By Michelle Miller: March 14, 2024 Very lengthy, rbbm
www.cbsnews.com
Mirella Rota and her brother, Fabio Sementilli
''Mirella Rota: He said, "We arrested Monica for the murder of your brother, and Robert Baker for the murder of your brother." And I was in shock. I'm like, "They're — you sure?" You know? I — I was in shock.
''Mirella Rota: Twenty-some years of my life she was like a sister. She was a cool aunt to my kids … she was loveable … my whole family felt that way about her (crying).''
''And come trial, says Rendelman, what may really help Monica is that she won't be tried with Baker. The jury will not see the man who committed the actual murder at the defense table next to Monica. And that could make the case harder for prosecutors, says Fulginiti.
Mary Fulginiti: The fact that he's her lover and the killer, the one that the DNA's around the house, I mean that — there is a spillover effect. And that all would've, you know, potentially impacted, I think, the jury in this case. And he's no longer there.
Michelle Miller: Would you say it was his last gift to Monica?
Mary Fulginiti: Yeah, I would 'cause there's absolutely no other reason for him actually to plead straight up, without any real plea bargain here, to life without the possibility of parole, except I guess his last murderous chivalrous act.''
Monica Sementilli says she did not help plan the murder of her L.A. beauty exec husband. Will a jury believe her?
Monica Sementilli is about to go on trial for conspiring to murder her celebrity hairdresser husband Fabio Sementilli. Her lover, the man convicted of killing her husband, tells "48 Hours" she had nothing to do with it.
www.cbsnews.com
Mirella Rota and her brother, Fabio Sementilli
''Mirella Rota: He said, "We arrested Monica for the murder of your brother, and Robert Baker for the murder of your brother." And I was in shock. I'm like, "They're — you sure?" You know? I — I was in shock.
''Mirella Rota: Twenty-some years of my life she was like a sister. She was a cool aunt to my kids … she was loveable … my whole family felt that way about her (crying).''
''And come trial, says Rendelman, what may really help Monica is that she won't be tried with Baker. The jury will not see the man who committed the actual murder at the defense table next to Monica. And that could make the case harder for prosecutors, says Fulginiti.
Mary Fulginiti: The fact that he's her lover and the killer, the one that the DNA's around the house, I mean that — there is a spillover effect. And that all would've, you know, potentially impacted, I think, the jury in this case. And he's no longer there.
Michelle Miller: Would you say it was his last gift to Monica?
Mary Fulginiti: Yeah, I would 'cause there's absolutely no other reason for him actually to plead straight up, without any real plea bargain here, to life without the possibility of parole, except I guess his last murderous chivalrous act.''
