we'll see you right back here on the alex trebek stage. from all of us at "jeopardy! masters," have a good night. -- captions by vitac -- ♪ ♪ ♪ a celebrity hairstylist to the stars found stabbed to death. >> was the killer hiding in plain sight? an all new "20/20" starts right now. hey guys, fab here for another fab style fridays. >> what was about to happen to

fabio, nobody could believe. his daughter isabella answered the front door. >> she goes to the patio and lets out a scream. sees her father slumped over in his favorite chair. there's blood everywhere. >> they killed fabio. they killed fabio. >> who would want to do these things to him? >> and why? >> how do you answer that we? >> had this been a case of a home invasion robbery that turned deadly? >> authorities investigating in knock knock burglars are to blame. >> ironies of ironies, one of the victims is fabio. >> i found out this victim was named fabio. my phone started ringing off the hook. >> the cops have work to do. they're trying to figure out if

the knock knock burglar got really ruthless. >> they were on a torrid trail of love and murder. >> just wanted him to open his eyes. >> peace. ♪ ♪ hair is something that really, we can all identify with. hair is so much fun. we either have it or we don't. it's too thin. it's too curly. it's too frizzy. it's the right color. it's the wrong color. every hairdresser is creating art. hair is art.

>> reporter: and he was the merry maestro of the art. no one enjoyed styling hair, and inspiring other hairstylists, quite like the man they called big daddy. >> the first time i heard big daddy, i was like who are they talking about? of course, fabio. >> reporter: fabio was a salon standout, and 200 pounds of pure hair-cutting charisma onstage. he thrived in the spotlight and everywhere he went, people adored him. >> fabio, he would show up in a scottish kilt and he would just go on stage and do hair. and everybody was like, this guy's amazing. >> reporter: and when the famous came to his hometown of toronto, canada he'd be amazing for them, too. >> fabio styled people like j-lo russell crowe jackie chan, jennifer love hewitt, the list goes on and on.

>> people always would have to remind me, you know, do you know who your dad is? your dad is so cool, right? and i would say, yeah, i mean, he's just my dad. but now i realize, oh my gosh, yeah, he was a big deal in the hair industry. >> reporter: a competitive hairstylist, fabio was a self-made superstar from the old neighborhood -- little italy in toronto, where fabio was a first generation north american, shining pride of his italian emigre family, raised with a lot of love, and a little lasagna. >> i've had this restaurant for 25 years. and fabio would come and dine here we ate together. not cooked together. we ate together. >> he sang italian. he sounded italian. he drove an italian car. he drove a fiat. >> we both had an immense love for food. and i can't underscore that enough. we lived to eat. meatballs, cutlets, ravioli, lasagna. we identified through food. >> reporter: for fabio, in the banquet of life, family, mattered most.

he was especially close to his sister mirella, she was a well-known hairstylist in her own right. he was in high school, where keanu reeves went, when he started working with his sister at her salon. >> he finished high school and it was basically, what are you going to do next? he said, i want to go to hair dressing school. yeah. and he was so good at it. he really was a natural. >> and while there he meets a young lady very shy named >> 1985, yeah, september of '85 fabio caught my eye 'cause he had this -- this head of hair that reminded me of the lead singer of duran duran at the time. >> and then of course his character was just the cherry on top he's like a cup of coffee. he would just come in like, good morning! >> they were married probably within four or five years of dating. >> i kept this for luigi so he

had a nice that's our wedding day. so young, yeah. he was waiting up there for me. he looked handsome. and his hair looked good, which i wasn't surprised. >> and then soon after they had luigi. nothing could stop him. he was just larger than life. >> my dad and my zia mirella had a lot of success together. >> we had two salons fabio and vonda were working with me. we wound so many perms we had dents in our fingers from the perm rods. fab's hair was, like, huge. my hair was huge. oh, it was something else. >> nobody could style hair the

way fabio and mirella were styling hair. >> reporter: so fabio and mirella became immersed in this glamorous world of competitive hairstyling shows where their flair under pressure made them instant standouts. >> there are the very serious hair competitions where everything is measured and precise. then there are the more fun competitions. hair has to be big. it has to be savage. >> so within 17 minutes, you had to create from start to finish your look. ♪ ♪ >> we just loved every minute and killed it. they would announce, five more minutes. [ speaking in a non-english language ] then, hands off, don't touch. and i still have my finger on the hairspray. >> and then, all of a sudden, we started seeing him on these local toronto talk shows, like, cbc. >> it was like, oh, my god, it's fabio. >> reporter: yet, while fabio

was gaining world-wide recognition, back home for his wife vonda, there were not a lot of highlights. >> i think there was one here where he was washing the car with luigi. this is where things started to change. >> reporter: while fabio's career had been skyrocketing, he had been spending a lot of time with one of his hair models, who was also working at his salon. >> monica was a manicurist at the salon, yeah. yeah. tough. i noticed after a while that, you know, my marriage started getting a little crowded because she was always either next to him or next to us or next to luigi. >> reporter: fabio had fallen monica and the two were in love. they ended up getting married in 1997. >> just when the ink on my divorce was dry.

i, you know, said to him, good luck with this marriage. i hope that she gives you everything that you're looking for. >> reporter: a did ecade later the hair product company wella made him an amazing offer to move fabio and his family to southern california for a dream job but it meant leaving little italy and so many sementillis behind. >> you could've said, how can you do this to us. >> i could've. i could've, and i didn't. he was just so excited about it. can you believe it, mer? they want me. he felt the need. he had to go. >> reporter: by 2011 fabio was on his way. he'd swapped the chill of canada for the warm california sun. here with his wife monica and their two teenage daughters, isabella and jessica. >> and the girls were wonderful

sweet, gentle girls, very smart. seemed like he was living the american dream. the life that other people would want, right? ♪ it never rains in sunny california ♪ >> reporter: well, that talk opportunities that albert hammond sang about in the 1973 classic "it never rains in southern california" sure rang true, for awhile. but "when it pours, man, it pours" a deadly storm was heading fabio's way to the exact place where he would have least suspected it. >> the, the area that fabio and monica bought a house in l.a. is in a very, very nice part of woodland hills. perfect kitchen, perfect patio, perfect porch. >> everybody in the sementilli family knew the outside patio was fabio's own office. this was fabio's place. just after 5:00, isabella, who's

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♪ >> reporter: fabio sementilli was living large and loving it. married to his second wife monica, he'd brought her and their two daughters far from the

lives they'd known back in toronto's little italy, all the way to southern california, where his dreams of sunshine and success were coming true. >> fabio loved everything about america. the freedom, the mustang, elvis presley. america was a natural fit for him. >> the area that fabio and monica bought a house in l.a. is in a very, very nice part of woodland hills. perfect kitchen, perfect patio, perfect porch. you know, he even redid the security system so they got the fanciest and the best. >> reporter: that security system lets monica monitor comings and goings from the house remotely even when neither one of them is home. and fabio's on the road a lot. he's a glad-handing and hugging natural as a hair industry vp, a role model and mentor for stylists. he looks the part too. he's got a porsche and a swanky new office. >> seemed like he was living the american dream. the life that other people would

want, right? >> i mean, yeah, it really was when you think about it. >> reporter: fabio began posting himself and his globe-trotting good times along with his larger than life adventures in l.a. on social media, giving his followers a bit of the same charm that had taken him from a salon to the top of the hair product pyramid. >> he loved checking in with his audience that he developed on social media, his friends and family, right? so here, we've got one of his famous airplane pictures. he was traveling all the time. he was a go-getter, man. he was everywhere at once. he was everywhere at once. that's the best way to put it, yeah. >> reporter: the end of the work week would find fabio on his patio. >> fab here with another fab friday episode. >> reporter: his fab friday

posts were signature fabio. showcasing his good-natured outlook and his passion for his work, all from his home office, his favorite spot on earth. >> everybody in the sementilli family knew that the outside patio was fabio's own office. this was fabio's place. no one would ever dare sit in that chair. >> reporter: while fabio was working, his two girls seemed to be flourishing in their new home. his admired wife monica, entertaining at their beautiful woodland hills house. >> monica was my fancy friend. i mean, everything she touched was elegant. her home was elegant. her daughters are beautiful and sweet. >> monica had some really nice dinner parties, and people would be, like, how did you make this? and she'd have cooking classes in her kitchen. she had made friends. she was going to the gym. so she had already set her roots down. so it was always reassuring for fabio that the family was also thriving in l.a.

>> part of monica's life was being involved in a racquetball club at the local gym called l.a. fitness. and she developed lots of friends in this racquetball club, two women in particular. they called themselves the musketeers. >> the three musketeers of racquetball. i felt like we were in high school, and we would tease the guys, especially the head of the racquetball league. he was, like, the cool teacher. he would keep us all on schedule, and he was very serious. and monica was fit and she was ready to play. monica was like a beast. she was, like, climbing the ranks. >> reporter: monica would play to win on the racquetball court. and after competing hard in their l.a. fitness league, it was time for the musketeers to p-a-r-t-y at her place. >> we'd go over to monica's. and they had the fire pit, and

she'd bring out this crudité of, like, cheese and meats and it was so delicious. and there was always the wine. and we would talk girl talk. like, what's going on? i mean, you've been married 20 years, monica, what do you got to share? she was, like, no, everything's really great. everything is like he's the love of my life. >> reporter: ten days into 2017 fabio celebrated monica's birthday with a family dinner at a fancy restaurant, la dolce vita in southern california, just as he had imagined it. >> he's like, oh, my god, i can't believe i'm here. mirella, do you believe this? >> reporter: but what was about to happen to fabio, nobody could believe. january 23, 2017 was a monday. fabio said he planned to work from home the entire day. so it's about 5:00 p.m. when his daughter isabella, who'd been in

class all day and then stopped on her way home to apply for a job after school opens the front door. >> and she can feel things seem a little odd. and she walks through the kitchen, and can see there's blood everywhere. she goes to the patio and lets out a scream. sees her father slumped over in his favorite chair. she's crying and crying. she calls 911. >> upon arrival, police say they found the victim lying in his outdoor patio. he was pronounced dead at the scene. >> we were learning some shocking details about the case as soon as we arrived on scene. detectives right away said that this was an extremely gruesome and bloody scene. >> monica had just gotten back from doing shopping. comes in a few minutes after to this horror show, and knowing that isabella has already called 911 and cops are

she decides to reach out to one of her best friends. >> monica texted me, please come over, i need you. and i was like course. so i drive over, this lady comes out of monica's house. and i was, like, yeah, my friend monica who lives there asked me to come over. and she goes, okay, come with me, but just don't step in the blood, and i'm like, okay. >> it's beyond, it's just -- it's just beyond -- it's just horrible. >> reporter: inside police discover that fabio has been stabbed to death. he's got several wounds to the neck, and he's been stabbed in the thigh, directly into his femoral artery, an area that seems targeted to cause maximum bleeding. >> and i'm sitting with monica. and she could not put words

together. she was like, i'm -- not -- a -- wife -- any -- more, like that over and over. that was like her mantra, like she was processing this. >> reporter: meanwhile, news of fabio's death travels quickly back to his family in toronto. >> my sister jessica called me and she's absolutely hysterical, and i'm thinking, what happened? and she goes, someone killed dad. >> jessica called me. then monica came on the phone because she started crying, jessica, and she said, mirella, they killed fabio, they killed fabio. >> the pain is in your stomach and it hurts. it hurts, yeah. very painful. and everything else that happens -- the disbelief. the whys, the when, the how.

>> we were all distraught. we all thought, like, how can this happen to this person? he has no enemies. everybody loves this guy. >> who would want to do these things to him? >> and why? >> did you think it was like a gang of some kind or some outsider, some stranger who might have done >> people would say that maybe he had done something to someone and they hurt him. i even had people say that, you know, maybe his identity was mistaken. but all those things angered me because i didn't want him seen in a negative light. >> no motive has been determined, but police say burglaries have increased significantly in the area. >> you know, it's presented by the initial investigators, oh, maybe it's a burglary gone wrong. >> some suspects came into this house, ended up killing the

owner and leaving. one of the things we've determined is that there was a sports car that was parked here that's missing. >> reporter: fabio's home has been hit at the same time that a crime ring the police dubbed the "knock knock burglars" has been terrorizing wealthy neighborhoods in los angeles. >> authorities now investigating if knock knock burglars may be to blame for the murder of hairdresser fabio sementilli. >> it was instantly the thought that, oh, my gosh, had this been a case of a home invasion robbery that turned deadly. >> oh, my god, they may be killing people now. delicious too. just ask my old friend, kevin. nothing like enjoying a cold one while watching the game. who's winning? no idea. real milk. real delicious. and don't forget to try some delicious, creamy lactaid ice cream. what's that mabel? (mooo)

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♪ ♪ >> reporter: fabio sementilli had been at the top of his game, but the man described as larger than life had just been found murdered, in his backyard, in his favorite chair. >> it felt like a nightmare. and then the next day the calls started coming in. i just started trying to get an idea as to what happened. what's the story? how could this have gone down? >> reporter: police launch their investigation, and they get a break. a neighbor's security camera provides an immediate clue to the identity of the perpetrators. >> it showed two suspects, two hooded suspects, their hoodies pulled all the way around their faces, tied tight so you couldn't see anything, running up to the home.

>> when they leave, they leave in a car and it ain't their car. it's fabio's favorite porsche. >> right off the bat their thought was that this was a home invasion robbery turned deadly strictly because the home, part of the home, had been ransacked. >> no motive has been determined, but police say burglaries have increased significantly in the area. >> reporter: fabio's home has been hit at the same time that a crime ring the police dubbed the knock knock burglars has been terrorizing wealthy neighborhoods in los angeles. >> there were some people on the video who appeared to be dressed similar to how the knock knock burglars were dressing. in 2017 we were seeing probably double the burglaries of what we were seeing five years before. it was a dramatic rise. >> when it comes to the knock-knock burglaries, there was kind of an m.o. at the time. they'd be looking for a bigger,

nicer house. they'll knock on the door, usually middle of the day. no one answers then they break in. >> a neighborhood like this would attract them. mainly because you have obviously some really expensive cars in the driveways. the homes look like they're really well taken care of. they're in and out of the home in three to five minutes. they're looking for money. they're looking for jewelry. anything that they can grab. >> there was also the celebrity knock knocks, celebrities who were clearly on social media would become targeted. they'd watch the house, see they weren't there, and then they would go break in. >> reporter: it was an "a" list of victims, who led lives that took them on the road -- nicki minaj, rhianna, the dodgers' yasiel puig, the lakers' derek fisher. alanis morissette lost more than a million in jewelry. and there was another famous victim, with a familiar first name. >> irony of ironies, one of the victims of these infamous

knock knock burglaries was fabio lanzoni. long hair, big muscles, on the cover of romance novels and lots of commercials including i can't believe it's not butter. >> i can't believe it's not butter. >> i have four rottweilers but that day was pouring rain and they were playing in the mud. ten minutes before i went to the gym, i decide, oh, my god, they're playing in the mud it's raining like crazy. let's put them in the shed. that's the day they hit me. >> when the burglars would break into the homes, these guys were pretty savvy. they were going straight for the bedrooms because everybody's who's wealthy keeps everything in their bedroom for some reason. >> and they only went through, you know, the master bedroom, bathroom, and upstairs. i saw all the, you know, footprints with mud on my carpet. and then, you know, safe, 220-pound safe gone. >> they're young guys, they're strong guys. they can pick up a safe and take it.

and get it in the car. and they're gone. >> it was crazy, because, when they hit me, it was, like, they did my house and also the house in front of me at the same time, like, in a really, like, half an hour. >> i don't think that this can ever be stopped, the way that it is right now. they're making too much money and they're not getting enough time in jail. >> plenty of people are getting hit. it was -- it was almost a weekly event. there had been fights. there had been attacks. people had been hospitalized, but no one had actually been murdered. >> reporter: but was it possible the knock knock gang had become more brazen? >> authorities now investigating if knock knock burglars may be to blame for the january murder of hairdresser fabio sementilli. >> reporter: when the news breaks that a man named fabio has been killed -- the other fabio, the famous model -- gets calls from anxious friends. >> like, my phone starts ringing off the hook. and all my friends, you know,

they're, like, fabio, are you okay? are you okay? excuse me, i'm answering the phone. what do you think? and i remember the same night i called some of my friends and they are in law enforcement. and they are talking about, you know, the knock knock. >> the cops have work to do. they're trying to figure out if these knock-knock people are getting really, really ruthless to the point where now they're willing to kill. >> this was kind of seen as an escalation. oh, my god, they may be killing people now. >> to have somebody murdered in their home, it freaked all of us out because you've got stay at home moms. you've got elderly women. these kinds of things don't happen in woodland hills. >> reporter: but while residents are now terrified that the knock knock burglars have turned deadly police are not sold on that idea. >> the issue that i had with it was the homicide. i had not seen any homicides with any of my knock knock burglars. one of the ground rules that we did find in the knock knock series was that if they ran into anybody, it was all agreed that no violence. from video that i've seen

where victims had confronted these guys, they run. >> who are you? what do you want? >> they're just, like, cockroaches when light hits them. they're just scattered. >> well, look if they just wanted to burgle the joint, they could have seen fabio outside on the patio, smoking his cigar, sipping his wine, and said, let's go if here and get all the stuff and get out of here. it would have been easy. >> initial detectives start realizing, hey, if they were ransacking their house, why is the blood inside the house? doesn't that suggest that they ransacked the house after killing him? >> the detectives begin to think maybe that ransacked bedroom was a staged robbery. after all, what's missing? just some cash and costume jewelry. >> here's the other thing, fabio's very expensive rolex watch is still on his wrist. what, it takes three seconds to pull the watch off his wrist and get out of there. they didn't. >> and these are the things which start to make any good

detective wonder maybe that knock knock burglary, ain't no knock knock burglar. >> i thought the knife was personal and for the quantity of times he was injured with it, i thought, this is really personal. with my psoriatic arthritis symptoms. but just ok isn't ok. and i was done settling. if you still have symptoms after a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq is different and may help. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that can rapidly relieve joint pain, stiffness, and swelling in ra and psa. relieve fatigue... and stop further joint damage. and in psa, can leave skin clear or almost clear. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin; heart attack, stroke, and gi tears occurred. people 50 and older with a heart disease risk factor

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>> reporter: fabio sementilli had lived a life with family at the very center. so one week after his murder, his grieving loved ones gathered together. some from toronto, others from southern california for his funeral in los angeles. >> there was a lot of visible wounds and my mom wanted to see my brother. in an italian funeral, the caskets are open. so they suggested that maybe we put a scarf around him, and i said, that's my brother. he always loved the he looked so peaceful and rested. i just wanted him to open his eyes to say goodbye. >> there's not a day that i don't think about it. it still weighs heavily on me.

we've got this poem from the funeral and a little guardian angel pin. if i start reading it, it's gonna make me cry for sure. >> reporter: beyond the tears of his family, news of fabio's untimely death also occasioned an outpouring of mourning such as this tribute video to fabio. >> early in the year, we tragically lost a member of our industry family, and it's left a hole that will really never be filled. >> we lost an icon. we lost a colleague. so, although we lost fabio, his legacy is going to live on forever. >> while it seems that the globe is mourning the loss of fabio sementilli, the cops have

work to do. >> reporter: weeks into the investigation, the knock knock burglar theory is a no go. detectives thinking about the murder differently once they learn how fabio was killed. >> the coroner made note that there were no defensive wounds on fabio's hands. so police are now starting to think there is intent here. this is a target. >> reporter: then the police get a big break when they find fabio's porsche. it's been abandoned just five miles away from the sementilli home and it's got vital clues. >> some really, really critical information comes from the swabbing of this porsche because there's blood in a few places. there is blood on the inside panel of the driver's side door, blood on the clutch and brake. very, very significant.

>> reporter: while the dna from that blood is getting processed, investigators make another discovery. remember fabio's home had that state-of-the-art security system with multiple cameras. there are cameras that should have recorded events leading up to his death. but it turns out the dvr, where that surveillance footage would have been stored is missing. gone from its spot even though it was not in plain sight in their garage. >> how did they know to take it? so, then they started to wonder, who had access to it? >> how lucky am i to have lived the greatest love story of all time? >> reporter: as the investigation continues, fabio's grieve-stricken spouse monica is overcome as she speaks at his memorial. >> my heart went out to her. i just felt, like, oh, my god, how devastating can this

right? like, i couldn't imagine. >> if you saw fab's posts, or you saw them in person, you would see them dancing in the kitchen and singing and he would always call her nicknames. >> i know that fabio walks by my side and he has his drink in one hand and his cigar in the other, and he's singing his favorite song, "my way." >> reporter: and it wasn't always easy for monica when fabio wanted it "my way" as she would confide to her friends. >> when fabio was in town, she had to be available. she would complain about how fabio would call from his chair in the backyard, monica, i need a beer. monica, get me another cigar. and she would have to wait on him hand and foot. and she did it and she took

pride in it because she was a good wife and he loved her very much. and at the other side of it, it seemed like she was getting tired of it and didn't like it and it felt disrespectful. >> reporter: friends say monica had mentioned other things that got on her nerves about fabio. the pride she took in her racquetball matches, she felt was underappreciated by her husband, they say, who was so often on the go elsewhere. >> she would get very, very offended and hurt if he didn't come and watch her play. she was really angry about it. she was like, where's fabio? she would say, i gave up everything for him and he can't be bothered to care about what i care about. >> and she revealed to elyse that she felt a little homesick, missed her mom back in canada, felt a little neglected because fabio was so busy and out of

town a lot. >> reporter: but knowing fabio's love of life and parties, monica had yet another chance to honor her late husband. >> after the los angeles memorial for fabio on the 29th of january, monica invited several of the people, friends and family, to come back to her home for a more quiet gathering. >> reporter: yet in that intimate group, there was an unexpected figure presen >> we were all outside and this guy comes in. >> reporter: and that leaves friends and family of fabio's asking the same question -- who is this man? the age to scr een was now 45? [both] because i said cologuard®! -hey there! -where did he come from?

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♪ ♪ >> reporter: at the sementilli home, it was supposed to be an intimate gathering, a memorial, for the late fabio's closest confidants and loved ones. when a mysterious guest showed up, it raised a lot of eyebrows.

>> it seemed out of place because this was more of a memorial for fabio. this was more of fabio's people. >> reporter: so mysterious that a friend of monica's took a photo of him and turned it over to police. he was robert baker, the toned racquetball coach at the gym nearby where monica and her pals had become avid competitors. >> robert was a spectacular athlete. he was very fit and very muscular and he wielded it proficiently. >> robert would play til he dropped dead. it was so fun to watch him. he's like a marathon runner on the racquetball court. that's how much he loved the game. >> he was a very alpha male. he was hot, but he was like dirty hot. and dirty hot is like he's not

elegant. like, okay, he has a past. it was found out, or discovered, that robert had some porn that was on the internet, and that was shocking. >> how about here? >> right here? >> he told me he did -- performed in films, but i never asked anymore than that. >> so, we had to watch it. >> we were in the industry together in the '90s and the early 2000s. >> reporter: alana evans was just a rising performer in the porn world when she first encountered robert baker. >> i drive a pink mustang. that is my prize from the porn industry is a convertible super charged pink mustang.

>> look at that cute car! >> thank you! ♪ ♪ >> i started porn -- my very, my very first scenes were in 1998 and i remember meeting rob and his wife at the time on set. >> robert baker, it turns out, also acted as a manager, specifically for his wife, dee, who also appeared in adult films. >> and our special guest today is? >> dee. >> how long have you been in california? that's where you met your husband, rob? >> you could say that. >> what rob was doing was introducing his models, his clients to other directors and producers, helping them build up their fame. so, as a girl coming into the business, you see what's happening.

you immediately are going to flock to rob because he's a mover and a shaker. he's got it all going on. >> reporter: but by 2013, robert baker had moved on, leaving the porn industry and his wife dee for the world of -- racquetball? >> so yes, it is a rather colorful existence, for lack of a better term, when it comes to robert baker's past. but police, who've seen it all, are looking at a guy who, yeah, he did porn. they're not quick to point to murder. >> reporter: but investigators say when they take a closer look at a photo of him taken at fabio's memorial, they spot something. baker's finger is bandaged. >> according to the cops, it looks as if robert baker has a cut on his left index finger. also, remember, there were those blood droplets in fabio sementilli's porsche. could there be a connection?

>> reporter: mysteries abound. those two masked men seen outside fabio's home, who are they? fabio found stabbed to death inside and his car stolen. but why? >> what seems to start off as a sort of, it's a burglary gone wrong. it's horrible. it's terrible. there's a twist here. >> so all of a sudden, people were, like, oh, there's really more to this than what's going on. >> so they start to watch. they're looking for a connection. >> reporter: and now there's a connection to multiple people in the sementilli circle. a man with porn in his past, and a far more sordid secret that's still unrevealed. so what's going on? >> at this point i'm blown away. i'm in shock. >> how ever this went down, it was executed brilliantly because we were deceived. >> reporter: a stunning

deception police say that will shock the sementillis to their core when arrests are made and all is revealed. >> i said, there's no way. there's got to be a mistake. scout is protected by simparica trio and he's in it to win it! simparica trio is the first chew with triple protection. whoa fleas! and ticks! (♪)

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♪ ♪ it was leike a made for tv movie. >> all part of a master plan according to the lapd to off fabio sementilli. >> fab here for another fab style episode.

>> reporter: fabio is found stabbed to death on the deck of his woodland hills home. >> a graphic murder and no one knows why. >> i thought, the knife is personal, very personal. >> there's a twist here. >> i said, there's no way. there's got to be a mistake. >> who's this man that's, like, here? >> i see a picture and it's rob's face and i -- i'm thinking this can't be right. rob >> robert was a spectacular athlete. he was a from alpha male. >> according to prosecutors, monica claimed she didn't really know him. she didn't know his last name. >> what did the sound of his voice feel like to you? >> sounded like i was listening to the devil speak. >> scrawled in lipstick were the words mrs. baker.

>> there's more to this going on. >> suddenly it's robert baker that just turns this case on its head. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: fabio sementilli was a larger-than-life father of three who'd made a major name for himself in the hair industry and was beloved by all. >> he used to tell stories and he would engage people for hours. and he -- he'd always make everything really funny. >> reporter: a buoyant big-hair stylist in canada, fabio teased and pleased his way to the top of high-stakes hair competitions across the globe, starting alongside his sister mirella in toronto, the pride of his italian immigrant family. >> this is home. this is where we grew up. i grew up in this house over here. this is fab's home.

everyone here was an immigrant and everyone here brought their native culture. >> my mom used to tell us that there was a lot of opportunity. >> he was the only male in the family and so there were expectations placed upon him. and he rose to the occasion. >> reporter: and indeed, by 2017 fabio had risen to the very top. he'd moved to sunny southern california and was living the good life with his second wife monica and their two teenage daughters, gessica and isabella. >> how did he feel about his daughters? >> loved, loved the girls. protected them. wanted them to be children. >> reporter: but fabio's triumphant story was cut tragically short on january 23, 2017 when fabio was found stabbed to death on the patio of his home here in woodland hills. >> he's been identified by

police as 49-year-old fabio sementilli. >> he'd been stabbed multiple times in his neck, face, chest. detectives, in fact, described it as an extremely gruesome and bloody scene. and right off the bat, their initial thought was that this was a home invasion/robbery turned deadly. >> reporter: at the time of the murder, a neighbor's security camera reveals two masked figures outside fabio's home. at first, police believe fabio may have fallen prey to a home invasion robbery gone awry. a notorious gang police call the knock-knock burglars had been terrorizing upscale homes in l.a. at the time. but detectives start to have second thoughts, and evidence of the attack suggests to police that fabio was the intended target and was killed deliberately. some of those close to fabio agree. >> i thought the knife is personal, very personal.

and for the quantity of times he was injured with it, i thought, this was really personal. >> reporter: as family and friends mourn fabio's passing police are on the lookout for possible suspects. they're tipped off about a mystery man who shows up unexpectedly at a memorial gathering at fabio's house. >> neighbors and friends of fabio were like, who's this man that's here? >> reporter: it turns out that mystery man is robert baker, monica and her friends' eye-catching racquetball instructor at l.a. fitness. >> robert was a spectacular athlete. he was a very alpha male. >> reporter: but there are some in the san fernando valley who remember robert baker back in

the late '90s, early 2000s from his earlier life in the porn industry, as a performer and manager. one of those people is this woman, alana evans. >> i have to tell you, rob always had a smile. and he's a good-looking man. he presents this super charismatic personality, and he always seems happy. >> reporter: but years later, alana discovered there was a dark side to robert baker's past. >> i lived in woodland hills for a long time, and as a mom, i will check the sex offender registry for my neighborhoods. and i see a picture and it's rob's face. and i -- i -- i am thinking this can't be right because at this point i hadn't seen rob in years. >> it turns out that in 1993, robert baker was convicted of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor. >> when i originally got this case, looked into his background. at the time, he was a recruiter for the army. >> reporter: in the late '80s,

early '90s police were after a student made serious allegations against robert baker to her school counselor. events occurring after an incident that followed a basketball game. >> apparently, they had a very good day and they started hugging afterwards. and then there was a kiss on the lips and after that, i think things progressed during the next couple weeks. at the time that this happened, she was 14-years-old. he was in complete control of her, complete dominance of her. >> reporter: baker was arrested and charged with six counts of a lewd act upon a minor. >> after pleading to these charges, he got a two year state prison sentence and he has a lifetime requirement to register as a sex offender anywhere he lives. >> reporter: so what could it mean that this law breaker had inserted himself into the sementilli inner circle? lapd investigators are more than a little curious. >> so they start to watch him. they're looking for a connection.

>> investigators say when they took a closer look at that photo, showing baker at this memorial, they notice one key thing, a band-aid on his finger. >> reporter: remember, there were blood droplets found inside fabio's abandoned porsche. baker's dna is in the law enforcement data base because of his prior conviction. so when investigators compare it to the blood found in the porsche it's a match. >> that put baker both at the scene of the murder and it put him in fabio's porsche. >> he seems to be, based on their evidence, one of those two men who came into that house that day and most likely the one who wielded the knife. >> the robert that i thought i knew, i don't think would be capable of committing an act like that. the robert that i came to learn is capable of anything. >> reporter: but could that really mean murder?

>> so they start to watch him, and they get search warrants and they'll go through all his communication. >> reporter: continues to mourn. they wait days, weeks, months. then on june 14, 2017 the cops move in on robert baker in a car that they pull over on the streets of l.a. but it's who else gets out of that late-model mustang, and gets taken into police custody that will shock the sementilli's to their core, and tear their hearts out. >> i remember hyperventilating, and then i -- i said, there's no way. there's got to be a mistake. asthma breathe e wh better in as little as 2 weeks. and when you can breathe better, what isn't better? this is better. this is better. that's better. and that. even this. dupixent is an add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma. it works with your asthma medicine

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>> reporter: monica sementilli had spent weeks after her husband fabio's brutal murder, posting on instagram about her grief and sorrow at the loss of her husband. one post had a photograph of fabio's favorite chair on the patio out back. another photo commemorated what would have been their 20th wedding anniversary. my heavy heart misses you, she would write. i know, your children know, all know i married the greatest man on earth. >> every day i was seeing her instagram. and it was, like, this constant living love letter to fabio. >> reporter: so, imagine the shock and horror when five months after fabio was stabbed to death, the sementillis are told by the lapd that two suspects have been arrested. one is ex-convict robert baker, whose blood was found in fabio's stolen car. the other is -- well, no one can believe it at first. >> detective parshal called us

and he said, okay, we've made an arrest for your brother's murder. we arrested monica sementilli and robert baker. i blacked out. >> reporter: that's right. it's fabio's widow monica. the grieving widow, now in custody and accused of her husband's murder. >> investigators say fabio sementilli's wife didn't actually commit the murder, but they say she planned it all with her boyfriend. >> i don't know what to think in that moment. i'm, like, are you sure this is right? >> the deceit is -- is the hardest part. i was hurt. >> and then, of course, i learn about everything else that was going on that was held private from everyone up until that point. >> reporter: as the months-long lapd investigation that led to the arrests of monica and robert baker comes to light, the

allegations in court documents are stunning. >> police began to look into how long this had been going on, and following the couple, to see what was involved. that's where they found evidence that they had been together. in fact, prosecutors say that they found thousands of calls and text messages, between baker and monica leading up to the day of the murder. so now, the special surveillance unit of the lapd places tracking devices in their vehicles and follows their every move. >> and there's all kinds of video of them, like, you know, like, oh my god, these passionate kisses, and fondling. >> reporter: they're still being

tracked in may of 2017, when just four months after fabio's murder, monica sementilli and robert baker take two trips to las vegas. >> i knew she was going to vegas. she was going to go with a friend. and that i just basically said to her that, you know, it's good -- it's good for you to get away. >> according to court documents, she's in vegas with champagne, grabbing robert's crotch. >> investigators say that they were living it up. they were having a great time. going to clubs, going to bars, snuggling together. >> reporter: so investigators taking a closer look at how monica was spending her money. >> she had also just bought a brand new mustang, top of the line, all the bells and whistles. >> the scuttlebutt was like, who does that? but monica was like fabio would want me to have this. fabio would want his girls to have it. his - he loved us and this is what he would want us to have. >> reporter: prosecutors allege that even as monica appears to be freely spending money on

trips and that tricked-out mustang, her friends and family telling authorities, she was also desperate for cash. >> she was on the phone with the insurance company and she's like, how am i supposed to take care of the bills if you guys aren't going to pay >> and, according to court documents, she badgered the lapd to clear her so that she could draw on the insurance, and they didn't. it made her crazy. >> reporter: detectives decide to pay monica a visit to see just what she's going to say about robert baker. >> according to prosecutors, monica claimed she didn't really know him. she didn't even know his last name. >> they know this is a lie and immediately moves her from being, oh, she might be involved to being involved more, and now she's in the frame as much as baker is. >> reporter: as the evidence mounts, police allege that monica sementilli and robert

baker plotted to snare $1.6 million life insurance policy. that's when the police make their move. >> on june 14, 2017, monica and robert are tooling around los angeles. suddenly they get pulled over. this is all part of an lapd ruse they've created. >> so, they pulled monica's mustang over and they're like, well, we think this car's stolen. but they tell them, while we check it out, we have to follow off with the safety rules. so we're going to put you in the back of this police car. >> and then the police drop a bomb. oh, by the way, you've been arrested for the murder of fabio sementilli, which just is a punch to the gut for both of them. >> they're locked in the back of that police car. >> reporter: baker and monica are in the backseat of the cop car.

they're unaware that they're being recorded. >> there are some interesting words exchanged in the back of the patrol car. let me read to you from the actual court documents. monica says, somebody must've talked. someone is doing this to us. they must have something. >> when monica says, they must have something, it says, the game's up. >> reporter: what police say they do have is a detailed picture of those 35 crucial minutes when fabio was murdered at his home and a bone-chilling answer to a key question. where was monica? if advanced lung cancer has you searching for possibilities, discover a different first treatment. immunotherapies work with your immune system to attack cancer. but opdivo plus yervoy is the first combination of 2 immunotherapies for adults newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread, tests positive for pd-l1, and does not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene. opdivo plus yervoy is not chemotherapy, it works differently.

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♪ ♪ so i just wanted to bring you upstairs to show you some of the keepsakes and heirlooms i have from -- from my dad, some of the important things that i hold dear to me. here is his lifetime achievement award. and this was presented to him, as it says, posthumously in 2017 for his remarkable contribution to the hair industry. >> but on june 11, 2017 it wasn't luigi who was accepting that lifetime achievement award on behalf of fabio. >> allow me to accept this on behalf of my husband. >> it was monica. >> 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. >> reporter: then just three

days later for the murder of fabio sementilli, police arrest robert baker and fabio's widow, monica. >> from the initial get-go, they thought it was this home invasion that had turned deadly. this poor man slain in his backyard. everyone was terrified. it turns out it was a murder allegedly committed by his wife and her lover. allegedly fueled by two things, love and money. >> fabio sementilli had a substantial life insurance policy that monica sementilli would have been the direct beneficiary of. >> when all of it came out, my brain just shattered with the dichotomy of the mother and the wife and the home and the life that they created. >> when they laid out what they had and you started to see the picture emerge, i mean, it was like a made-for-tv movie how they allege this crime unfolded. >> there were two individuals that were running up to the house or seen jogging near

mr. sementilli's queen victoria residence. that's prior to the murder. we believe those two individuals were complicit in the murder, and that ms. sementilli was the one that kind of orchestrated things. >> on january 23rd of 2017, fabio sementilli had decided he was going to work from home all day. monica leaves for the gym with her daughter gessica. isabella is already off to school. >> we learned from prosecutors that fabio was out on the back patio by the pool in his favorite chair. the housekeeper is just about to leave. it's around 2:00 or 2:30. >> and when she leaves the home, it's spotless. >> gessica and monica come home, and then a short time later gessica leaves for a babysitting job, and then around 3:26 monica heads out for target. >> she arrives at 3:30, proceeds not to park in front of the target, but goes toward the side of the building where, on

security tape you can see a figure getting into the passenger side. then she drives further around the back and no one really sees that person get back out of the car. however, they do see her start driving back around, parks in the front, enters the target at 3:38. >> prosecutors alluding this is how she's beginning to build her alibi. >> reporter: police who retrieve the target surveillance footage say that it shows monica checking her phone while inside the store. and pulled phone records police say indicate that monica placed a call to each of her daughters while inside target. gessica, she knew, was babysitting while isabella was babysitting while isabella was at a job interview after school. >> so monica, according to police, is fully aware that no one will be home. this is critical. after she stays for a period of time in the target, monitoring

her phone -- she's constantly monitoring to the point where, when she's finally ready to leave the target, she practically runs into the door because she's not watching where she's going. >> investigators say monica left target at 4:46 and headed to ralph's grocery store. >> reporter: according to investigators, it's all gone according to monica and robert baker's plan. now that plan, investigators say, allowed monica perhaps to be here, or inside the target, and watch on her phone. the comings and goings outside her house some seven minutes away via a live feed from her security system's surveillance cameras. prosecutors alleging that monica was here at the target, in the target, or down the road a piece at the ralph's grocery store, just as robert baker and his accomplice entered the house through an unlocked door off the master bedroom. authorities say baker then made

his way to fabio on the deck and stabbed him to death. authorities alleging monica waiting on this site in the car or perhaps inside the target, as robert baker exits the patio, heading back through the kitchen on his way to the master bedroom where he'll stage it to look like a robbery. >> robert baker then makes his way back out through the kitchen into the garage. >> prosecutors say he stole the dvr which recorded all of the surveillance cameras within the home. and prosecutors allege it was hidden in a place no one would know unless you lived in the home or knew someone who did it. >> reporter: prosecutors say that robert baker and his accomplice drive away from the scene in fabio's porsche at 4:53 p.m. that's just one minute after monica leaves the ralph's. her house is four minutes away, but she takes 11 minutes to get there.

why? >> they claim she was biding her time, waiting for her daughter to be the first one to arrive. >> reporter: high schooler isabella comes home at 4:55 p.m. and discovers her father dead. monica arrives nine minutes after that. >> one of the most amazing things about this case was the fact that isabella just missed all of this by one minute. but the second thing, according to the lapd, that all of this was measured, premeditated, all part of a master plan to off fabio sementilli. >> sementilli's and baker's arraignment was continued today. sementilli's attorney says none of the allegations are true. >> my client adamantly denies any involvement whatsoever in the murder of her husband, and

we are hopeful that when all the facts come out, she will be totally exonerated. >> one of the toughest deputy district attorneys in all of los angeles is assigned to the case, and they're ready to start building a case that will stick. the plan is to try them together. >> both monica and baker were charged with capital murder with special circumstances for financial gain, and they were held without bail. both of them pleading not guilty to the crime. >> but suddenly, it's robert baker who makes a move that just turns this case on its head. (av) kate made progress with her mental health... ...but her medication caused unintentional movements in her face, hands, and feet called tardive dyskinesia, or td. so her doctor prescribed austedo xr— a once-daily td treatment for adults. ♪ as you go with austedo ♪ austedo xr significantly reduced kate's td movements. some people saw a response as early as 2 weeks. with austedo xr, kate can stay on her mental health meds— (kate) oh, hi buddy! (avo) austedo xr can cause depression, suicidal thoughts, or actions in

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♪ ♪ >> reporter: it had been more than a decade since fabio sementilli moved to southern california, leaving his extended family behind in toronto. now, in july of 2023, 11 members of the sementilli clan made that

same toronto to l.a. trek, sharing stories of their beloved fabio, over a big italian dinner. >> the family reminisced about fabio's favorite food. >> growing up, it wasn't what we wanted to eat, you or me, or anybody, it was what fabio wanted. >> so i want to say a toast to fabio and enjoy this wonderful dinner in california where he loved to be. cheers to fab. >> cheers to fab. >> cheers. >> cheers. >> we'll never forget you,

>> reporter: but the sementillis didn't come from canada to l.a. just for a good meal -- there is also unendurable grief, fury. they are determined to have their say at last, as the justice system deals with fabio's murder, and everybody, deals with a shocking turn of events. >> everything to me was a huge surprise. >> robert baker has done the unimaginable. he has indicated to his attorneys and to the prosecution that he is ready to plead guilty across the board and he's gonna do this open plea with the promise of nothing. whatever the sentence is, it is. excuse me? >> reporter: so on july 7, 2023, fabio's loved ones gather at the courthouse in downtown l.a. they want to hear fabio's murderer get what's coming, and they want to speak their piece to robert baker himself. >> when you saw them bring him into court in the orange

jumpsuit, what struck you as you looked at him? >> he's ugly. ugly. i was on pins and needles for it all because we were told that he could change his mind at any time. >> we're on the record, people versus baker. defendant is present. your client wishes to plead guilty to all charges, admit all allegations and special circumstances, is this correct? >> that is correct, your honor. >> is that what you wish to do, sir? >> yes, sir. >> what did the sound of his voice feel like to you? >> sounded like i -- i was listening to the devil speak. >> then in this indictment a conspiracy to commit murder to those two charges. how do you plead? >> no contest. >> reporter: a no contest plea means the defendant accepts a conviction for the crime without admitting to being guilty, but in the eyes of the court, it is the same as a guilty plea. >> further, do you admit the following special circumstances are true, that you intentionally committed the murder for

purposes of financial gain? >> yes. >> you achieved the murder by lying in wait? >> you used a knife in commission of this offense? >> yes. >> i had a sigh of relief when judge coen was reading out the charges and that he understood, he being robert baker. he understood what he was doing. >> no statements by the people, your honor. however, i do have multiple family members who would like to give victim impact statements. >> reporter: the sementilli family stands up to speak, and out pours not only anguish over fabio's death, but long-suppressed rage at robert baker. >> why would a delinquent monster do this to fabio? why rip away the life of a transcendent man who was destined to be a legacy, an

icon, and a mentor with grand ambitions? baker may have hurt him, but fabio will live forever in our hearts. >> i'm fabio's niece by marriage. i plead with the court to have no mercy on this man and instead to bestow to him the same mercy that he gave to fabio as he snuck up on him and stabbed him. >> from my grief i summon the strength to speak and to demand accountability against those who choose savagery over humanity. >> reporter: yet whose torment could be greater than that of gessica and isabella, the young daughters that fabio shared with monica? and what might they say to the court about their mother, who's been jailed since the date of her arrest in 2017? and robert baker has yet more surprises in store, an impassioned hand-written account that could change the course of monica's trial and her life.

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♪ ♪ >> reporter: six and a half years after fabio sementilli was brutally stabbed to death on the deck of his home, his daughters come face to face with his confessed killer. >> my name is gessica, g-e-s-s-i-c-a. >> my name is isabella, i-s-a-b-e-l-l-a. >> reporter: it's a heartbreaking moment in court. fabio's young daughters, whose whole world was shattered by his murder, their father dead, their mother in jail for years awaiting trial. so now, they're confronting robert baker in person at last.

first, isabella, who discovered her father fabio's body. >> my sister and i never thought we would finally see the day that justice would be served. you took our beautiful mother's selflessness and our amazing father's life down with you. >> our dad was quite frankly the best man in the world in our eyes, and a rock for an entire family. his smile and laugh was like the sun as it touched everyone he met. we miss him so much, and think about him every damn day. >> reporter: like her sister, gessica believing in her mother's innocence. >> we know that today there will be many statements berating our mother, my sister and myself who are helpless and suffering as well. >> we want to clearly state that we'll continue to stand by our mother as we have done for the last six years and we'll fight

for her innocence. thank you. >> reporter: with the victim impact statements completed, it's sentencing time for robert baker. >> defendant sentenced to state prison for the term prescribed by law, which in this case is life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. i realize that that would not mend the hearts of anyone, and i'm sorry. we are done. >> he, for whatever reason, decided he was gonna fall on the sword and never see the light of day. >> six and a half years to wait for this day. >> six and a half years. a torturous six and a half years. with robert baker pleading guilty to conspiracy, just makes us feel like we're halfway there right now. >> reporter: so what was the reason robert baker admitted his guilt and agreed to spend his life in prison without a sniff of parole? a possible answer turns up in this emotional handwritten letter from robert baker to

monica in which he claims full responsibility for fabio's murder. baker writing, you being arrested for merely being with me. never thought it possible. never in a lifetime could i describe the remorse, the sympathy, the utter chaos of this. >> the affair has been known, that's a given, but it doesn't mean she had anything to do with the murder of her husband. she denies it totally and has since the very beginning. >> reporte: ten months after baker's sentencing, monica sementilli remains in jail. she was denied bail, and her trial has been delayed by one legal proceeding after another. >> i've covered countless pretrial hearings in this case. one of the most interesting happened when the prosecution asked the judge to allow certain photographs of monica and robert to be allowed into court. >> this is what these people did on a regular basis.

>> judge coen was concerned that if the jury saw many of these pictures, it would be a tarnished stamp on monica's head. so he denied the prosecution's request for most of those pictures. >> you saw monica in the courtroom. she's been in jail now for just under seven years, waiting for her trial as she waits to see what her future holds. >> reporter: but while monica sits behind bars, her former lover delivers a stunning valentine's day gift to her. because to clear her name, baker gives monica's defense team a minute-by-minute account of how he says he killed fabio sementilli. in his account, baker says he first thought about killing fabio several months prior to january 2017 after mo

told him that divorce was not an option. her family does not do divorces. with that accomplice as a lookout, baker says he slipped into the house with a hunting knife looking to kill fabio so he and monica could be together. baker saying that he heard a tv and followed it to just outside the patio where he waited before rushing toward fabio and stabbing him anywhere there was open skin. baker repeats that monica had nothing to do with the planning or execution of the murder. >> he says he's going to get up in front of the jury and tell the truth. and he's told us the truth is she had nothing to do with it. if he testifies and testifies truthfully, then we're hopeful his testimony will be believed by the jury. >> reporter: but with monica's trial pending, a mystery hangs over this case. remember, two men were caught on camera running towards fabio's home. will baker reveal his identity

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mystery. the mystery is the identity of baker's accomplice. baker says he'd hired a man called "j-bird," telling him that the two of them would burglarize this house in a ritzy area of woodland hills and split the take. with j-bird serving as a lookout, baker says he went into the house not to rob the place, but to kill fabio. baker does just that, and is prepping the fake robbery scene. when j-bird enters the house, sees fabio's dead body, and panics. suddenly, in baker's telling, this cold-hearted killing erupts into cold-sweat pandemonium. baker, frantically trying to make it look like a robbery, stuffing the knife and some valuables into a pillowcase, dashing out the door with fabio's porsche keys. deciding on the spot to flee in it. baker says j-bird volunteered to get rid of the porsche, and that was the last time he saw him. >> what can you tell us about the third person?

can't talk about the -- >> no, no. >> okay. >> he's not present, and that's the best we can say. >> reporter: will baker disclose the identity of his accomplice on the stand in monica's upcoming trial, even as he asserts monica had nothing to do with the killing? it's now been well over seven years since fabio's murder, and his heartbroken loved ones are still waiting for answers as they continue to mourn his loss. >> like a lot of good people in this world that did a lot of good things, that left us early, they left on that note. he'll never grow old. his memory will always live on with us. >> reporter: everyone grieves in their own way. and for luigi, it's trying to take comfort in his dad's memory the best way he knows how. >> so my dad was a cigar smoker. and, some of the other coats and stuff even to this day, smell like cigar.

i'll go in the closet every now and then and open it up and -- and smell it. those smells are very dear to me absolutely. so this was his rolex. he wore this all the time. he wore it when he died. i wear it for special occasions when i wanna feel close to him. it's probably my most -- one of my most cherished possessions. >> it's hard to dig deep for a silver lining here. no, it's -- his legacy will live on. we were blessed to have him, even for a short time. >> hey, fab. >> hey, fab. hey, fabio. you're so beautiful. i miss you every day of my life. >> i remember every one of these pictures. >> yeah. >> yeah, every one. >> remember this one. his iconic smile. >> i love you. i miss you.

>> we'll be back. after fabio sementilli's death, a scholarship in his name was established to help students in the industry. >> the trial of his wife monica is scheduled to start later this year. that's our program for tonight. thanks for watching. i'm deborah robert. >> i'm david muir. from all of us at "20/20" and abc news, good night.

it was one week ago. we saw an oakland church go up in flames as the congregation was preparing for services. tonight we are hearing from the pastor and his mother as the investigation takes a turn. good evening. i'm ama daetz and i'm dan ashley. >> thanks for joining us. this is a story abc seven news reporter tara campbell has been following. she was out there last friday. the church is on 27th and west streets in oakland and sustained heavy damage. tonight. we're being told by investigators this fire is suspicious. >> both the pastor