Third suspect charged with murder of hairdresser Fabio Sementilli in 2017

Authorities say they have arrested the mystery man who allegedly teamed up with an accomplice to fatally stab famed hairdresser Fabio Sementilli at a Woodland Hills mansion seven years ago.

Prosecutors allege that Christopher Austin was the second man involved in the murder, along with the lover of Sementilli's wife.

Austin was recently arrested in connection with the murder and extradited from Washington state. On Oct. 18, after being sent back to Los Angeles, Austin pleaded not guilty to murder, particularly use of a deadly weapon, and pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to an additional charge of conspiracy to commit murder.

Prosecutors allege Austin, 38, conspired with the hairdresser's wife, Monica Sementilli, and her lover Robert Louis Baker in January 2017 to kill her husband in exchange for his $1.6 million life insurance policy to collect. Austin's alleged conspirators have been behind bars for more than five years, but until recently Austin's identity and whereabouts were unknown.

Sementilli was a father of three and an executive at hair care giant Wella.

Baker, 62, admitted last year that he killed the celebrity hairdresser on Jan. 23, 2017, leaving him in a pool of blood on a back patio in what was initially thought to be a failed home invasion. Baker is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Six months after the murder, Los Angeles police officers arrested Baker and Monica Sementilli and revealed that they had been dating for 18 months. Baker, a convicted sex offender, met her at LA Fitness, where he was a racquetball instructor.

After Baker admitted to the crime, he said that Monica Sementilli knew nothing about the murder plot. Prosecutors and LAPD investigators say extensive evidence shows she was linked to the murder.

Monica Sementilli's trial is pending and she and Baker have been held in the Los Angeles County jail system for more than five years. She had pleaded not guilty and her attorney, Leonard Levine, said she had been wrongly accused and that Baker would testify about it.

Her trial has been postponed a few times and Austin's arrest could change the dynamic. Prosecutors allege that Baker stabbed the barber multiple times with a knife and that Austin stabbed the victim in the neck with a knife.

Baker allegedly told Austin that the victim's wife wanted to get the money from her husband's life insurance policy. As part of the conspiracy alleged by prosecutors, Baker gave Austin money after the killing to buy a ticket for the flight from Anchorage to Los Angeles and a roll of gold coins, the lawsuit says.

Austin was arrested in Washington state and extradited to LA County, where he is being held on bail of more than $2 million until his Dec. 2 court appearance.

When the LAPD investigated the home and discovered that Sementilli had been stabbed, investigators initially assumed it was the work of burglars who plagued parts of the San Fernando Valley.

But even though the home's master bedroom was searched, the assailants never took the hair mogul's prized watch on his wrist, piquing the interest of detectives, said then-homicide robbery captain Billy Hayes. Security surveillance video showed two hooded men jogging to the house before the murder. The men then drove off in Sementilli's Porsche and were recorded on another surveillance camera leaving the vehicle five miles away.

In an apparent attempt to cover up their actions, the two men took a video recording system hidden in the garage of Sementilli's home that recorded video from six cameras around the house, prosecutors said.

Investigators closed in on Baker after discovering blood in the abandoned Porsche. His DNA was previously collected after he was convicted of lewd and lascivious behavior with a minor in 1993 and forced to register as a sex offender, Hayes said at the time.

Prosecutors alleged that Monica Sementilli explained to Baker how to remove the home's video recording system. They presented evidence that she had watched a live feed of the area shortly before the murder to ensure Baker had a clear path to her husband. Prosecutors claimed she also let her 16-year-old daughter come home first and discover the crime scene.

“Monica had every intention of murdering Fabio,” said Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Beth Silverman told a grand jury in 2017: “She wanted to get him out of the way because she wanted to be with Robert Baker. She is unhappy in her marriage, although at the same time she behaves like a loving, adoring wife.”

Baker pleaded no contest in July 2023 to one count each of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He also admitted charges of murder for financial gain and murder in wait for special circumstances.

One of Monica Sementilli's lawyers, Leonard Levine, told reporters after Baker's plea that the defense was confident that his plea and his “truthful testimony will finally prove once and for all that Monica Sementilli had nothing to do with the planning or murder of Fabio Sementilli.” had to do.”, her husband. And we look forward to the trial that we believe will prove that fact.”