Cut, Color, Kill | 4. Don’t Talk

Summary

Cut, Color, Kill | Episode 4: Don’t Talk

Podcast: The Binge Crimes: Cut, Color, Kill
Host: Jonathan Hirsch (Sony Music Entertainment)
Release Date: May 22, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode delves into the dramatic arrests of Monica Sementilli and Robert Baker, revealing the intricate web of police surveillance and undercover tactics leading up to their charges for the murder of Fabio Sementilli. The episode focuses on Monica and Baker’s interactions with law enforcement, their attempts to maintain a united front under pressure, and the aftershocks their arrests send through Fabio’s grieving family and professional community.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Arrest Operation: Police Tactics and Surveillance

• [01:09] Monica Sementilli and her lover, Robert Baker, are pulled over in Monica’s new Mustang, setting in motion a meticulously planned sting.
• The police car is wired with mics and a camera, intending to capture confessions or incriminating conversations.
• The couple is told the Mustang may be stolen and is placed in the back of a squad car as part of the ruse.
• [02:43] Officers loudly announce over the radio Monica's warrant for first-degree murder in Fabio's death, hoping to provoke a reaction.
• Monica reacts with panic and disbelief:

  "What the fuck? What? Get me out of this car." – Monica Sementilli ([03:35])

• Detectives listen in, hoping Monica and Baker will break under pressure.

2. Missed Evidence: The Microphone Failure

• Investigators in the surveillance van anticipate a confession or revealing conversation as Monica and Baker begin whispering in the back seat.
• Critical error: The high-spec rear microphones meant to capture whispers are not switched on.
• [08:16] Deputy DA Beth Silverman on the lost opportunity:

  "We obviously know that we've lost crucial evidence. That obviously was extremely damning. Otherwise they wouldn't have been whispering. It was sloppy. It's the loss of evidence you can never get back."

3. “Stay in Protocol”: Suspects’ Code of Silence

• [06:59] Despite technical setbacks, one line from Baker is picked up:

  "Stay in protocol." – Robert Baker

• Silverman says this statement is telling—they planned for arrest, indicating “consciousness of guilt.”
• Both Monica and Baker steadfastly deny an affair or involvement beyond the racquetball league.

4. The Perkins Operation: Undercover in the Cell

• After arrest, Monica is placed in a holding cell with "Cynthia," an undercover officer wearing a wire.
• Cynthia tries to coax a confession or details, but Monica maintains her innocence and confusion:

  "My husband was murdered." – Monica Sementilli ([09:33])
  "No, guess I'm saying there's something wrong here." – Monica ([09:49])

• Deputy DA Silverman explains this is a legal tactic to get admissions post-arrest/before charges.

5. Police Interviews and Confrontation

• [14:30] Detective Chris Gable confronts Monica with the DNA evidence:

  "A lot of that blood did, in fact, come back to Rob Baker." – Detective Gable

• Monica is shocked but insists on Baker’s innocence and proposes a new story for the DNA—claiming Baker’s blood was from a racquetball accident and transferred via a towel.
• Detectives note Monica only shares the towel story after learning Baker is a suspect, and it's the same story Baker gave police.

  “Despite all the police's best efforts, Monica and Baker seemed to be holding fast to the protocol they discussed in the back of the cop car.” – Jonathan Hirsch ([20:02])

6. Psychological Play: Attempts to Elicit a Confession

• The undercover “Cynthia” tries to sow doubt and encourage Monica to blame Baker:

  "Make him responsible for it. Because I bet you he's not gonna think twice about screwing you over." – Cynthia ([18:07])

• Monica remains defensive, not admitting or implicating Baker.

7. Family Fallout: Luigi Sementilli’s Perspective

• Luigi, Fabio’s son, is notified about the arrests in Toronto. He reflects on growing suspicion and past conversations with Monica.

  "She was kind of hyperventilating and between breaths. The first things that she said to me was that there was going to be a lot of money coming my way and that I would be able to buy a car and I would be able to buy a house." – Luigi ([24:13])

• Looking back, Luigi sees Monica's focus on life insurance as foreboding.

  "It was like light bulb after light bulb, epiphany after epiphany." – Luigi ([25:02])

• While Fabio's Canadian family quickly believes Monica’s guilt, her daughters are now under the care of Monica’s family, who insist it is a mistake.

8. Community Shock and Betrayal

• News of the arrests break at Wella, Fabio’s workplace. Shock and betrayal ripple through colleagues who had supported Monica, not suspecting her.

  "She had been arrested and her mugshot and his mugshot. And we're like, what the hell? And then you're like, well, that's the guy that was at the memorial." – Carol Perta ([27:40]) "It felt like a sociopath in action... did she flip somewhere? And then you start rethinking all of the things that you had thought before." – Carol ([28:43]) “We were played the entire time.” – Carol ([30:08])

• Monica's actions post-murder, including flaunting her new Mustang and bringing Baker to Fabio’s memorial, are reinterpreted as manipulative and chilling.

9. Family Schism

• Fabio’s family is split: his side in Canada accepts Monica's guilt; Monica’s family and daughters reject the accusations, deepening family rifts.

10. The Case Moves Forward

• The episode ends with a dramatic reminder: a missing suspect—the second jogger caught on camera the day of the murder—remains at large. The investigation is not over, and crucial answers still wait to emerge.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|---------|-------| | 03:35 | Monica Sementilli | "What the fuck? What? Get me out of this car." | | 06:59 | Robert Baker | "Stay in protocol." | | 08:16 | Deputy DA Beth Silverman | "It was sloppy. It's the loss of evidence you can never get back." | | 09:33 | Monica Sementilli | "My husband was murdered." | | 14:30 | Detective Chris Gable | "A lot of that blood did, in fact, come back to Rob Baker." | | 24:13 | Luigi Sementilli | "She was kind of hyperventilating and between breaths. The first things that she said to me was that there was going to be a lot of money coming my way..." | | 27:40 | Carol Perta | "She had been arrested and her mugshot and his mugshot. And we're like, what the hell? And then you're like, well, that's the guy that was at the memorial." | | 30:08 | Carol Perta | "We were played the entire time." |

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 01:09 – Police traffic stop and Monica/Baker’s arrest set-up
• 03:35 – Monica’s shocked reaction to the arrest announcement
• 06:59 – "Stay in protocol": the telling whispered phrase
• 08:16 – DA Silverman laments loss of audio evidence
• 09:32 – Monica interacts with Cynthia, the undercover cellmate
• 14:30 – Monica confronted with Baker’s DNA at the scene
• 24:13 – Luigi recalls Monica’s unsettling early focus on life insurance
• 27:40 – Fabio’s work colleagues react to the news
• 30:08 – Carol Perta expresses feelings of betrayal

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Tone & Language

The episode maintains a suspenseful, investigative tone. Direct speech and interviews with law enforcement, family, and Fabio’s professional network lend authenticity and emotional depth. There’s a mix of incredulity, anger, and betrayal as suspicions solidify into chilling certainty.

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Episode Takeaways

• The LAPD’s complex sting operation almost captured critical evidence, but a technical failure proved costly.
• The arrest exposes a “protocol” between Monica and Baker—evidence of premeditated denial and possibly guilt.
• Undercover and psychological police tactics fail to elicit outright confessions, but behavioral and circumstantial evidence piles up.
• The news shatters Fabio’s family and professional circles, fostering anger and deep rifts, especially between Monica and Fabio’s two teen daughters.
• Despite the arrests, the case isn’t over—a missing suspect is still at large, promising further revelations as the series continues.

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.

[Podcast Narrator/Host]

The Binge.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

It's a Sunny Day in June 2017. At an intersection in the LA suburbs, a police car flashes its lights at a black Ford Mustang. The Mustang is Monica Semantilli's new car. She's riding shotgun, looking polished as always with her brown bangs and a sleek blowout. Robert Baker, her racquetball coach and secret lover, is at the wheel. The cops signal for Monica and Baker to pull over. The officer approaches the car, tells the couple they have reason to believe the Mustang may be a stolen car.

[Monica Sementilli]

This is a first for me.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Monica is sure there's been a mistake. The Mustang is hers. But but. The cop walks her and Baker over to another squad car waiting nearby. Until the police can get to the bottom of this, they'll have to wait in the back.

[Monica Sementilli]

It's like really, really scared.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

The sun is beating down on the cop's car.

[Monica Sementilli]

Oh my gosh.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Inside, it's like an oven.

[Monica Sementilli]

I can't breathe. I need help.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Monica's struggling and complaining, but this isn't just an inconvenience. She has no idea what she stepped into. The police cruiser is wired up with three microphones and a camera. A surveillance van is parked around the corner. Inside, a team of officers are waiting and listening to every word.

[Monica Sementilli]

I will this is ridiculous.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

The conversation is interrupted by the police

[Monica Sementilli]

radio requesting clear frequency of content for Q.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

The cops run a message over the radio into the cruiser. The speaker is set loud. Monica and Baker can hear it clearly.

[Monica Sementilli]

Monica Sonia Cementilli wanted for first degree murder for the murder of Fabio Simentilli

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Monica Sementilli Wanted for the first degree murder of Fabio Sementilli. From sony music entertainment and novel this is cut color kill. I'm jonathan hirsch. Episode 4 don't talk.

[Monica Sementilli]

What the fuck? What? Get me out of this car.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Over in the surveillance van, the detectives are glued to every Word. They're hoping that in the back of this hot, airless police cruiser with radio messages being piped in, Monica and Baker are going to let slip something that will crack the case.

[Monica Sementilli]

Oh, God. I gotta get out of here. Help me. I can't breathe. Please.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

One of the police officers approaches the window of the police car. Monica demands to know what's going on.

[Police Officer]

Ma'?

[Monica Sementilli]

Am. Yes, I heard everything. What is this?

[Police Officer]

There's a warrant for your arrest for murder.

[Monica Sementilli]

Oh, my gosh. I just talked to the detective this morning.

[Police Officer]

Okay, that is Detective Marcel. Okay, that. That came up. I. I gotta give him a call.

[Monica Sementilli]

Okay? Please do.

[Police Officer]

We're gonna have to get it.

[Monica Sementilli]

Oh, my God. My husband was murdered five months ago.

[Police Officer]

Okay, I'm. Listen, I'm very sorry for the loss.

[Monica Sementilli]

How can this be?

[Police Officer]

All I can tell you is you've got a warrant for your arrest. And I'm gonna make a phone call right now.

[Monica Sementilli]

Oh my God. Please.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

The officer steps away from the car. Monica and Baker are on their own again.

[Monica Sementilli]

Listen, listen, listen, listen. Don't talk.

[Police Officer]

I know, I know.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Listen, listen, listen.

[Robert Baker]

Gotta get a lawyer immediately.

[Monica Sementilli]

I don't know what's going on.

[Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman]

Get a lawyer. Don't talk. And a lot of that was coming from her.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman is in D.C. at a conference on the day of the arrest. She's eager to find out what's happening in the bugged patrol car.

[Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman]

They both were playing this game where they were denying strongly that there was any sort of relationship between the two of them other than this racquetball league relationship, that he was her coach.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Silverman has been working with LAPD detectives since February, advising them on their investigation. After months of COVID surveillance, subpoenas and search warrants, the police are finally making their move. Today has been a long time in the planning. Every single thing that the two suspects say right now could be important evidence.

[Monica Sementilli]

I need to know what is going on right now. And I can't breathe.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

While Monica panics, Robert Baker tries to explain what this arrest warrant means for them both.

[Robert Baker]

If they have any warrant, that means they have to satisfy what they think are the elements of proof of this bull. Whatever that is. I have no fucking clue what the fuck could be in there.

[Monica Sementilli]

Mom.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Monica says that she's being set up.

[Monica Sementilli]

Someone is doing this to me, dad.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Then Baker and Monica begin to whisper. The cops in their surveillance van watch through a camera feed. It captures them on a flickering feed with a low res image. It shows Baker and Monica both leaning forward in huddled positions. Sat very close to each other. The investigating team lean in and strain their ears to hear. They can just about make out certain words, and one line from Baker is especially telling. We've cleaned it up so you can hear it.

[Robert Baker]

Stay in protocol.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Stay in protocol. This is exactly what Deputy DA Silverman has been waiting for.

[Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman]

The idea that they had planned for the eventuality that they might be arrested and how they were going to handle that was a tremendous piece of evidence that's referred to often as consciousness of guilt.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

It's pretty sketchy, right? I don't know about you, but I've never felt the need to make a plan for what to do if I get arrested for murder. Over in the police van, the cops lean in and try to catch more of what Monica and Baker are saying. But they're listening through the mic that's located at the front of the cruiser. They can barely hear them. In the back of the car are two more hidden mics set up to capture their whispers with high clarity. The investigators in the van are getting excited, but too late. They find out there has been a mistake. Those high spec mics on the back, which are crucial to the operation, were in fact, not switched on and not in operation. Monica Sementilli and Robert Baker continue to whisper, virtually unheard for five minutes. When the news about the mics failing reaches Beth Silverman, she is not happy.

[Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman]

You have two individuals who have just been arrested. You can see them and hear them in the vehicle plainly discussing what's happening, whispering to each other. We catch certain words, but without having the entire context for it. I mean, we obviously know that we've lost crucial evidence. That obviously was extremely damning. Otherwise they wouldn't have been whispering. It was sloppy. It's the loss of evidence you can never get back.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

But the day isn't over yet, and the investigators still have another trick up their sleeve. The police officers transport Monica and Baker to Van Nuys station in the heart of the San Fernando Valley. They're booked separately and their phones are seized. Then they're placed in separate holding cells. Monica is left in her cell to wait for what comes next. But she's not alone. There's one other inmate already there.

[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

I'm Cynthia.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Hi, Monica.

[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

I know this whole situation, it just sucks.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

While Monica is getting to know her cellmate, she has no idea that in some ways, her police interrogation has already begun. Cynthia is wearing a wire.

[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

What'd they do to you?

[Monica Sementilli]

My husband was murdered.

[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

Oh, my God. In January? Yeah.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Monica starts telling her chatty cellmate Cynthia all about what's happening to her.

[Monica Sementilli]

Put me in handcuffs in the back of a car, and then they sent there's a warrant for murder.

[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

You murdered your husband?

[Monica Sementilli]

No, guess I'm saying there's something wrong here.

[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

And it happened at your house. Wow.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Cynthia is really curious. A little nosy, even. But Monica doesn't seem to notice.

[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

I mean, if you were at home,

[Monica Sementilli]

how'd you do it? But that's what I'm saying.

[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

I don't understand.

[Monica Sementilli]

They must have something they're not telling me, which I would love to know what it is.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Monica has just stepped into what's called a Perkins Operation.

[Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman]

A Perkins Operation is named after a particular case that allows us, after arrest, but before the filing of charges, to place an arrestee into a jail cell with. With an undercover agent of the police and record their conversations.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

The mic'd up police cruiser was only the first part of this operation. And Cynthia, the undercover agent, isn't the only person playing a role.

[Luigi Samentilli]

Knock, knock, Detective.

[Monica Sementilli]

What's going on? Please tell me what's going on.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Detective Jean Persal, the officer Monica has been in contact with since the murder, approaches the south.

[Detective Jean Persal]

Listen, so remember the two detectives that we met with two weeks ago?

[Monica Sementilli]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Yeah.

[Detective Jean Persal]

And they came up with some stuff that links you to Bobby.

[Monica Sementilli]

I want to know what it is.

[Detective Jean Persal]

May be able to explain some of the stuff.

[Detective Chris Gable]

I don't know.

[Monica Sementilli]

I'm gonna have to.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Rashal is here to turn up the pressure for sure.

[Detective Jean Persal]

Without a doubt, they have determined that Robert Baker was involved with Pockets Murray.

[Monica Sementilli]

That cannot be him. That cannot be possible.

Oh, my God.

[Detective Jean Persal]

There's no doubt about that. Okay, Dr. Styrt.

[Detective Chris Gable]

View.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Okay, so far, Monica and Robert Baker appear to have been sticking to a plan, but now they're separated, and the police are directly accusing him of murder. Will Monica turn on her boyfriend?

[Robert Baker]

Foreign

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[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

Who's that guy?

[Monica Sementilli]

He's Watermaker's a good friend of ours.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Monica is alone with her curious cellmate, Cynthia.

[Monica Sementilli]

He's such a good friend of ours,

[Jonathan Hirsch]

there's no way she's still processing the bombshell Detective Pershal just dropped. Robert Baker is the prime suspect in her husband's murder.

[Monica Sementilli]

That's great. It can't be him. He said, without a doubt, it can't be.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Cynthia probes Monica to see if she'll let anything slip.

[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

Is he your friend? Does he not like your husband? No.

[Monica Sementilli]

Oh, my gosh, no. He was. He's our lead director of our racquetball league at the gym. And he became a really good friend, especially after this. Really helped help me and the girls.

[Detective Chris Gable]

Mm.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Cynthia even floats the idea that the racquetball coach might even have romantic feelings for Monica.

[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

You think that guy likes you and wants something else with you and you don't know it?

[Detective Jean Persal]

Maybe.

[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

I don't think so. Never felt that. Was your husband, like, treating you bad? So maybe he was defending your honor or something, you think?

[Monica Sementilli]

No. My husband, well, the love of my life.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

He was such a good, good person. Monica doesn't bite. So the investigators turn the screw again.

[Monica Sementilli]

Hello?

Yes. Yes, please tell me what's going on.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

This time, it's another Detective, Chris Gable from the Robbery Homicide Division, who steps up to the cell.

[Monica Sementilli]

Yes.

[Robert Baker]

Okay.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

He reminds her of the blood from the crime scene, which was sent for DNA testing.

[Detective Chris Gable]

There was a lot of blood that was at the scene that day. And, you know, there was a lot of swabs taken.

[Monica Sementilli]

Yes.

[Detective Chris Gable]

Okay, So a lot of that blood did, in fact, come back to Rob Baker.

[Monica Sementilli]

Oh, my God. I can't believe.

[Detective Chris Gable]

And we've known that for a really long time. So I'm just. I just want to let you know that since way back when I announced we've had you under surveillance when you and Rob go to nightclubs. Yeah. We've had you under surveillance when you and Rob do flyaway trips, driveway trips. And we've always had surveillance photographing you and documenting everything.

[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

Okay?

[Detective Chris Gable]

So we understand completely about the relationship that you and Rob have, and we know that his blood is all over the scene. And we've known that for a long time. We've been watching you for a long time. We've been doing a lot of work and a lot of other things. Things. I'm waiting for my partner to get down. As soon as he comes down, we'll explain more things to you. I just wanted to let you Know everything we did is it directly implicates you and Rob.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

This is impossible. After five months of letting Monica think she's pulled the wool over their eyes, the investigators have shown their hand. They know all about their affair. Rob's DNA was all over the crime scene, and both he and Monica are now implicated in the murder.

[Monica Sementilli]

Oh, my God.

[Detective Jean Persal]

There's all this blood in there.

[Monica Sementilli]

This can't be. Oh, my God.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

The investigators have been busy. They don't have access to Monica and Baker's phones, but they've managed to subpoena a huge amount of digital backup data. Things like icloud, Dropbox email accounts.

[Detective Chris Gable]

We pulled all of your photos from your icloud. There's a lot of them that I'm sure you really want people to see.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

There is a substantial stash of explicit photos that Monica sent to her lover. Some of them are even taken on the day of Fabio's funeral.

[Monica Sementilli]

How does that have to do with his DNA being there?

[Detective Chris Gable]

That doesn't have anything to do with his DNA. It has to do with you telling the truth.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

As Detective Gable gets more direct, Monica digs her heels in.

[Detective Jean Persal]

You have a lot of evidence that

[Detective Chris Gable]

shows us that you were involved in this crime, and that's what we want. I'm sure you have a lot of questions, and we want to answer those questions. We have questions for you. It's not about if you did it. It's just. We want to understand why I did not. Just please think about telling the truth.

[Monica Sementilli]

I am telling the truth. I need you to tell me the truth.

[Detective Chris Gable]

Believe me, I will. I promise you, I'll be straight with you.

[Monica Sementilli]

Okay?

Okay.

[Detective Chris Gable]

All right.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Detective Gable leaves. Monica is still reeling from what she's just learned when Cynthia moves in again.

[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

So I guess he is your boyfriend, huh?

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Monica's on the back foot, but she's defensive. An affair isn't a crime.

[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

He said they've, like they've been watching you, everything you do.

[Monica Sementilli]

But I already knew that because, you know, when it's a murder investigation, everyone the spouse is the first one to be followed. So I had no problem with him hiding anything. There's nothing wrong with what I'm doing.

[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

It is. If he killed your husband, that makes for movies all the time. You've probably seen a couple of them up. At this point, you should be thinking about yourself, not whoever that guy is. But screw him. I mean,

[Monica Sementilli]

I can't believe that

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Cynthia is trying to get in Monica's head to see if she'll blame Baker, reveals something about the crime he did this.

[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

Make him responsible for it. Because I bet you he's not gonna think twice about screwing you over.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

There's a long pause.

[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

What do you guys talk about?

[Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman]

Everything.

[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

Well, not everything. If he didn't tell you that he killed your husband, you're not trying to protect him, are you?

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Monica doesn't reply. She's subdued, even seems a little vulnerable. But by the time the detectives escort her out of her cell that evening and into a small, windowless interrogation room, she's back to defending her lover.

[Monica Sementilli]

I can't believe that. I don't believe that Rob did that.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Monica is sitting at a table. Opposite her are two detectives. She's being asked why Rob's blood was found at the house, and she's got an explanation.

[Monica Sementilli]

The only other thing I can think of that his DNA would be in my house is probably when I cracked him in the hand when we played racquetball. It's probably on my racket, it's probably on my shoes. It's probably in the gym courts. And I brought the towel home and I even showed it to my husband and he said, don't bother washing it. I will get rid of it. And that's the only thing I can think of for it to even be maybe in the garage, maybe in the sink, if he put it in the sink. Because I didn't see it after that.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

For five months, the police have been speaking to her about the police blood in the house. Monica never mentioned Baker. Now when she's confronted with the evidence, she's changed her tune.

[Monica Sementilli]

That's all I can really. That I know.

[Detective Chris Gable]

Okay.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

As the detectives drop her back off at her cell, they vent their frustrations. I mean, come on, Monica, how convenient

[Robert Baker]

is it for you to come up

[Jonathan Hirsch]

with the exact same story that you're boyfriend told us about the towel?

[Detective Chris Gable]

Did you see that?

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Yes, he did. He remembers in his police interview, Robert Baker told detectives the same story about the bloody towel. Despite all the police's best efforts, Monica and Baker seemed to be holding fast to the protocol they discussed in the back of the cop car.

[Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman]

It seemed like she and Baker had definitely discussed and planned for this eventuality.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

They haven't got a confession out of Monica. But for Deputy DA Beth Silverman, the Perkins operation with cellmate Cynthia was still eye opening.

[Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman]

Some of it was what she said and also what she didn't say. Her demeanor, the arrogance. Just a complete lack of interest in what you would think somebody in her position, if she was innocent, would have been discussing. Like I wish LAPD was focusing on the real killers. A lot of that was interesting.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Ever since Fabio's murder, the press have been all over this case. There have been helicopters hovering over woodland hills and reporters camped outside the Cementilli house. But that's nothing compared to what's going to happen when news gets out that the victim's wife and her racquetball coach, an ex porn star born boyfriend, have been arrested. The detectives need to get ahead of this. Over in Toronto, Luigi Samantilli's phone starts ringing.

[Luigi Samentilli]

They told me that arrests had been made in connection with my dad's murder.

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This episode is brought to you by Netflix. The four seasons is back for season two. Starring Tina Fey, Will Forte, Colman Domingo, Marco Calvani Carrie Kenny Sil, Erika Henningsen. After a difficult year, your favorite group of friends continues their tradition of vacationing together, now with a baby in tow. From the Jersey shore to upstate New York and Italy, their getaways are sure to take unexpected turns. Where comedy ensues. Watch the four seasons May 28, only on Netflix.

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[Jonathan Hirsch]

It's nighttime in Toronto, and Luigi Samantilli has just been woken up by a phone call from the detectives. Finally, after five months, they have news. He's suddenly wide awake.

[Luigi Samentilli]

I'm dying to hear what they know and what happened. And they tell me that Monica was arrested along with this man named Robert Baker. Arrests had been made towards getting to some form of justice for my dad, who was so heinously killed. But this person, who I considered part of my family, had betrayed everyone.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

I can't imagine what it must feel like to receive that news. Your own stepmother, someone you've grown up with since you were a little kid, has just been arrested for your father's murder. Luigi's mind is racing. He fires question after question of the detective.

[Luigi Samentilli]

How certain are you? Give me a percentage. Where have you seen this before? What else do you know? How are you feeling about this as an investigator? And everything they were telling me was from the day it happened. Her story was not adding up. She was lying to the detectives. Things weren't making sense. They even used the phrase this is a slam dunk.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

The detective tells Luigi about Monica's affair and her obsession with the life insurance money. And Luigi finds himself thinking about the first time he spoke to Monica on the phone the night his dad was murdered.

[Luigi Samentilli]

She was kind of hyperventilating and between breaths. The first things that she said to me was that there was going to be a lot of money coming my way and that I would be able to buy a car and I would be able to buy a house. At the time, I suppose I thought maybe in some strange way this person is trying to mitigate this horror that happened in a weird way where our brains often do to try and protect ourselves.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

But now Luigi sees that moment as something else.

[Luigi Samentilli]

Kind of a weirdly obvious dead giveaway. But it was such an unbelievable, astronomically impossible thing that she would have orchestrated this that it didn't cross my mind at the time that had that phone call with her.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Luigi starts to think back to the days after his dad's murder. He was in LA at his family's Woodland Hills home.

[Luigi Samentilli]

It's pretty freaky going back to the place where he was killed. Weird that my stepmom and sisters were still sitting at this house. I remember on that trip being brought up to the computer room and being shown a printed document detailing the different life insurances, estate proceeds, and how they would be divided up amongst myself, Monica, my sisters. She was kind of holding it and regarding it like she was petting this piece of paper in some strange, proud way. And it was that talented Mr. Ripley moment when you're starting to think about the preceding six months and how these little moments that at the time were not an indictment of anything. Now that was a dot to be connected. It was like light bulb after light bulb, epiphany after epiphany.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

By the time the call with the detective ends, Luigi's made up his mind.

[Luigi Samentilli]

In that moment, I thought, this makes sense. I don't doubt this. The first person I spoke to was my mom. And I went into her room and woke her up and said, you're not going to believe who just called me and what they just said.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Over at the WELLA offices in Los Angeles, Carol Perta is running a meeting with her team when CEO Sal's assistant Barbara knocks on the door.

[Carol Perta]

Sal needs to see you now. Like we're in a meeting. We'll, you know, kind of annoyed, a little bit of, why does he need to take us out of a meeting now? We'll be there as soon as possible. 5 minute pass. And then Barbara is here again. She's like, you need to come right now. Okay, that seems serious.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Alicia Truesdale also gets a message at the same time.

[Podcast Narrator/Host]

It says, come to Sal's office right now.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Alicia was Fabio's executive assistant. Since his death, she's been worried that her job might get cut.

[Podcast Narrator/Host]

Oh, no, this is it. They're getting rid of me. They don't need me anymore. I go over to the office, and I walk in, and Carol's there. Mika, the head of hr, Sal. And Mika says, sit her down. Sit her down right now. And I'm going like, what's going on? Sal puts on the tv, and they show it.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

It's all over the news. CBS has the story.

[Monica Sementilli]

A stunning arrest nearly five months after a prominent hairstylist was murdered at his home.

[News Reporter]

Monica Simmentilli under arrest now on suspicion of murdering her husband and being held without bail.

[Carol Perta]

She had been arrested and her muck shot and his mugshot. And we're like, what the hell? And then you're like, well, that's the guy that was at the memorial.

[Podcast Narrator/Host]

I lost it. I screamed. I started crying. I couldn't handle. I couldn't hold it in.

[Carol Perta]

We were just dumbfounded. Like, literally. Shop number two. I would have never, never in a million years imagined this.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Melanie Garabe, another of Fabio's Wella crew, is in a different meeting when a friend texts her.

[News Reporter]

I'm so sorry about Monica. I'm like, what?

[Cynthia (Undercover Cellmate)]

Are you sure? That can't be.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Fabio's work friends have spent months trying to support Monica. They thought she was devastated. But the details emerging from the police investigation tell a very different story.

[News Reporter]

We saw the indictments, and we saw what they were charging her with. And we read all of this, and we're like, wow, have we just been fooled?

[Carol Perta]

It felt like a sociopath in action. It didn't feel like a person we knew. It didn't feel like something that, from the person we knew was. Have happened. So did something happen? Did she flip somewhere? You know? And then you start rethinking all of the things that you had thought before.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

There's the fact that Monica brought Robert Baker to Fabio's wake. The man she was having an affair with, the man whose blood was all over the crime scene. There's the weird fact of Monica continuing to live in the house where Fabio was murdered. And then one moment, Carol can't stop replaying that time. She and Melanie went over to the Woodland Hills house. Monica showed them her new Mustang. Carol remembers how Monica had gloated about playing the grieving widow to get a good deal.

[Carol Perta]

This phrase came back in my mind of the award winning performance and I'm like, wow, Indeed. That was an award winning performance.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

It's all adding up. And now disbelief begins to give way to anger.

[Podcast Narrator/Host]

I said that bitch. I can't believe why, what was she doing? You know? And they show the whole arrest of her. I'm dumbfounded again. I'm just. I can't believe that this happened and that she did this.

[Carol Perta]

She's the one you feel fully, fully, fully betrayed. Oh, my God. Like we are. We're clowns over here. We were played the entire time.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Thousands of miles away in Toronto, Luigi and Fabio's side of the se family are gathered at his aunt Mirella's house. They're trying to make sense of this inconceivable news.

[Luigi Samentilli]

How could she do this? How could this happen? Anger, Betrayal. My family was around Monica far more often than I was, especially my aunt Mirella who was quite close with Monica over the preceding 20 years.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

They all trusted Monica, but the police investigation has proven that she lied to them and to Fabio again and again. The woman they trusted doesn't exist.

[Luigi Samentilli]

The prospect of this being the case was. Wasn't met with much doubt. It was plausible and we all believed it.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

For Luigi and his dad's side of the family in Canada, everything suddenly makes sense. What about your sisters? What kind of conversations did you all have?

[Luigi Samentilli]

That's where the difficulty began in my relationship with them.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Monica's daughters with Fabio, Jessica and Isabella are still only 16 and 18. Now that Monica has been arrested, they've been taken under the wing of their mom's family, the Crescentinis.

[Luigi Samentilli]

Monica's family was very quick to fly down and kind of take control of the situation surrounding my sisters. And the narrative as it was being spun by Monica's family and then being accepted by them was that this was not true, that a mistake had happened, that this is not the case, that they would be getting to the bottom of this one way or another.

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Monica is maintaining her innocence, and Fabio's family, the thing that mattered most to him in the world, is split in two. But there's someone still out there who knows what really happened. On January 23, 2017, there were two joggers caught on camera running towards Fabio's house that day. We reached out to Luigi's sisters and Monica's side of the family family. They either declined to comment or did not respond. Next time on Cut Color Kill. There's still a missing suspect at large and he holds the key to unlocking the truth. Did he just say he stabbed him?

[Carol Perta]

What?

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Is anyone hearing what I'm hearing? 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 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. Our producers are Mohamed Ahmed and Caroline Thornham. Catherine Godfrey is our editor. 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 Nell Gray Andrews. Novel's director of development is Selena Mehta. Special thanks to Carolyn Schur Levin at Miller, Korsnick Raymond and a big thanks to the whole Sony Music Entertainment team.

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