HUNTER EXCLUSIVE: Man accused in Fabio Sementilli killing pleads guilty

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For the Sementilli family, their agonizing odyssey through the American justice system is at the finish line.

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The man accused of stabbing to death famed Toronto hair stylist Fabio Sementilli on the patio of his Los Angeles home in 2017 pleaded guilty Friday in Los Angeles.

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Convicted sex offender Robert Louis Baker, 59, pleaded guilty to all charges for his role in what cops suspect was a targeted killing that involved a toxic brew of sex and money.

He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

“He got what he deserved and we are half-way there,” a family member told the Toronto Sun.

Sources told the Sun that Baker agreed last week to plead guilty after six years in the L.A. County Jail. He copped to his role in the murder in a California courtroom Friday morning.

“We are heartbroken and this trip to L.A. is going to be one of the worst days of our lives,” a family source said. “It will change who we are.”

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Court documents allege that Sementilli’s wife, Monica Crescentini, was carrying on a torrid sexual affair with Baker. Cops allege that Baker and his gal pal plotted to kill the stylist and she allegedly gave him access to their home security system.

At stake was Fabio’s $1.6-million insurance policy.

LAPD detectives believe that Baker and a still-unidentified cohort snuck into the home to murder Fabio as he enjoyed a cigar and a glass of wine on the patio. Court documents suggest planning of the murder went on for months leading up to the Wella vice-president’s Jan. 23, 2017 slaying.

The murder had been staged as a robbery gone awry.

But Baker cut his finger in the attack leaving behind tasty evidence for forensics investigators.

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Fabio’s youngest daughter, Isabella, found her murdered father. Monica showed up minutes later.

Almost immediately, the suspected black widow contacted Wella about collecting his life insurance policy. She also allegedly hounded homicide detectives about the dough.

“She lied to two LAPD homicide detectives that she was uncertain of the last name of her lover and co-conspirator, Baker. She also lied that she didn’t know how to access her home surveillance system remotely via her cellphone,” the statement alleges.

Monica called Baker more than 9,000 times in the year before the slaying, while he reciprocated more than 17,000 times, the court documents allege.

“Monica and Baker planned to live together once Fabio was dead,” the statement alleges.

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According to L.A. legal blog Trials & Tribulations, Toronto-native Monica was portrayed in grand jury testimony as vain, manipulative, sex-crazed — and greedy.

Her legal eagles have been fighting to have some of the most salacious testimony tossed.

Trials & Tribulations reported in 2018 that Baker worked overtime in massaging his mistress’s ego.

Prosecutors said: “And you’re going to see the dichotomy, the two individuals that Monica Sementilli really was, and you’re going to hear evidence about her cheating and lying, her manipulation and greed.”

Among the most damning evidence presented to the grand jury were photos of the merry widow partying with Baker in Las Vegas not long after her husband’s death. She also was captured on CCTV rubbing the thigh of a bar bouncer and making out with him.

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“I think ‘satisfied’ was one of the words. I think he meant sexually, like she was exploring things with him,” her friend Sheila Salehian testified, adding that “anal sex” was frequently on the menu.

Baker sniffed that he gave his clandestine gal pal the confidence to answer the door naked. She was, he said, “very demanding” in bed.

Her lawyers slammed the sexual hearsay as “highly prejudicial” to their client.

But everything came back to the cash. She allegedly wanted the insurance money and she wanted it now.

She told detectives: “Why haven’t you cleared us? When are you going to clear us? I need this money. Oh my God, I’m going to have to sell the house, I’m going to have to fire my housekeeper, I’m going to have to fire the gardener, I’m going to have to fire the pool man.”

Initially, prosecutors were eyeing tagging on special circumstances to the first-degree murder charges which could have meant the death penalty.

Baker will likely spend the rest of his life in prison with a glimmer of hope to apply for parole.

The long-delayed murder trial for Monica is expected to begin this fall, nearly seven years after her husband’s murder. She has pleaded not guilty and is expected to go through with the trial. None of the charges against her have been proven in court.

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