubbed by police the Knock Knock Burglars, has been terrorizing wealthy neighborhoods in Los Angeles.
A board is now investigating if knock-knock burglars may be to blame for the murder of a hairdresser, Fabio Samantelli. It was instantly the thought that, oh my gosh, had this been a case of a home invasion robbery that turned deadly. Oh my God, they may be killing people now.
Fabio Cementilli had been at the top of his game, but the man described as larger than life had just been found murdered in his own backyard, sitting in his favorite chair. Phone calls from Fabio's grief-stricken daughter, Jessica, bringing the horrible news home to his relatives in Ontario, Canada.
My sister called me, and she's absolutely hysterical, and I'm thinking, what happened? And she goes, someone killed Dad. Jessica called me. Then Monica came on the phone because she started crying, Jessica. And she said, Morella, they killed Fabio. They killed Fabio.
The pain is in your stomach. And it hurts. It hurts. Very painful. And everything else that happens, the disbelief, the whys, the when, the how. It felt like a dream. And really, when I say that, I mean it felt like a nightmare. Police launch their investigation, and they get a break. A neighbor's security camera provides an immediate clue to the possible identity of the perpetrators.
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Chapter 5: What evidence pointed to a personal motive in Fabio's murder?
Early in the year, we tragically lost a member of our industry family. And it's left a hole that will really never be filled. We lost an icon. We lost a colleague. So although we lost Fabio, his legacy is going to live on forever. While it seems the Globe is mourning the loss of Fabio Sementulli, the cops have work to do.
Weeks into the investigation, the knock-knock burglar theory is a no-go. Detectives thinking about the murder differently once they learn how Fabio was killed. The coroner made note that there were no defensive wounds on Fabio's hands, so police are now starting to think there is intent here. This is a target.
Then police get a big break when they find Fabio's Porsche. It's been abandoned about five miles away from the Cementilli home, and it's got vital clues. Some really, really critical information comes from the swabbing of this Porsche, because there's blood in a few places. There is blood on the inside panel of the driver's side door, blood on the clutch and brake. Very, very significant.
While the DNA from that blood is getting processed, investigators make another discovery. Remember, Fabio's home had that state-of-the-art security system with the multiple cameras. Well, there are cameras that should have recorded the events leading up to his death.
But it turns out the DVR, where that surveillance footage would have been stored, it's missing, gone from its spot, even though it was not in plain sight in the garage. How did they know to take it? So then they started to wonder who had access to it. How lucky am I to have lived the greatest love story of all time?
As the investigation continues, Fabio's grief-stricken spouse, Monica, she's overcome as she speaks at his memorials. My heart went out to her. I just felt like, oh my God, how devastating can this be, right? I couldn't imagine.
And if you saw posts or you saw them in person, you would see them dancing in the kitchen and singing and he would always call her nicknames.
I know that a father walks by my side and he has us drinking one hand and his cigar on the other and he's singing his favorite song, Me Away. When Fabio was in town, she had to be available.
She would complain about how Fabio would call from his chair in the backyard, Monica, I need a beer. Monica, get me another cigar. And she would have to wait on him hand and foot. And she did it and she took pride in it because she was a good wife and he loved her very much. And at the other side of it, it seemed like she was getting tired of it and didn't like it and it felt disrespectful.
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Chapter 6: How did Fabio's family react to his death?
But knowing Fabio's love of life and love of parties, Monica had yet another chance to honor her late husband. After the Los Angeles memorial for Fabio on the 29th of January, Monica invited several of the people, friends and family, to come back to her home for a more quiet gathering. Yet in that intimate group, there was an unexpected figure present. We were all outside and this guy comes in.
And that leaves family and friends of Fabio all asking the same question. Who is this man? At the Sementilli home, it was supposed to be an intimate gathering, a memorial for the late Fabio's closest confidants and loved ones. So when a mysterious guest shows up, it raises a lot of eyebrows. It seemed out of place because this was more of a memorial for Fabio. This was more of Fabio's people.
So mysterious, in fact, that a friend of Monica's takes this photo of him and turns it over to the police. He was Robert Baker, the racquetball coach at the gym nearby, where Monica and her pals had become avid competitors. Robert was a spectacular athlete. He was very fit and very muscular, and he wielded it proficiently.
Robert would play until he dropped dead. It was so fun to watch him. He was like a marathon runner on the racquetball court. I saw how much he loved the game. He was a very alpha male. It was found out, or discovered, that Robert had some porn that was on the internet. And that was shocking. He told me he did, performed in films, but I never asked any more than that. So I had to watch it.
We were in the industry together in the 90s and the early 2000s. Alana Evans was just a rising performer in the porn world when she first encountered Robert Baker. I started porn, my very first scenes were in 1998. And I remember meeting Rob and his wife at the time on set. Robert Baker, it turns out, also acted as a manager specifically for his wife Dee, who also appeared in adult films.
And our special guest today is... Dee. How long have you been in California? Since we met your husband, Rob. You could say that. So as a girl coming into the business, you see what's happening, you immediately are going to flock to Rob because he's a mover and a shaker. He's got it all going on.
But by 2013, Robert Baker had moved on. He'd left the porn industry and his wife Dee for the world of racquetball. But there was a part of his past preceding those game-filled days that he could not outrun.
I lived in Woodland Hills for a long time, and as a mom, I will check the sex offender registry for my neighborhoods. And I see a picture And it's Rob's face. And I am thinking, this can't be right. It turns out that in 1993, he was convicted of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor. When I originally got this case, looked into his background, at the time he was a recruiter for the Army.
In the late 80s, early 90s, police were notified that a student had made serious allegations against Robert Baker to her school counselor, events that occurred after an incident following a basketball game.
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Chapter 7: Who is Robert Baker and what is his connection to the case?
What's Robert's last name? They know this is a lie and it immediately moves her from being, oh, she might be involved to being involved. And now she's in the frame as much as Baker is. For investigators, it's go time. Cops concoct a clever plan, one they hope will elicit more incriminating information as it catches Monica Cementilli and Robert Baker totally by surprise.
It's amazing that they would say anything inside a police car, which implicates themselves. I mean it's pretty ridiculous. I need to know what's going on right now.
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Rapper Sean Diddy Combs was a kingmaker. He had wealth, fame, and power.
What's up? Welcome to New York!
until it all came crashing down.
Federal investigators raiding two homes owned by hip-hop mogul Sean Diddy Combs.
I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor. As Diddy heads to trial, we trace his remarkable rise and fall, and what could be next. Listen to Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy, a new series from ABC Audio. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.
It's been five months since Fabio Cimentilli was murdered on his back patio in Los Angeles. Now as his widow Monica tools around town in her brand new Mustang with a racquetball coach turned lover, Robert Baker, the cops are moving in.
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Chapter 8: What was the verdict in the trial related to Fabio's murder?
The people of the state of California versus Monica Cimentelli. We, the jury, in the above entitled action, find the defendant, Monica Cimentelli, guilty of the crime of murder. A felony is charged in count one of the indictment. We further find the defendant, Monica Cimentilli, guilty of the crime of conspiracy to commit murder.
Monica Cimentilli was found guilty of everything across the board. Conspiracy to commit murder, murder in the first degree, and including the special circumstances of lying in wait and financial gain. It was incredibly emotional as she got taken away in handcuffs.
Well, we continue to believe that Monica Cimentilli had nothing to do with her husband's murder. And we will pursue every legal avenue to obtain her complete exoneration and her freedom. Obviously, we're very disappointed in this result. And we're extremely disappointed. This has been a long eight years.
A long eight years. Oh, my God. It's a very good day for Justice. We've been waiting for this for Fabio and his family for many, many years. Justice was served today. It's the most beautiful day for our family. Our spirits are lifted. My brother can now rest in peace. And the murderers that have deceived him are exactly where they belong today.
For some, this verdict is justice at last for the Cementilli family. But at the end of the day, their beloved Fabio is still gone, and the family must take comfort in his memory, each in their own way.
So my dad was a cigar smoker and some of the other coats and stuff, even to this day, smell like cigar. I'll go in the closet every now and then and open it up and smell it. Those smells are very dear to me, absolutely. This is his Rolex. He wore this all the time. He wore it when he died. I wear it for special occasions when I want to feel close to him.
It's probably one of my most cherished possessions. It's hard to dig deep for silver lining here. No, it's... His legacy will live on. We were blessed to have him, even for a short time. Hey, Fab. Fabio, you're so beautiful. I miss you every day of my life. I remember every one of these pictures. Yeah? Yeah, every one. Remember this one? His iconic smile. I love you. I miss you. we'll be back
two heartbroken sisters a tearful goodbye and a verdict finally after eight long years of investigations we should point out deborah that after fabio simon telly's death a scholarship in his name was established to help students in the beauty field hoping to follow in his footsteps that is 2020 for tonight i'm david muir and i'm deborah roberts from all of us here at 2020 and abc news good night
Hello, it's Robin Roberts here.
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