Cut, Color, Kill | 1. Big Daddy

Summary

Podcast Summary: Cut, Color, Kill | Episode 1: "Big Daddy"

Podcast: The Binge Crimes: Cut, Color, Kill
Host: Jonathan Hirsch (Sony Music Entertainment)
Date: May 1, 2026
Episode Theme: The shocking, meticulously planned murder of internationally celebrated hairdresser Fabio Sementilli—a man beloved by family, friends, and colleagues—unfolds into a true crime mystery hiding more than anyone could have expected.

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Episode Overview

The premiere episode of "Cut, Color, Kill" introduces listeners to the life and brutal 2017 murder of Fabio Sementilli, known as "Big Daddy"—a gregarious, successful, and much-loved figure in the world of hairdressing. What initially appeared to be a home burglary gone wrong soon raises deeper, darker questions. The hosts and interviewees retrace Fabio's rise, his family life, the crime scene, and the immediate investigation, setting up a story of celebrity, ambition, and shattered trust.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Crime Scene & Immediate Aftermath

• Discovery (01:02–05:04):

  • Fabio is found stabbed multiple times, slumped in his favorite patio chair by his daughter, Bella.
  • Detective Ryan Verna and his partner Gene Pershall describe arriving to a blood-spattered kitchen leading out to the backyard where Fabio’s body lay.
  • Monica (wife) and daughters are questioned, all visibly distraught.
    • Quote: “She said that Fabio was a great guy. There were no issues with anybody else. Everybody loved Fabio.”
      — Detective Ryan Verna (04:50)
  • The crime shocks the affluent, quiet Woodland Hills neighborhood and Fabio’s many friends.

• Initial Theories (24:21–27:32):

  • Police consider the trend of "knock-knock burglaries," but elements don’t fit—rummaging after a murder, deliberate disabling of security cameras, targeted and fatal wounds, and lack of defensive wounds on Fabio.

    • Quote: “To go stab somebody on the back patio would be out of line with what they're doing.”
      — Detective Ryan Verna (27:17)

  • Missing items: Fabio’s Porsche, foreign currency, and some jewelry—possibly to simulate a robbery.

  • Removal of the DVR for security cameras is a sophisticated touch unlikely for random burglars.

2. Fabio’s Public Persona and Family History

• Celebrity Life & Charisma (06:13–13:26):

  • Fabio’s reputation as a hairdressing wizard, stylist to celebrities, and his loud, exuberant persona.
    • Quote: “He was always the loudest voice in the room, the loudest laugh in the room.”
      — Luigi Sementilli, Fabio’s son (08:24)
    • Anecdotes of his mastery on television, charm, and family devotion.
  • Stories of Fabio as a community figure, both in hair salons and TV appearances.
    • Quote: “It was like watching a master at work. He would look at and touch hair similar to how I would imagine a sculptor looking at an unmolded piece of clay… He was like a wizard behind the chair.”
      — Luigi Sementilli (07:16)

• Immigrant Roots & Drive (09:30–13:51):

  • Son of Italian immigrants, Fabio overcomes family tragedy, losing his father early.
    • Quote: “He became the protector, if you will.”
      — Joe Mercurio, childhood friend (11:00)
  • His ambition, firsts (first car, first to leave the neighborhood), and tight bond with siblings.
  • Family expands after divorce; remarriage to Monica and their blended family dynamics.

3. The California Dream and its Shattering

• LA Life & Relationships (13:51–19:57):

  • Fabio’s move to Los Angeles (as Wella’s creative director for North America) described as realization of a long-held American dream.
    • Quote: “Fabio loved America. All of America, the talent of America, the size of America, the freedom of America, the big Cadillacs of America.”
      — Joe Mercurio (13:51)
  • Family memories of happy times: convertible road trips, iconic Malibu moments.
    • Quote: “That backyard was really the locus of the family operations... The chair outside there that he would sit on was kind of like his throne.”
      — Luigi Sementilli (19:01)
  • Contrast between the sunlit California lifestyle and the horror of Fabio’s murder.

• Grief and Disbelief (19:57–31:18):

  • Luigi recounts the shock when notified of his father’s murder, and the family’s immediate grieving process.
    • Quote: “First it was bewilderment, disbelief, feeling stunned, even feeling nothing. Just being reduced to bafflement that something like this could happen... and then you feel all of these things all over again.”
      — Luigi Sementilli (29:06)

• Speculation and Uncertainty:

  • The family’s and police’s difficulty accepting the burglary theory given Fabio’s reputation and the calculated nature of the crime.
  • Hints that the true explanation is more complex and heartbreaking than any rumored motives.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Fabio's Impact:

  • “People were truly shocked that anyone would commit such a heinous and brutal crime against this man. And the question that would take almost a decade to answer was why?”
    — Jonathan Hirsch (05:04)

• On the Investigation:

  • “Whoever Fabio's attacker was, they dismantled this crucial piece of evidence before they made their getaway. This doesn't look like a frenzied attack... it looks carefully planned.”
    — Jonathan Hirsch (26:10)

• On the Enduring Mystery:

  • “The truth was even more unbelievable and even more heartbreaking.”
    — Jonathan Hirsch (31:18)

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Key Segment Timestamps

• Fabio's Murder Discovered: 01:02–05:04
• Fabio's TV and Salon Legacy: 06:13–13:26
• Immigrant Upbringing and Ambition: 09:30–13:51
• Move to LA/American Dream: 13:51–19:57
• Luigi’s Grieving Process: 29:06–30:53
• Unanswered Motives & Set Up for Future Episodes: 30:53–31:18
• Police Find Surveillance Footage Lead (Preview): 32:08

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Conclusion & Set Up for Future Episodes

The first episode introduces Fabio Sementilli as an extraordinary, driven family man whose murder remains a puzzle—one that shakes his family, friends, and community to their core. The detectives wrestle with a plausible-yet-unconvincing burglary theory as the show promises deeper secrets will emerge in the episodes ahead.

“The truth was even more unbelievable and even more heartbreaking.”
— Jonathan Hirsch (31:18)

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Next Episode Preview:
Police review footage of possible suspects ("You could tell in the video that they were running with a purpose. We knew right away those are our guys." — Detective Ryan Verna, 32:08).

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For listeners:
This episode immerses you in both the glamor and the undercurrents of tension in Fabio’s life story, expertly laying the groundwork for an investigation that will unravel not just a crime, but a hidden world beneath Hollywood’s surface charm.

Transcript

[Jonathan Hirsch]

If you want a deeper look behind Cut Color Kill, now is the time. Join our free [e-mail] thebinge and you will get exclusive story details you can't get anywhere else. Again, join [e-mail] thebinge listen to every episode of Cut Color Kill ad free right now when you subscribe and to the binge you'll hear the entire series before anyone else. Get exclusive bonus episodes and unlock more than 60 other true crime podcasts. Just head to the binge channel on Apple podcasts and tap subscribe or visit getthebinge.com to listen wherever you are. The binge feed your true crime obsession.

[Luigi Sementilli]

The binge.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

There's a little lie we like to tell ourselves. A consolement if you will. That people like you and me, nice people. Never find ourselves in the crosshairs of a murderous plot. Truth is, even nice guys cross paths with people who want them out of the picture. Nice guys like Fabio Sementilli. West of West Hollywood, on a quiet street in Woodland Hills, police arrive at the home of Fabio Sementilli on 23 January 2017. Just hours earlier, Fabio was sitting in his favorite chair but the poolside like he often did since he moved from Canada to pursue his career in Hollywood around seven years ago. But today was different than all those other days. When his daughter came home, she found him in that chair, stabbed multiple times. A few hours later, Detective Ryan Verna arrives.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

There's blood in the kitchen area, on the floors, in the kitchen sink. As you walk into the kitchen, you could clearly see through the windows and through that door that there was a body in the backyard and large amounts of blood.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Detective Verna and his partner Gene Pershall are there to ask some questions. Fabio's house is cordoned off with crime scene tape. So they meet Fabio's wife Monica at the next door neighbor's house.

[Detective Gene Pershall]

Monica. Monica, Hello. I'm tech partials. My partner Detective Verna. Very sorry and we have to meet like this. Okay, but we need to talk first.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Detectives are there to talk to Monica and her two daughters, Jessica and Isabella.

[Detective Gene Pershall]

So tell me what happened today from the morning. What time did you get up?

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Monica is visibly upset. She can't seem to catch her breath. The weight of this moment seems to be overwhelming her. Could this actually be happening? 6:30 moving.

[Detective Gene Pershall]

You think you got up at 6:30 or 7:30? I got up at 6:30. Okay.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

This is not the typical call detectives in this town field. $2 million house behind security gates on a Quiet street. A driveway hugged by the feathery branches of cedar trees. A safe place to raise a family and enjoy your little corner of the Hollywood dream. Not a crime scene. Fabio, it appeared, had made it a beautiful wife and daughter's fancy home. He was a hairdresser to celebrities, an executive at a major beauty corporation, Wella.

[Detective Gene Pershall]

How long has he been working there? Okay.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Detectives are trying to piece together in the early hours after his body was discovered what happened here.

[Detective Gene Pershall]

He's having a conference call with just people from work that he normally does and no big issues. No one's yelling, no one had any problems.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

It was Fabio's daughter, Bella, who found her dad in the back patio beside the pool.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

There appears to be some sort of sharp force injury, meaning a stabbing. Lots of blood. Attempted to call 911. 911 told her to attempt to provide aid.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Monica arrived home next. She and Bella tried with the help of the emergency operator, to revive Fabio, but it was too late.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

Fire department arrived and pronounced him deceased. She said that Fabio was a great guy. There were no issues with anybody else. Everybody loved Fabio.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

He was a nice guy. And this is something detectives will hear over and over again in the coming days. Fabio had a lot of friends. Nobody seems to have a bad word to say about him. The man they described to the detectives is gregarious, warm and loving. The life and soul of the party. Hard working with a perfect family. People were truly shocked that anyone would commit such a heinous and brutal crime against this man. And the question that would take almost a decade to answer was why? And the reason would shock everyone who knew him to their core. From Sony Music Entertainment and Novel, this is Cut, Color, Kill. I'm Jonathan Hirsch. Episode 1 Big Daddy.

[Luigi Sementilli]

Everybody welcome, Fabio.

[Detective Gene Pershall]

We are fantastic.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

It's sometime around 2009. Fabio Sementilli is appearing as a hair expert on the Canadian CBC show called Stephen and Chris. He's here to answer all the audience's hot hair questions.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

I have really curly hair. I love it, but sometimes I like to change it and straighten it out.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Fabio's a tall guy, about six foot, six foot one with a beard that comes down to a point. Watching him, you can tell he's at ease in front of the camera in a striped shirt and an elegant scarf.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

And now we're going to really show

[Jonathan Hirsch]

you how to blow dry that hair nice and easy. He deftly smooths the woman's hair into an elegant blowout. It's impressive, and even more so considering that he's doing all of this while bantering with the hosts.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

And in the fringe area.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Guys, this technique here, you can take

[Luigi Sementilli]

this one to the bank. Okay.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

Just put the brush in.

[Luigi Sementilli]

How much money are we getting?

[Detective Ryan Verna]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Depends on how I do it.

[Detective Gene Pershall]

That's right. Yeah.

[Luigi Sementilli]

It was like watching a master at work. He would look at and touch hair similar to how I would imagine a sculptor looking at an unmolded piece of clay. Looking at the hair, feeling it, how did it lay, how did it flow? It was like magic seeing him interact with your hair. These big hands would wield these hair styling tools with such dexterity, doing all these sorts of maneuvers with these scissors. He was like a wizard behind the chair.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Luigi Sementilli is Fabio's son. His parents divorced when he was little, so every other Saturday he'd come to work with his dad. Fabio runs his own salon in Toronto called what else? Salon Fabio.

[Luigi Sementilli]

It was a very loud, lively place, always very busy, always a hotbed of artistic expression.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Saturdays are always crazy. Everyone wants a weekend appointment to get spruced up, feel special. Stylists are trimming and curling, daubing hair dye and folding foils. And Fabio's at the center of the action.

[Luigi Sementilli]

He was always the loudest voice in the room, the loudest laugh in the room.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

His towering physique and exuberant personality earned him the nickname Big Daddy. He's a stylist to models, athletes, celebrities. Later on, some people will wonder whether Fabio had it too good, whether all this success had made him a target. Right now, he's riding high.

[Luigi Sementilli]

When he started to become more successful in his career, he bought a BMW M3. It had silver exterior, red leather interior. And that made me a, you know, a bit of a celebrity. In the schoolyard the next day, everyone saying, oh, what's that car your dad drives? That kind of made me look up to him as, like, this superhero, right? He's, like, doing these shows, and he's got this salon surrounded by all these cool, artistic views minded people and that he's got this great sports car, really a rock star hair stylist.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Fabio's success didn't come out of nowhere. Like a lot of people who end up following their dreams to Hollywood, there was a tragedy in his past that spurred him on. Fabio was the son of Italian immigrants. He grew up in a neighborhood of Toronto known as Corso Italia, on a street called St. Clair Avenue.

[Joe Mercurio]

Our front doors were never locked. No neighborhood watch was needed because every mom sitting on the porch would know who belonged and who didn't belong.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Joe Mercurio grew up there too. In the early 70s, he lived across the street from the Cemetiles.

[Joe Mercurio]

I would call out his name, but I didn't know his name. So his nickname to me was Ravioli. And I would scream, ravioli, come outside.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

The pair became inseparable. Fabio was a year or so older, and Joe looked up to him like a big brother.

[Joe Mercurio]

Fab would always come to my defense unconditionally. Always knowing that someone is there behind you, covering you, is a huge thing to have as a kid.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Even as a kid, Fabio was a

[Joe Mercurio]

big personality, articulate and disarming. He could make a friend anywhere.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Joe says Fabio got that from his father.

[Joe Mercurio]

If you want to know Fabio, you'd have to know his dad. Everyone loved him in the area.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Then, when Fabio was still a young kid, his dad died suddenly. Fabio's mom didn't speak English well, and she and Fabio and his two older sisters were left without a breadwinner.

[Joe Mercurio]

We never spoke about was a non conversation, and I knew that I would see when some kids would prod him on that subject and he would lose his cool. But I know this is a fact, as a friend, he was the only male now in that home. And as the only male in that home, we all knew what that meant. That was quite obvious. He became the protector, if you will.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Fabio was shouldering new responsibilities. He started working when he was still a teenager. He followed in the footsteps of his big sister, Morella, who had become a hairdresser. He was ambitious, hard worker, and his life accelerated.

[Joe Mercurio]

He bought the first car in the neighborhood. He married first. He left the neighborhood first. A lot of firsts, because he was a man now. And I think that was the biggest conflict of his life and also the most powerful thing of his life.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Fabio was driven. He had big dreams. He'd learned a harsh lesson, though, one that would seem to be even more poignant after everything that came later. Life can be cut tragically short, and Fabio wasn't wasting any time. Fabio started competing at international hairdressing shows with his sister Morella. They won trophies and made a name for themselves. And while Fabio was climbing the career ladder, his family was growing too. He'd gotten divorced from Luigi's mom. He married a hair model and makeup artist called Monica. They had two daughters, Jessica and Isabella.

[Luigi Sementilli]

Whenever I would arrive at my dad's house from being picked up for the weekend, they would always yell my name and come and give me a big hug as I entered the doorway. And I could also tell that my dad loved having me there and having everyone together, the five of us, as a family.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Fabio had always been close with Mirella and his other sister, Lori, and he wanted the same for Luigi.

[Luigi Sementilli]

Whenever my dad and I were talking one on one and I would in passing refer to them as my half sisters, he would always stop me and say, no, those are your sisters. We were on a trip to the family cottage and I was upstairs in a bedroom playing on a PlayStation Portable and my dad came up and sat down and basically broke the news to me that they were going to be moving to California.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Fabio had been working with the hair product giant Wella, and they'd offered him a new job, creative director for North America. He was stepping away from the stylist chair and into a new world of executive titles, MBAs and C suites. It also meant moving with Monica and the girls to Los Angeles. For Joe, saying goodbye to his best friend was bittersweet. But he also knew it was the step Fabio needed.

[Joe Mercurio]

He was satisfying his dream. Fabio loved America. All of America, the talent of America, the size of America, the freedom of America, the big Cadillacs of America. So it was a perfect thing for him.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

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[Luigi Sementilli]

We stopped off at this bar. Apparently it's like some kind of well known biker bar. There were a lot of bikes there, like motorcycles. It was called Neptune's Net and it was right on the ocean. My dad was like, let's stop off here and have a drink.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

I know exactly what place you're talking about. It's like it's got this like sort of 60s era sign right out on the front and there's like palm trees in the back.

[Luigi Sementilli]

And it's felt like this is California. Like this place is so indicatively quintessentially California.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Luigi is now in college and his dad's new life in California seemed like something out of a movie, literally. Neptune's Net is in Point break, Iron Man 3, and Vin Diesel even had a drink there in the Fast and the Furious. Here in this California dream, the idea that danger could be just around the corner must have seemed impossible. Even Fabio's new house is like the set of a Hollywood sitcom. He settled with Monica and the girls in Woodland Hills, a leafy, affluent suburb in the San Fernando Valley.

[Luigi Sementilli]

I was like, wow, this house doesn't look like the house they had when they were in Canada. Beautiful sitting area outside and a great big pool. Beautiful backyard.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Whenever Luigi visits, they spend long hours together in his dad's favorite place, the back patio.

[Luigi Sementilli]

That backyard was really the locus of the family operations. He loved spending time out there. The chair outside there that he would sit on was kind of like his throne. He had a TV set up out there. And I spent a lot of time out there sitting back there with him smoking cigars.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

That's how it was on Luigi's last visit in August 2016, laughing and joking around, eating family dinners with Monica and Luigi's sisters. It all seemed too good to be true. And maybe it was. Five months later, Luigi is back in Toronto. It's January 23, 2017, and this cold winter night couldn't be farther away from those carefree summers spent cruising around la.

[Luigi Sementilli]

I had just gotten back from class and I was sitting down at the computer playing a video game. I was playing World of Warcraft and I remember my phone going off and it was my sister Jessica who called and I was kind of busy playing the game and thinking, oh, maybe I won't pick up.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Luigi ignores the call at first, but Jessica keeps ringing.

[Luigi Sementilli]

I picked up and remember her being hysterical on the other end and at first thinking, oh, she must be out with friends and calling me to reminisce about something. Or something came up that reminded her of me. So she gave me a call. Then she said, someone killed dad.

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[Jonathan Hirsch]

Detectives Ryan, Verna and Jean Parshall are sitting with Fabio's wife Monica at a neighbor's house outside Queen Victoria. Road is teeming with emergency services.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

There was the fire department, there was crime scene tape. A lot of police were already present, and there's just a lot of activity going on for what should be a quiet neighborhood.

[Detective Gene Pershall]

How long have you lived on Queen Victoria?

[Jonathan Hirsch]

It's going to be four years. Okay. Detective Verna and his partner are here to interview Monica and her daughters one by one about what happened that day. Fabio was working from home. Monica tells them, okay, you came home

[Detective Gene Pershall]

and where was Fabio?

[Jonathan Hirsch]

He was at the kitchen working.

[Detective Gene Pershall]

Still working? Still working.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

She had been home most of the day, went to the gym at one point with Jessica. Her older daughter had got back from the gym, had some lunch, and then decided to go run out and do some errands.

[Detective Gene Pershall]

So you first hit Target and then you hit Ralph's? Yeah. Okay. Did you have any problems with anyone there?

[Jonathan Hirsch]

No.

[Detective Gene Pershall]

Anyone on the road yell at you? Road rage, cuss at you, flip you off, anything like that? No. Okay. No problems with anyone in either store? You didn't notice anyone following you or anything like that that you can remember? Okay.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Jessica is 18. At around 3:40, she went out to a babysitting job. Bella, who's 16, was at school most of the day.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

She was trying to get a job at a deli. And so she had an interview after school, and then following that, she received a call from her mother telling her, hey, your glasses are ready. You need to go to this optometrist and pick up your glasses. And so she did that, then came home. She got into the house, walked in the kitchen and looked out the window. She noticed that her dad was in the patio, slumped over in the seat, and there was a large amount of blood.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Bella called 911. A few minutes later, Monica returned home,

[Detective Ryan Verna]

heard Bella screaming that Fabio had been injured and was on the back patio.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

They tried to resuscitate Fabio, but they weren't able to move him. By the time the first responders arrived, Fabio was dead. The rock of the Sementilli family was gone forever. Ryan normally works on gang related murders, so it's unusual to get called out to a homicide at an upper middle class neighborhood like this. But Woodland Hills could be a prime target for a different type of crime.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

We had what was called knock, knock burglaries going on at the time. And what these guys would do, they would find a house, they'd go up to the front door, knock on the front door. If someone answered the door, they'd typically move on to some other location.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

If nobody answered, then they'd break into the house and rob it. If one of these crews broke into the SE house and ran into Fabio in the backyard, maybe things turned violent. The detectives managed to account for the cars belonging to mine, Monica and her daughters. But Fabio's beloved Porsche is gone. It's a valuable car sort of thing an opportunistic thief might be interested in. Then there's the master bedroom.

[Detective Gene Pershall]

Did you have anything valuable in your room? It looks like drawers were pulled out.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

There was some evidence of ransacking, meaning there was property that been pulled out of drawers and cabinets.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

When the detectives take Monica on a walk through of the house, she says that some valuables are missing. We always have changed.

[Detective Gene Pershall]

Canadian money and euros in one of the drawers or something.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

She reported that there was currency that had been taken in the form of U.S. canadian and European currency, as well as some, like, costumey kind of jewelry. So, yeah, this, this potentially could be one of these burglaries gone bad.

[Detective Gene Pershall]

Okay, we're going to do everything in our power to find out who did this. We're going to process the whole house. It's probably going to be here for hours and hours and hours processing every evidence.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

That night, the crime scene is locked down. As forensic investigators arrive and comb through each room of the cemetery house, they carefully label and photograph any piece of potential evidence.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

We had noticed that there was security cameras at the home in the garage. There was an area near the entry into the kitchen on top of a cabinet where the DVR probably was based on wires that were protruding from the wall. But there's nothing there.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Whoever Fabio's attacker was, they dismantled this crucial piece of evidence before they made their getaway. This doesn't look like a frenzied attack. In the heat of the moment, it looks carefully planned. There's also a sign of how they could have gotten in.

[Detective Gene Pershall]

Looking at your house, on the direct back side of your house, I guess being the north side of your house, there are several rooms that have sliding glass windows.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

So if you just looked into the room real quick, it would appear that it was Secure. However, when you open the shutters up, you would discover that that door is actually ajar and open. So that was out of the ordinary.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Ryan is keeping an open mind, but he's not fully convinced by this burglary theory.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

The typical thing for those gang members to do if they confronted somebody inside or outside of a house would been to run the other way to go stab somebody on the back patio would be out of line with what they're doing.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

There's blood in the back patio, the kitchen, the garage. But there's also some blood transfer in the master bedroom, too.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

That indicated to us that these guys stuck around and then did the ransacking after the fact. I think the first indication would be to get the hell out of there, not to dig deeper to see if we can find some property.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

When the coroner arrives, they take a closer look at Fabio's body.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

We got to see what kind of injuries there was, and he had significant injuries. There were targeted places on his body that were aimed for all areas that, if you're attacked properly, will cause someone to bleed out pretty quickly.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

In other words, these injuries look deliberate. Each one intended to inflict the most damage possible, to be fatal. And there's something else. It looks like whoever did this made sure Fabio couldn't fight back.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

We didn't seem to find any kind of defensive wounds on fabric. Fabio, Simon. So it appeared to us that this wasn't a surprise where, like, our suspects were surprised. Hey, there's a guy there, and, you know, we got to fight him off. It appeared that Fabio was attacked, but

[Jonathan Hirsch]

nobody, the detectives interview that night has any idea who might have wanted to hurt him. By the time Ryan heads home late that night, his head is full of questions. For one brief moment. When Luigi Sementilli opens his eyes the next morning, everything is normal. Then the previous night comes rushing back.

[Luigi Sementilli]

First it was bewilderment, disbelief, feeling stunned, even feeling nothing. Just being reduced to bafflement that something like this could happen. When you wake up, you're kind of reminded of reality and reminded of how your life has changed, and then you feel all of these things all over again. It felt like it had happened all over again.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Last night, after he got the call about his dad, a friend came and picked him up and drove him to his mom's house.

[Luigi Sementilli]

A long, weird car ride of really just being in silence for most of it. Not knowing what was going to happen, how to react, how to feel. It just felt like you were watching a movie that was being projected in front of your eyes.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Now he gets dressed and heads to his Aunt Mirella's house.

[Luigi Sementilli]

That was kind of where the family got together to begin the grieving process.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Mirella is Fabio's big sister and role model, the sister he followed into hairdressing. She's the one the Simmentilles look to in a time of crisis.

[Luigi Sementilli]

We were in the kitchen and everyone was kind of sitting around the table, maybe some people in the living room. And that was just a explosion of emotion from everyone. More tears than hopefully I'll ever see for the rest of my life. Bewilderment, shock, anxiety, talking, reminiscing, speculating, obsessing. There's a lot of talk of knock knock, burglary, where people will simply knock on your door and then make their way into your home.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

The burglary gone wrong doesn't seem to fit with the brutality of the crime, but the alternative seems unthinkable.

[Luigi Sementilli]

A lot of anxiety came from speculation about what could have happened, trying to get answers or make answers connect dots in their mind about how someone that was so important to all of us was, in a moment, taken away.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

In the weeks to come, there would be a lot more speculation. The horrific circumstances around Fabio's death left everyone with questions. Who could have done this when Fabio was so well loved? But every wild theory and far fetched rumor was wrong because the truth was even more unbelievable and even more heartbreaking. Next time on Cut Color Kill, the cops get their first lead.

[Detective Ryan Verna]

You could tell in the video that they were running with a purpose. We knew right away those are our guys.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Don't want to wait for that next episode. You don't have to unlock all episodes of Cut Color Kill ad free right now by subscribing to the Binge Podcast channel. Search for the binge on Apple Podcasts and hit subscribe at the top of the page, not on apple. Head to getthebinge.com and to get access wherever you listen. As a subscriber, you'll get binge access to new stories on the 1st of every month. Check out the Binge Channel page on apple podcasts or getthebinge.com to learn more. This is Cut Color Kill, an original production of Sony Music Entertainment and Novel, hosted by me, Jonathan Hirsch. Caroline Thornham is our senior producer. Katherine Godfrey is our editor. Mohamed Ahmed is our assistant producer. Mark Pittam is our engineer. Additional engineering by Daniel Kempson for Novel. Our executive producer is Max o' Brien from Sony Music Entertainment. Our executive producers are Catherine St. Louis and me, Jonathan Hirsch, production management from Cherie Houston, Joe Savage and Charlotte Wolf. Fact checking by Fendel Fulton. Research by Myron Caplan. Story development by Nick Nell Gray Andrews. Novel's director of development is Selena Mehta. Special thanks to Carolyn Shur Levin at Miller Korsnick Raymond. And a big thanks to the whole Sony Music Entertainment team. And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it moves, means sitting front row at a comedy show. Hey, everyone. Check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date? Oh, no. We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird. Yeah, the bird looks out of your league. Anyways, get a [e-mail] or with your local agent. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.