Wife, lover arrested in celebrity Toronto hairdresser's slaying in LA

The wife of an internationally known hairdresser and beauty company executive and the woman's lover have been arrested in connection with the death of her husband, who was found beaten and stabbed to death at a Los Angeles home earlier this year, police said Friday.  

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Monica Sementilli, 45, and Robert Baker, 55, were arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the Jan. 23 slaying of Fabio Sementilli, said Justin Eisenberg, a deputy chief with the Los Angeles Police Department.

Investigators believe Monica Sementilli was having an affair with Baker for about 18 months before her husband was killed, Hayes said. Detectives suspect Monica Sementilli orchestrated the plot to have her husband killed and Baker and another man -- who has not yet been apprehended -- carried out the slaying, Capt. Billy Hayes said.

Police believe the 49-year-old Fabio Sementilli had been killed for a $1.6 million life insurance policy, Hayes said. He had been stabbed several times in the face and body and was found bleeding profusely on the patio of a gated home in the upscale Woodland Hills neighbourhood of Los Angeles on Jan. 23. He died at the scene, police said. 

The Canadian-born Sementilli worked for decades as a trendsetting hair stylist and served as vice president of education for beauty products giant Coty Inc.

Authorities said they used forensic evidence and DNA to link Baker to the slaying. His DNA was in a law enforcement database after a prior conviction for lewd acts with a minor, Hayes said.

Monica Sementilli and Baker were scheduled to be arraigned Friday. It wasn't immediately clear if either had an attorney who could comment on the allegations.