Cut, Color, Kill | 3. Award-Winning Performance

A relentless prosecutor is on the case of the killers. Police surveillance reveals a dark double life. Want the full story? Binge every episode of Cut, Color, Kill ad-free now by subscribing to The Binge+. You’ll unlock over 60 true crime series instantly, get early access to drops on the first of every month, and hear exclusive bonus episodes. Search for the channel on Apple Podcasts or head to GetTheBinge.com. For behind-the-scenes details, join our free newsletter at Patreon.com/TheBinge. Cut, Color, Kill is a production of Sony Music Entertainment and Novel. Follow @sonypodcasts and discover more at sonymusic.com/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices at podcastchoices.com/adchoices. The Binge — feed your true crime obsession. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

• 0:01Speaker 00

  Into the wild, the Calthea Panther encounters a shimmering crocodile, a lonely lovebird, a breathless zebra, and a restless tiger.

• 0:15Speaker 01

  Listen to every episode of Cut, Color, Kill ad-free right now when you subscribe 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.

• 0:55Speaker 02

  Hello?

• 0:56Speaker 03

  Hi, Monica, this is Detective Porchall.

• 0:59Speaker 02

  Hi, Detective.

• 1:00Speaker 03

  How you doing?

• 1:02Speaker 02

  Terrible. How's it going?

• 1:04Speaker 01

  It's been a month since Fabio was killed. Monica is keeping busy, seeing folks from Wella from time to time, and trying to figure out how she will support herself and the girls now that her husband's gone. But there's no news on Fabio's killers, just endless replaying of the details. Detective Jean Porchall calls Monica to check in.

• 1:24Speaker 03

  So you weren't followed home from anywhere, from shopping? Or I think you said you went to the gym that day?

• 1:32Speaker 02

  Yeah, me and my daughter went to the gym. I don't think I'm being followed.

• 1:37Speaker 01

  The detectives are going over every angle. Porchall asks Monica to walk him through the day of the murder again. Was there anything out of the ordinary?

• 1:46Speaker 03

  What gym did you go to?

• 1:48Speaker 02

  Uh, LA Fitness.

• 1:49Speaker 03

  Uh, is there any, like, thugs that hang out there at the gym at all, or?

• 1:53Speaker 02

  No, well, no, not... It's pretty safe, not that we noticed.

• 1:58Speaker 03

  Right. Yeah, I got no bombshell, uh, news to give you, anything like that.

• 2:06Speaker 03

  You know, that area over there has been hit by a lot of burglary crews, so we got, we got-

• 2:11Speaker 02

  Yeah, but not murders.

• 2:13Speaker 03

  No, but-

• 2:14Speaker 01

  Monica is anxious. There's still no leads.

• 2:18Speaker 02

  I have so many family and friends telling me to get a private detective. Should I?

• 2:23Speaker 03

  No. No, we'll be able to get this done, I think. So, uh, we got an angle on, uh, on a couple different crews that are working burglaries in the area that, uh, we're trying to dig it into. Keep that in your hat, though, of course.

• 2:36Speaker 02

  Okay. Any, any, uh, anything back with any DNA, anything?

• 2:41Speaker 03

  Well, again, that's-

• 2:42Speaker 02

  The car?

• 2:43Speaker 03

  That's evidence, so I can't discuss that. You know, I don't know if we have victim suspect, whatever.

• 2:48Speaker 01

  That's evidence, he says. Can't discuss that. Evidence that Robert Baker's DNA was all over Fabio's car.

• 2:58Speaker 03

  We got some good stuff that we're looking at. Uh, I can't go into details. Um, this is-

• 3:02Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 3:02Speaker 03

  nowhere near being considered anything like a cold case. Uh, I think we're gonna get this thing done, for sure.

• 3:08Speaker 01

  Prashal is on a bit of a fishing expedition here. He knows by now that Robert Baker is involved, but is pretty sure he didn't act alone. There were two joggers in hoodies caught on the neighborhood cameras, running towards the house. And until they get to the bottom of this, the detectives are keeping the family in the dark.

• 3:27Speaker 03

  Maybe tomorrow, my partner and I could come by. And I just wanted to do a walkthrough with you and Jessica separately, you know, just where you guys went, what you saw, what you did, stuff like that, uh, just to get a better idea on the sequence of events. So, are you available tomorrow? Like, what, what time are you up, you guys up and, up and awake?

• 3:48Speaker 02

  Oh, tomorrow by, um, oh, seven thirty, eight AM, because my cleaning lady is gonna be here tomorrow anyway, so I will be, I'll be up.

• 3:57Speaker 03

  Well, we plan on eight o'clock.

• 3:59Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 4:00Speaker 03

  Angela's planned on eight o'clock, unless something comes up on our end, I'll give you a call, but eight o'clock should work for us.

• 4:04Speaker 02

  Okay, thank you.

• 4:05Speaker 03

  Okay, thanks, Monica.

• 4:06Speaker 02

  All right. Bye-bye.

• 4:08Speaker 01

  The detective hangs up. They'll meet tomorrow, go over the timeline again, walk through the steps. That's all there is to it. Except, the detective isn't showing Monica all his cards. And, neither is she.

• 4:24Speaker 01

  From Sony Music Entertainment and Novel, this is Cut, Color, Kill. I'm Jonathan Hirsch. Episode Three: Award-Winning Performance.

• 4:50Speaker 04

  I remember moving into my first apartment after it happened. And the first thing I did was go to the hardware store and got two or three different kinds of dead bolts to install on the door, thinking irrationally that I had to do this to protect myself in some way.

• 5:12Speaker 01

  Luigi flew back to Toronto after his dad's wake. He hadn't heard much from the police after that, and the reality of his father's death affected him in surprising ways.

• 5:24Speaker 04

  I developed a sense of awful hypervigilance, always feeling unsafe, feeling like I had to look over my shoulder. Depression was coming and going, and then would hit pretty hard not long after. I remember taking a semester off school and really not doing much else, other than trying to find comfort in whatever distraction I could possibly muster. For me, not dealing with it correctly at first, that involved a lot of binging television, video games, and food.

• 5:57Speaker 01

  He wants to believe that the police have the investigation under control. But as the days go by, the weight of the unknown weighs heavy on him.

• 6:07Speaker 04

  The uncertainty of not knowing, the uncertainty of having the truth of the matter kind of held above our heads, above the clouds, is a form of agony in itself.

• 6:25Speaker 01

  Little did they know, a major breakthrough had already happened. Detectives were beginning to piece it all together. Detective Ryan Verna saw the discovery of Robert Baker's DNA as a first step. They've got a name, and, turns out, he's got a record.

• 6:41Speaker 05

  It creates a snowball of work, right? So, we get that, and boom, we're pulling up rap sheets, we're pulling up, you know, images of this person, we're pulling up any kind of open source information about where this guy might work, where he lives, you know, everything, right?

• 6:56Speaker 01

  There's a lot to know about Robert Baker. He was born in Germany as an only child. His dad was in the US Army, so they moved all over, but he spent most of his childhood in North Carolina. When Baker grew up, he went into the Army as well. He served as a staff sergeant and moved to California. Now he lives a short drive from the Semantili home in Woodland Hills, on a street called Independence Avenue. He works at the local LA Fitness as a racquetball coach, where the Semantiles go. But, there's more.

• 7:28Speaker 05

  We find out that, you know, he's been arrested for sex offenses with a minor. We, you know, just all sorts of, it's like, it's pouring in.

• 7:35Speaker 01

  In 1993, Baker was convicted of six different counts of sex crimes with a minor. The victim was 14 at the time, Baker was 31. He became a registered sex offender and was discharged from the military, under other-than- honorable conditions. After he got out of prison, around 1997, Baker went into the adult entertainment industry. He started acting in porn films, including with the victim of his crimes. Baker then moved into the talent management side of the porn industry. This was his job until about 2015, when he started working at the gym. And all this is how his DNA ended up on the police database.

• 8:18Speaker 05

  Okay, so what do we need to do now, right? Well, we need to get surveillance up on this guy. We need to find out, you know, who he is, where he is, what he's doing, when he drives, everything. So we have a unit that we've worked with a lot. It's called the Gang Field Unit. And essentially, their job is surveillance.

• 8:34Speaker 01

  The Gang Field Unit are used to working L.A.'s toughest crimes. Not Jim Coaches, suspected of murder. But Ryan knows them from years of investigating gang-related murders. So he knows he can trust them with a case like this, where secrecy is crucial.

• 8:49Speaker 05

  We get ahold of them and give them the lowdown on the case. They're like, "Yeah, we're in. How can we help?"

• 8:55Speaker 01

  The unit moves fast. They obtain warrants to track Baker. They cannot let him out of their sights.

• 9:00Speaker 05

  They start telling Rob Baker all over the city, physically following him and his vehicles, and also installing GPS tracking devices on his vehicle so that he can be monitored remotely. They know where the vehicle's gonna be and most likely where he's gonna be, right?

• 9:15Speaker 01

  On the 19th of February, five days after the DNA hit, the surveillance team follow Baker to a sports bar called The Parlour. It's decorated a bit like a men's club, all wood and leather. And Baker's not on his own. Ryan Verna gets a call.

• 9:31Speaker 05

  It was just like, "You're not gonna believe this. Um, we have Rob Baker, and he just picked up Monica Simontili."

• 9:40Speaker 05

  So that's kind of mind-blowing.

• 9:42Speaker 01

  What the hell is Monica doing with the cops' number-one suspect? A drink with a friend from the gym? Or something more?

• 10:00Speaker 00

  In deepest jungle, Cartier's panther spies a wandering bird that circles the skies. A lovebird, lost and missing his mate, is far from his path in lonely state. Dry your tears, now there's a start. Follow my steps to heal your heart. Panther stalks through the leaves with silent grace. Through the power of scent, she finds the trace. Behold, two lovers reunite in the skies. A most precious thrill sparkling in their eyes. Together forever, they shine each day, bound by the beauty of Cartier.

• 10:46Speaker 06

  Real value shows up in reliability you don't have to second guess. Like a set of Firestone All-Season tires. They're designed to deliver confidence inspiring wet weather traction and a quieter ride, no matter the road. Season after season. Firestone All-Season tires. For durability you can count on, just like people count on you. Firestone. Always dependable. Since 1900.

• 11:17Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm. You also?

• 11:19Speaker 05

  Yep.

• 11:20Speaker 01

  On the 21st of February, Detective Gene Perschall and Detective Ryan Verna pull up at the Semenelli residence in Woodland Hills. It's 8 a.m.

• 11:30Speaker 07

  Hello?

• 11:30Speaker 05

  Hello, is this Monica?

• 11:31Speaker 07

  Yes.

• 11:32Speaker 05

  Hi Monica, it's Detective Verna and Detective Perschall.

• 11:34Speaker 07

  Oh yes, I'm gonna open the gate.

• 11:36Speaker 05

  Thank you.

• 11:40Speaker 01

  It's all just as Detective Perschall told Monica on the phone the day before. They want her to walk them through the house, tell them what she did on the day of Fabio's murder.

• 11:49Speaker 05

  Good morning.

• 11:50Speaker 01

  But this is not the can you refresh my memory kind of meeting Monica is being led to believe. The detectives are looking at Monica with new eyes. We want to go through the garage, is that's where it's changed? And Ryan Verna knows exactly what he wants from this morning.

• 12:08Speaker 05

  We wanted to nail her down with more statements. We wanted to find out what was really going on and, you know, kind of delve a little deeper into Rob Baker and what was all going on.

• 12:21Speaker 05

  We had recorders going the entire time. I just put it in my pocket and we recorded the entire encounter.

• 12:29Speaker 01

  Verna and Perschall have Monica retrace the path of the crime scene from when Monica first noticed Fabio's Porsche wasn't in the garage.

• 12:38Speaker 07

  I pulled in and I saw the garage open. But his car wasn't here.

• 12:42Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 12:42Speaker 07

  So I walked out. I walked into the garage.

• 12:45Speaker 01

  On the day of the murder, the DVR in the garage was removed. The wires could be seen sticking out of the wall when Ryan Verna walked the crime scene. It's a vital piece of evidence. There could be footage of the murderers stored on the cloud. They need Monica to help them access it.

• 13:01Speaker 07

  I checked everywhere. There is no papers of that stupid DVR thing. I've checked every cupboard. I've checked all these areas. There's nothing.

• 13:09Speaker 05

  Did you guys get a new DVR yet?

• 13:11Speaker 07

  No, but State Farm's gonna come in. They're gonna replace all these things.

• 13:14Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 13:14Speaker 01

  The detectives continue their walk through to the patio where Fabio was found bleeding out.

• 13:19Speaker 05

  You're not here?

• 13:20Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 13:22Speaker 05

  Sorry, I relived this with you, but...

• 13:24Speaker 07

  We relive it every day.

• 13:25Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 13:28Speaker 05

  He was... you saw Fabio here?

• 13:30Speaker 07

  Yeah, on the... already, like, on the ground.

• 13:33Speaker 01

  The detectives ask Monica to go back over the details of that night. The ransacked bedroom, the jewelry and cash that went missing, the blood that was found at the scene of the crime. It's all so relaxed. They're just here to find out if anyone's driven Fabio's car, if anyone's been hanging around the house. No names, no accusations. Then they get to the real reason they're here. They wanna know the same thing I do. You do. What's going on with the Rocketball coach?

• 14:06Speaker 05

  We just casually ask, hey, um, you know, anybody else that's, uh, you know, involved in your life that, you know, we don't know about? And then who else is part of that through the... Jim friends or...

• 14:18Speaker 07

  Uh, oh my gosh, yeah, all my gym friends.

• 14:21Speaker 01

  The detectives steer the conversation to Monica's friends from the gym.

• 14:24Speaker 05

  So who are the... Elise is your best?

• 14:27Speaker 07

  Well, she's one of Elise. Um, there's Fay.

• 14:29Speaker 05

  Okay. She starts naming off some of these female names and she goes Fay and, you know, a few other people. So prior to Fabio's death?

• 14:39Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 14:39Speaker 05

  The only gym friends that have been here?

• 14:41Speaker 07

  Paula Lealies and Fay. Okay.

• 14:44Speaker 05

  We're hoping not to lead her into the fact that we're looking at Rob, right? We're looking at everybody.

• 14:48Speaker 07

  Let's see, uh. Guy's in. Paula, um, Rob, he's our lead director for a racquetball. I was in a racquetball league. What's Rob's last name? I think it's Baker.

• 15:02Speaker 01

  Monica says she thinks Rob's last name is Baker, but the detectives have been watching her for the past week, and they can see that she knows a lot more about Baker than just his last name. Since the night the LAPD first spotted Monica and Robert Baker out together, a team of plainclothes surveillance officers have been tailing them, noting down their every move.

• 15:26Speaker 05

  They're going to Hollywood, they're going to comedy clubs and bars and restaurants. They're having the time of their life. It's like they're out there dating. It's more than just a friendship. There is a sexual relationship going on. They're seen caressing each other, kissing each other.

• 15:44Speaker 01

  The detectives were getting a picture of Monica that couldn't be more different to the woman they've been interviewing.

• 15:50Speaker 05

  With her family and with her friends, she's this, you know, mourning widow and can barely function and not wearing makeup and barely getting out of bed. And boom, she's out at nightclubs.

• 16:02Speaker 01

  I'm not here to judge anyone's grief. Go out, let off steam. Everyone has their way of grieving. And yes, Monica has always been glamorous. She's immaculately turned out on Fabio's arm in every photo I've seen of them. But the Monica detectives are watching is something else. She's ultra-confident, overtly sexual.

• 16:25Speaker 05

  There were times that they were out in Hollywood where they were followed into a bar, like some sort of dive bar, and, you know, Monica comes back out by herself, and she's basically feeling up the bouncer who's outside, touching his inner thigh and kissing him. So, yeah, weird, like, you know, odd behavior, but it didn't appear that Rob Baker had an issue with this.

• 16:49Speaker 07

  Fabio's dad. Had Sheila had never been here? Uh, no. Had Paula ever been there? Uh, no. Had Rob ever been here? No. Never been here before? Fabio's.

• 17:02Speaker 01

  Monica tells the detectives that only a couple of her gym friends have been to her house. Rob, this guy she can't remember the last name of, has never stepped foot on the property prior to Fabio's murder.

• 17:12Speaker 07

  Fay had been here before? Yeah, yeah. Okay, so how is all those, you think just Elise and Fay had been here?

• 17:19Speaker 07

  Yeah, as far as I can remember.

• 17:21Speaker 01

  That's another red flag. Because that same visit, Ryan and Jean interviewed Jessica, one of Monica's daughters too. And she tells a very different story.

• 17:31Speaker 05

  Jessica had told us that Rob Baker had actually stayed in the house one night, found Rob Baker in Monica's bed. That he had basically had too much to drink and I don't know if he passed out, but he'd gotten sick that night. And so was allowed to stay in Monica's bed. That was the story. So that was of interest, right? It's a direct connection to the house, where the murder happened, that Rob had been there.

• 17:55Speaker 01

  This is not a good look for Monica. The detectives now have proof that she's lying to them about her relationship with Baker. And now they have reason to believe he's even been in the house. It's kind of baffling. Did she think her daughter wouldn't remember the racquetball coach waking up in her mom's bed? That's a detail that might seem important after a murder. And that it wouldn't seem just a bit strange that she can't remember his name? But her daughter sure can. The detectives are thinking the same thing. But they don't want to push their luck.

• 18:30Speaker 05

  It's a balancing act at this point, right? You don't ask the wrong questions or press too hard.

• 18:36Speaker 01

  For now, they've got what they came for. But it's going to open up a whole bunch of new questions.

• 18:43Speaker 07

  All right, I think that's, uh, I think that's good for now. All right, take care, Monica.

• 18:48Speaker 05

  Thank you.

• 18:49Speaker 07

  Good morning.

• 18:55Speaker 01

  The detectives drive away from Woodland Hills mulling over what they've learned. They've caught Monica in a lie, but they don't yet know how far the deception goes. Monica would have every reason to lie to cover up her affair. If this thing with Baker came out, especially right now, it'd be more than just a scandal. It would devastate her grieving family and Fabio's. That might be all there is to it. And that's exactly what the detectives have to figure out.

• 19:29Speaker 05

  I think there's two options, right? Either rob Baker, act it alone, or potentially that Monica is involved. And getting to a point where you can answer those questions is difficult, very difficult.

• 19:50Speaker 01

  Winter in Los Angeles gives way to spring. The hillsides are greener, the cold nights begin to warm up, the dry breeze loses its bite, and the detectives bide their time. They keep stringing Monica along with vague updates about the burglary investigation.

• 20:07Speaker 00

  She kept saying that the police is keeping her in the dark, she doesn't know anything. She was kind of mad, kind of mad at them.

• 20:18Speaker 01

  By now, we know why the cops aren't telling Monica much. They aren't sure whether she was involved in the murder plot. But Fabio's beloved friends, friends like Carol Potat, they are worried about Fabio's widow. Monica's been posting a lot on Insta about how hard she's finding things.

• 20:36Speaker 00

  How Fabio was the love of her life and, you know, I'll never be the same without him and all of these things. It all fell for her really, really bad. Like, what can we do to make her feel better?

• 20:51Speaker 01

  This much we know was an act, a performance, because she was spending nights out on the town having a blast and having a torrid affair. She wasn't sitting home mourning the love of her life. One day in March, Carol is at the office when she gets a call from Monica.

• 21:11Speaker 00

  Hey, I'm planning a weekend with my girlfriends to Vegas. Do you think I could potentially get a deal or a comp room or a discount or something?

• 21:22Speaker 01

  The Wella team have connections in Vegas because of the big hair shows they run there. Carol is only too happy to help.

• 21:29Speaker 00

  Vegas wouldn't be my choice, but if that's what she wants to do, great. You know, it's good that she's maybe coming out of it a little bit. Let's contact Melanie and I'm sure she'll have a way to give you a good deal.

• 21:42Speaker 01

  On March 23rd, the LAPD surveillance team receives an alert. Monica's in Vegas at the Vidara Hotel, a huge five-star skyscraper in the center of the Strip for her girls' weekend. The detectives obtained surveillance footage from the hotel. Monica isn't there on a girls' trip. She's on a wild weekend away with Robert Baker. Monica isn't just lying to the police, she's also deceiving her friends and family. And the surveillance reveals just how intense this affair is. This wasn't a woman who was grieving, but rather involved in a very intense sexual relationship, not just with Baker, but with numerous third parties that they were swinging

• 22:25Speaker 01

  with. In the LA County DA's office, Deputy DA Beth Silverman is getting across the case. The daughters were being left at home alone at night while she would go out, which was extremely bizarre behavior for someone who had been married for almost 20 years. Silverman has prosecuted crimes for LA County since the mid-'90s, and she's a formidable presence because she's not just any prosecutor. The typical cases that I've handled here in the major crimes division, for the most part, have been...

• 23:02Speaker 07

  Cold cases and most of them involving serial killers.

• 23:09Speaker 01

  According to LA Magazine, her nickname is "The Sniper" because she's never lost a murder case. The summer before Fabio's death in 2016, she was lead prosecutor in the trial of Lonny Franklin, a serial killer known as "The Grim Sleeper." He was convicted of murdering 10 women and attempting to murder another. Silverman argued forcefully in court that Franklin should face the death penalty. The judge and jury agreed.

• 23:37Speaker 01

  Silverman got the Semen Tilly case in February. She'll be the one who has to make the call on whether to file charges. So detectives Verna, Perschall, and their team want Silverman's opinion on their evidence.

• 23:49Speaker 05

  We don't want to arrest them early on and have the prosecutor go, "Yeah, you guys don't have enough, right?"

• 23:55Speaker 01

  The detectives run Silverman through what they've got so far. There's the surveillance and the DNA. They've also launched a major digital forensic investigation into Monica and Rob.

• 24:05Speaker 07

  They were already looking into things like backup data, like iClouds and drop boxes and email accounts. And a lot of subpoenas were being issued. A lot of search warrants were being written.

• 24:19Speaker 01

  Silverman assesses the case. For Robert Baker, they already have a lot to work with. The blood at the crime scene tells a tale. Baker's movements on the night of the murder.

• 24:28Speaker 07

  He had cut his finger during the attack on Fabio and tracked Fabio's blood from the bottom of his shoes into Fabio's Porsche, as well as leaving behind his own blood inside the Porsche. Based on that and his relationship with Monica Semen Tilly, we believed we had sufficient evidence to charge him in February.

• 24:51Speaker 01

  But now Rob Baker isn't the only suspect. A new department, the Robbery-Homicide Division, is being brought onto the case. More manpower and more special resources. All trained on Monica.

• 25:09Speaker 01

  Observe the North American dad. 50s, great polo collection. He enters his vehicle information on Carvana. An offer appears in minutes. Remarkable. He squints, reads it again.

• 25:23Speaker 00

  Smiles and says, dang, that's a good offer. The highest form of approval. No haggling, no hassle. No one called him boss. He's still on the couch. Astonishing. Sell your car today on carvana.com. Pickup fees may apply.

• 25:41Speaker 00

  In deepest jungle, Cartier's panther spies a wandering bird that circles the skies. A lovebird, lost and missing his mate, is far from his past in lonely state. Dry your tears, now there's a start. Follow my steps to heal your heart. Panther stalks through the leaves with silent grace. Through the power of scent, she finds the trace. Behold, two lovers reunite in the skies. A most precious thrill sparkling in their eyes. Together forever, they shine each day, bound by the beauty of Cartier.

• 26:33Speaker 02

  Hello?

• 26:33Speaker 03

  Hi, Monica?

• 26:35Speaker 02

  Yes?

• 26:35Speaker 03

  Hi, this is Detective Parshall.

• 26:37Speaker 02

  Oh, hi, how are you? You haven't called me back in so long.

• 26:41Speaker 01

  Behind the scenes, the investigation team is growing. But Detective Parshall is still the point of contact for Monica, and she is desperate for updates.

• 26:50Speaker 02

  What can you tell me? I'm sick here. I just need some, know that you're, something's going on, that you're, you're working on something.

• 26:58Speaker 03

  Definitely are working on some stuff. Definitely working on some stuff.

• 27:03Speaker 01

  Monica isn't only interested in the investigation. There's also something else on her mind.

• 27:09Speaker 02

  I just got a text two days ago from Fabio's HR team.

• 27:13Speaker 03

  Uh-uh.

• 27:14Speaker 02

  And they said if I could follow up with LAPD, because they're waiting for some confirmation. I don't know if anything came across your desk. I think it has to do with insurance or something.

• 27:22Speaker 03

  Are you talking like a life insurance policy?

• 27:24Speaker 02

  Yeah, like his work insurance.

• 27:27Speaker 01

  As part of his package at Wella, Fabio Semintili had a life insurance policy. It's a policy of 1.6 million, split between the kids and Monica. But she hasn't received her portion yet.

• 27:40Speaker 02

  They just want confirmation. They need to hear from the L A P D. I don't even know.

• 27:45Speaker 03

  Yeah, they could call me.

• 27:46Speaker 05

  Life insurance will contact us to make sure that the people that the money's getting released to are involved or being suspected of being involved in the case. So we obviously couldn't tell the life insurance company to release the funds, knowing that she potentially could be involved. But we couldn't tell her that.

• 28:03Speaker 01

  Berna and Pershaal can't afford to let Monica know that she's a suspect.

• 28:07Speaker 05

  I don't like lying as a person. I don't do it routinely. But in this job, there's times where you kind of have to. You just, you don't have an option. You gotta hold your cards close to the vest.

• 28:17Speaker 01

  So Detective Pershaal keeps making excuses.

• 28:23Speaker 02

  That life called me this morning already, um, saying that there's only one last confirmation they need. I guess they knew in writing. I don't even know.

• 28:31Speaker 03

  That's the problem. Like, I told them what my opinion was on this thing, but they wanted something in writing. And that's, that's what the department is resisting at this point.

• 28:42Speaker 01

  Monica is not happy. She starts getting agitated about the delays.

• 28:46Speaker 02

  Oh, God, this is ridiculous. I don't, I don't even know what else. I don't know what else to do. I just don't know what to do and what to say. I don't know what to do.

• 28:55Speaker 01

  Over at the L A County D A's office, Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman finds all of this very interesting.

• 29:02Speaker 07

  We started issuing subpoenas for insurance policies and financial records. It became very clear that she was, from day one, interested in obtaining the insurance proceeds from Fabio's murder.

• 29:22Speaker 02

  If there's anything we can do to speed this up, I just don't, because I don't know what's happening within the next week to week here, day to day. So if anything we can do, please.

• 29:32Speaker 01

  Beth Silverman, the sniper, has seen all of this before.

• 29:37Speaker 02

  Lust and greed are classically strong motivators in these types of conspiracies. It's a very classic and very bold motive. When you combine that with numerous lies she told about Baker, her relationship with him, not even knowing his last name, we strongly suspected that she played a key role in creating a timeline and communicating that to her lover and whoever the third party was in order to be able to have access to her husband.

• 30:15Speaker 01

  This is huge. If Beth Silverman is right, Monica may be in a conspiracy to commit murder.

• 30:26Speaker 01

  But there's at least one crucial piece of the puzzle that the investigators still don't have.

• 30:31Speaker 02

  We knew that we were going to need to have access to their phones.

• 30:35Speaker 01

  What they have up until now is just circumstantial. Sure, it looks bad, but they need more.

• 30:42Speaker 05

  If you talk to a good defense attorney, they'll tell you that circumstantial evidence is bullshit.

• 30:47Speaker 01

  The team need digital forensics all over this, combing their phones for hard proof that Monica is pulling the strings. And to access those phones, they're going to need to bring the investigation out into the open. They're going to need to arrest Monica and Robert.

• 31:04Speaker 01

  But if the investigators make a move too soon, they could blow the whole case. Detective Verna knows the moment they let the two suspects know they're under investigation, they'll change their behavior. They'll go to ground.

• 31:19Speaker 05

  There's no more communication. There's no more meetings. There's no more anything. It's done.

• 31:26Speaker 01

  While the cops are preparing to close in, Fabio's family and friends are still completely oblivious to the game of cat and mouse it's playing out. Fabio's work friends are organizing a tribute to him at the upcoming Trend Vision Awards, well, his annual hairdressing competition. Carol Portot and Melanie Garabey head over to the Woodland Hills house to visit Monica.

• 31:47Speaker 07

  We wanted her to do a memorial presentation. And we kind of outlined what we wanted her to do at the show. So she's like, I want to come up. I want to have the girls come up. I'm like, OK, well, I'll script it out and, you know, just great. She was a little bit dismissive. And it's like, yeah, that sounds great. OK, yeah, you guys got it. That looks really good. That's awesome. And then she proceeded to take us to the garage to show her brand new car that she just had gotten.

• 32:17Speaker 01

  It's a sleek, black, top of the line Ford Mustang GT. Monica says she's traded in Fabio's old truck for it, and it was a lot of effort.

• 32:25Speaker 07

  Apparently, she had gone to the dealership so many times and they wouldn't hear it. They wouldn't work. But she had played the grieving widow. And because of that, got them to take the truck back and give her that car instead. And one thing that is seared in my memory forever, she said, you would have been so proud of me. I gave an award winning performance.

• 32:49Speaker 07

  And I'm like, why would I be? That was my question. Like, why would I be proud of you? It was weird. It was very weird.

• 32:58Speaker 01

  If Monica thought that performance was award winning, it's nothing compared to what she does next.

• 33:08Speaker 01

  On the 11th of June, the investigators are planning to make their move. And Monica is in Toronto at the Mirror Awards.

• 33:17Speaker 01

  It's basically the Oscars of Canadian hairdressing. And Monica is certainly dressed for the occasion. She glides onto the stage in a dramatic one-shoulder evening gown, covered in flowers. The layers of chiffon shimmer in the spotlight. Alongside her, hairdressers and models line the stage. They're all friends and former colleagues who worked with and loved Fabio. Each one of them has recreated an iconic look from across Fabio's career as a tribute to him. Center stage, Monica steps up to the podium. She's here to collect a posthumous lifetime achievement award on Fabio's behalf. As she gives a speech, tears stream down her face.

• 34:02Speaker 07

  How lucky am I to have lived the greatest love story of all time? A story that people only read about. A story that movies are made of. Thank you so much.

• 34:17Speaker 01

  It's hard to read what's going through Monica's head in this moment as she accepts the award, all the while knowing the depth of her relationship with Baker. Was she feeling guilty? Certainly, her display of grief is painful for everyone to watch. If she is involved, she's hiding it well. No sign of laying low. She's willing to quite literally step into the spotlight. Even this affair with Baker, it's blatant. If she conspired with him, she's making no effort to hide their connection. Then again, maybe she thinks she has no reason to hide. She's got no clue that Baker is implicated in her husband's murder or that law enforcement are biding their time, waiting for their moment to arrest her.

• 35:03Speaker 01

  But she's just made a crucial mistake.

• 35:09Speaker 01

  Right before Monica left Los Angeles for this trip, she got an email from the detectives.

• 35:14Speaker 05

  The insurance money is coming through. We got the sign off. The secretary is going to get it faxed over. It should be hitting the insurance agency in the next day.

• 35:24Speaker 01

  After months of waiting, this is the news Monica has been desperate for. She takes a screenshot of the email and sends it to Robert Baker.

• 35:37Speaker 01

  But there will be no sign off, no planned release of funds. This email Monica's been so desperate for is all a ruse. Another part of the detective's performance, designed to keep her from hassling them about the insurance money, to buy them time while they prepare to move in on her.

• 35:59Speaker 01

  Next time on Cut, Color, Kill. An audacious undercover sting brings new truths to light.

• 36:08Speaker 07

  That cannot be. That cannot be possible. Oh, my God.

• 36:35Speaker 06

  What's it take to be a mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters? It takes 30 minutes and a cup of coffee, a video game, best two out of three. It takes sharing thumbs up emojis, clapping emojis, and loaded nachos at halftime. That's how you make an impact on a young kid's life. So go on, share a few hours a month, because mentorship may sound huge, but the truth is, it takes little to be big. To learn more, volunteer, or donate, go to bbignow.org.

• 37:07Speaker 01

  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, Catherine Godfrey is our editor, Mohamed Ahmed is our assistant producer, Mark Pittman is our engineer. Additional engineering by Daniel Kempson. For Novel, our executive producer is Max O'Brien. For Sony Music Entertainment, our executive producers are Catherine St. Louis and me, Jonathan Hirsch. Production management from Cherie Houston, Joe Savage, and Charlotte Wolfe. Fact checking by Fendel Fulton, research by Myron Kaplan, story development by Nell Gray Andrews. Novel's director of development is Selena Metta. Special thanks to Carolyn

• 37:49Speaker 01

  Cherleven at Miller Korsak Raymond. And a big thanks to the whole Sony Music Entertainment team.

• 38:25Speaker 00

  Get this. When you're with Xfinity, you're already a member. No sign up, no cost. Score epic experiences from our family at NBC Universal. Plus movie tickets, discounts on streaming, mobile, and more. Check the Xfinity app every Thursday for exclusive perks and experiences, only with Xfinity. Now that's the way to start a weekend. Let the magic begin. Restrictions apply. Visit Xfinity.com/membership to learn more.