Monica Sementilli says she did not help plan the murder of her L.A. beauty

This story previously aired on March 9, 2024. It was updated on July 5, 2025.

In 2017, Monica Sementilli had an enviable life — a luxurious house with a pool and a Porsche in the driveway — in a posh area of Los Angeles.

But after spending almost eight years behind bars waiting through legal delays and COVID, in January 2025, Monica Sementilli went on trial for the murder of her husband — celebrity hairdresser and beauty executive Fabio Sementilli.

As “48 Hours” contributor Michelle Miller reports, it’s a tangled story. Her defenders say Monica Sementilli is an innocent victim. But if you believe prosecutors, she’s a criminal. Authorities describe a case of lust, greed, and murder. Whichever it is, the drama unfolded on Jan. 23, 2017.

Elyse Bleuel: There were fire trucks outside of her house…and I was like, oh gosh … there was no police yet. It was just the first responders.

Elyse Bleuel was a friend of Monica Simental’s. “48 Hours” spoke with her in 2018. She says Monica texted her to come over the night Fabio was killed.

Elyse Bleuel: it was her and her daughters … She just kept saying that “he’s gone, that I’m not a wife anymore” … I just held her. I just held her.

Elyse Bleuel: It was so painful, just the weeping…the not being able to breathe…she was beyond devastated… beyond devastated.

Monica’s husband, Fabio, was slumped over his chair by the pool.

Michelle Miller: Had you seen the body? Had you seen?

Elyse Bleuel: Didn’t …

Elyse Bleuel: I just wanted to be the best possible comfort. …  I didn’t know how to comfort that. … she couldn’t speak in complete sentences until like the fourth day.

Detectives quickly learned the victim, Fabio Sementilli, had been a superstar in the beauty business.

“48 Hours” spoke with those who knew him best in 2017. Fabio’s sister, Mirella Rota

Mirella Rota: He was a happy man. And he wanted everybody around him happy.

Luigi Sementilli: The best way to describe my dad, really, is like a cup of coffee in the morning.

Luigi Sementilli is Fabio’s son from an earlier marriage.

Luigi Sementilli: He gets you going … he lifts your spirits … he gets you determined to charge the mountain of life.