A famed Los Angeles hairstylist is killed in his backyard -- was it a robbery gone wrong by thugs called the knock-knock burglars or a twisted plot no one could believe? Correspondent Michelle Miller investigates.
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The
it may be? They now warning rather have to be on alert, especially if someone knock on the door police already, rather not
Retaining the criminals and a good quickly turn dangerous
The only released surveillance video knock knock burglars caught in the act. Okay, so this is lapd footage yeah. They know what they're doing.
When they know what they want
they're moving just as quick as it can in and out in about three minutes? Ransack a bedroom,
once in jointly and get out since january. At least seven celebrities had hundreds of thousands of dollars
Jerome return your high profile, big them, including three him and now the dollars from former later star daring, fisher, one hundred seventy five thousand dollars for Nicky Medina and two million from a lot more sense. Brentwood. How.
What do you call these guys com? The knocked out for
Where's. The.
The authorities now investigating get knock knock. Burglars may be to blame for the january murder of a hairdresser bob yosemite valley. He was sad, nine o'clock and I get a phone call and it was monica. She was crying and distraught and she was saying they killed Fabio
somebody. Welcome value is bigger than life in the industry, lobby
a colleague guy, the internationally address that came to the. U s, it's beautiful, it's going to be tough. To beat idea was fabulous.
I marilla rota
his sister, he
and towards so many people are so proud of him
if I'm here for another five style Friday Fabio,
Walked into a room when he walked into the salon light
resonated morning and he call out every
these name. What kind of a dad was Fabio? He was a great day
and he would bring in a clam squad for their problem. He took them.
I to be in their lives, so he was cool, oh for sure I mean as fat as far as dads go. I had a. I had a pretty cool dad yeah that a big house house that monica wanted my queen, he called her. She loved it cause it had a huge kitchen. She said that he would come home drop. His bags sweep her off her feet and dance with her.
Detractors search them antilles, home for evidence of one went with tat. Look like a textbook breaking. It was the end of the day.
the was relaxing biased pool a lot like this one. He probably was
there are enjoying his cigar on the phone speaking out loud didn't hears
One walking behind you.
There was immense suspicion
It's to the explanation of a robbery. From my perspective, didn't sound right is alright, but I couldn't put anything else together. We're here to announce the arrest of two individuals in connection with the murder of Fabio said until I am like usual,
where there was a huge shock, I was absolutely shocked. There wasn't a red flag, he was like a twist in a in a in a nightmare.
we all know
This is a particularly vicious. Murder, is innovation
was murdered in his own home. I'm just an iceberg: cheaper detectors, philosophers, police department.
When police found forty nine year old fabio some until he was killed.
laps on his poolside deck. He had stab wounds to his face neck
body detectives quickly learned some until he had been a superstar in the world of hairdressing,
possibly ran over, for you
today, I heard you're the best
No one was, and you heard right, I m the best way to prove it to you,
I was happy man.
We him until his sister marilla rota, genuine
Is everybody around him happy that it'll go backwards, say the best way to describe my dad really is like a cup of coffee in the morning Luigi sim, until Fabio son, he gets you going, you lift your spirits, he gets. You determine
to charge the mountain of life. Did your friends say: hey Luigi! Is that your dad? Absolutely? It was
one thing you know it's hard to to avoid him when you type in seventy on. It was very hard, in fact, when you type in my name luigi some until the first thing that comes up is his profile. He was my mother's son, marilla brother and sister bobbio and marilla grew up together in toronto, canada. Everything was about our brother.
Sometimes she'd have get together and should be like Fabio. What do you want to eat? He says my
make your zaire and we are deeply sonia cause. That's what fuck it wanted to eat
I didn't have a lot of connections in the industry
have my sister, who was a stylist, but you know how it is with your sister and all that Fabio and.
Sister started out as hairdressers how it always try to run a really its law on. You know a salon were there,
It's like a little bit of peace or oasis, and my brother was like oh shell, like hey how's it going ten years after they started working together, Fabio divorced, Luigi's mom. He married
for the second time in ninety ninety seven, two monica a customer and make a bar dist. Now this my chance to show Canada what I've got, what attracted him to her, she was incredibly charming should tract of good looking woman, difficult or restaurant or joam. Curio
I grew up with fabia. We were kids on the same streets like call his name, and his name was ravioli to me.
We all emil, yeah, probably didn't know his name. Joe, was best man at Fabio, his wedding to monica the wedding was incredible. We were dancing right to the very end.
We saw their relationship as a love story. Fabio was also in love with his career. He and his sister marella were getting famous. It's just ready to go. They became what's known in the beauty business as platform, artists, offsets experts who demonstrate techniques motive
other professional hairdressers and compete internationally. We ve got five yosemite valley and we got marilla.
Rota that was the correct login, an honor to be. We could travel the world we would be in russia or germany or italy, and we would be up on podiums
in gold medals, like being on the top of the world, feeling fabulous. This award means the wage was into
thousand eleven bobbio charismatic personality got for.
to an executive position at the beauty giant. Well, I'd love to recommend something new. He moved away from his sister marilla in toronto Gabriela and took his whole family
to l a o. There will be snow in africa. This christmas was Fabio and his wife monica has settled into a life. Most
of us can only dream about living here
million dollar home. He drove a porous.
Yeah man doesn't want to force in los angeles, you're, absolutely right. He and Monica were raising.
Two teenage daughters, jessica and isabella. My own
Family unit is the most most dear to me. Father
let a charmed life this until that day,
on january, twenty third, two thousand seventeen.
Through their morning? My wife's tells me as a focal urging them
from l a
this belief saying what what what
I didn't. I went online eyes. I saw the police further house.
Fabio attackers had ransacked his bedroom and stolen his porch,
the
special immediately fell to the knock, knock burglars. Those gangs of crooks who hit fancy ella homes, mostly stealing jewelry and cash from celebrity
they even had the other Fabio, the cover page guy from
those romance novels. Pretty much.
To whatever, was there
I work
thanks for a long time and these guys are gang members. I have a couple of videos to show you: okay, los Angeles police department, detective bill Dennis, has hours of videotape of the knock knock burglars in
all over wealthy los angeles neighborhoods this one comes from a home
seven miles from Fabio months after his
murder. They seem to know what to look for right. They're, looking for jewelry they're looking for cash, get him yeah, she's, checking clothes, he's feeling the clothes to see if somebody's put jewelry or cash in some.
pockets. See now he's seen that safe to now he gets he tells his buddy hey
we frown now look at how many seconds- and this is a a real heavy, save but they're very determine they put a lot of effort into it, and it's so heavy. He can't he can't lift the thing, but look at how he's just going to slide that thing out
so they got the save that's paid. Are you see they're gone homicide detail
If we're hoping that there would be some surveillance, video helped them solve. Fabio some antilles, murder
and there was
A neighbor had cameras pointed at the street just down the block from Fabio, perhaps at a profit, forfeit too
in the afternoon on january, twenty third to individuals or observed jogging towards the victims residence
You can see two guys right here in hoodies. Running right toward Fabio is it's. The right
time of day and then thirty five minutes later, you can see them make their getaway and Fabio black porsche turns out. Fabio house also had a set of outdoor cameras, but when detectives went to look for the video, they were stunned, the the.
All over los angeles. Upscale homeowners had been installing very sophisticated video surveillance systems. More and more of them are actually stalling. These have
You d now levied salute is a home video security expert and while he didn't work on Fabio
until his arm. He set up a high tax system for us and another house. How many views to you here you go six. You can go to even up to sixteen thirty two, sixteen thirty two! So you can. You can go up there with theres many cameras as you want.
this is us here. Where is the camp is out there? So you got rid of admirably with canada. Does the living room bedrooms front door? This is the backyard. If somebody's they say working through the back you're trying to get into the house, everything is being survey, then everything is be recorded, so they can easily go back
and see who was passing by like here, that's a front door. While you can see the person why controls it? So the camera signal goes to the dvd or where's that got the dvr, it's all being recorded. So this once the whole chabannes he's trans ocean by this is the brain
this without this nothing. This is a similar system to the one Fabio had cop should have been able to.
Rather the video- and maybe I d, the suspects,
When police went to look for the backup video, it was gone, the physical thing, the black box, the dvr it vanished and had been hidden in the garage he almost had a nowhere. It was to take a peek cast atlanta was Fabio colleague, not knowing. Who did this your think, and you know it could have been a specialized team of burglars right, but while professional day this was a professional job and there was something else that knock knock said never killed anyone. This was new and people were afraid. We put together a special task force in January two thousand and seventeen los angeles city, councilman, mitch, englander, and this
the car this is our volunteer citizens patrol will take you down a street that we've had one or two knock: knock: burglaries on and you'll see how quiet this is and how away from the public. This is what they're looking for sometimes they'll wear a vest and look like a utility worker or carry a clipboard, so they sort of blend into the neighborhood
See me a possible well yeah. You ve got somebody that's wearing headphones and a backpack carrying the clipboard. You wanna circle back. We can do a lot. We can. We can do that, ok. So this is a great example. She walked up to the door. Caring tape, carrying flyers, she's got missing dog posters in her hand, rats very, very suspicious they're doing things
I like that. The woman asked her hi. What are the kind of one of those? What are these ow certified pool pump replacement? Okay, thank you. Thank you.
while the councilman patrols and the community is on guard Fabio sim until his family mourned his loss
Took centre stage the memorial
one of the greatest love story of all time. Australian people only read about the EU. He was the eleventh
Life- and I couldn't imagine the grief that she was feeling a lease blue well was a friend of markets.
What happened on the day of a murder at night, at about five somethin, I gotta text saying come to my house: I need you, there were fired tracks outside of her house and I was like oh gosh. There was no police, yet it was just the first responders
that was heard, her daughters sitting in chairs in a row and their dining room. She just keep saying that here
gone that I'm not a wife anymore. I just held her. I just held her. It was so painful
just the reaping their not being able to breathe is she was beyond devastated beyond devastated. We must have sat there for like ten or fifteen minutes and then the first round of police,
came in asked us to leave the house and go outside
Have you seen the body
you seen didn't. I just wanted to be the best possible comfort. I didn't know how to comfort tat. She couldn't speaking complete sentences until like the fourth day and is weeks passed with no arrests. Fabio sister says monica grew more anxious.
Cops words saying much of anything, so monica started, calling them every day. What did she wants to know if she was maybe shaking hands with the murder
right now. If she was, I could litter
being shaking hands with the murder of my has been overall upset about the fact that there was no leans would did you see that as being desperate, Monica may have been desperate and frustrated, but around her people were starting to ask awkward questions. For example, if the not doc burglars really were running wild and they were suspects in Fabio murder, why, when
Monica and the kids continue to live in that house. It was assumed that it was a couple guys that had in our jumped the fence, and it was a robbery I was hearing about breakdowns I was hearing about
home invasions and ending in that sawed off. I am by would say in the house. I had trouble you walking in that house again I feared for them. We
I wanted them to have surveillance. I wanted them to have security guards and she didn't want any of that and something else seemed strange. The only thing I thought that was unusual is why didn't they take more? Why don't they take us watch the suspected burglars left and eight thousand dollar rolex
Bobby owes wrist as time goes on. You're thinking was her son
that was going on there. We didn't know about to find out more about the knock, knock burglars join us on facebook. Forty eight hours.
The
developing stew,
a major twist in a brutal murder of that stuff, the san fernando valley. It was a big secret. Nobody except investigators knew it at the time, but there was blood on the scene that didn't belong to Fabio. That meant they had dna
to work when we are able to develop forensic evidence some of
was dna which identified Robert baker, Robert baker, it's a name,
You will hear a lot from here on out. He had been a racket baldly director at a los angeles, Jim, not far from Fabio house there,
That's where Elise met him. How would you describe rob baker? He wise corps
we are really liked them. He was one of those two guys in know a lease played in his leg. He was very
he was a very alpha. Now there was also
kind of sexually
the thing about them there was something sexual
you know some guys just have this actual kind,
he's very manly. He was in jail.
and he was kind of you know, kept everything
He was in charge.
I knew that he had been military police. It turns
rob baker was a man with quite the colorful past he'd been in the army. Then he got tangled up in the porn industry.
At least heard about robs movie career from a friend do happened, a spot him in an adult film. That's like a kind of gossip. You just need to tell someone. What did you tell I told monica
monica Semon tilly Fabio wife, monica, was also in raw bakers wreck
bali, but was her reaction? Was pretty anticlimactic?
I'll. I really yeah has allotted
Does we have girl tax and get a little pretty like a little prude?
come
We're sure raw baker was connected to the murder. After all, they say his dna was it the crime scene and ass. It happened. Bakers, dna had been in the police database for years baker.
Was a registered sex offender. Rubber baker hasn't nineteen. Ninety three conviction out of a long beach case.
for lewd and lascivious acts with a minor police. Say baker served time for that, offense against a fourteen year old girl. But what was his connection to Fabio? The murder was baker, a knock, knock burglar for months, police watched him, they tracked his movements and his phone activity and they discovered two things. First, he was not one of the knock knock burglars and second, he made hundreds of calls and texts to have all
people mana gets them entirely. Over the past several months, investigators have developed information and a dinner fide robber baker. Fifty five years old of canada park and monica some until a forty five years old
of woodland hills. Who is the wife of our homicide victim as responsible for his murder as community in shock?
in forty five year old, monica summoned tilly under arrest now on suspicion of murdering her husband and being held without bail? My instincts
and thorough and complete reaction was there's no effing way. There's no effing way. She loved him. He was the love of her life.
There was just no way I was there. She was decimated,
twenty some years and my life she is like a sister. She was
cool, add to my kids. She was lovable. Whole family felt that way about her, it's just too painful to think that he loved her so much and that she may have handed. This is very painful hard to digest.
The police believe the hairdresser was alone. When two men broke into his home it appeared that the murder had occurred during a home invasion robbery. The monica cemetery and Robert baker were involved in an intimate relationship that has predated the murder and it looks likely
Did you get it for approximately a year and a half so please come to. You owe me
Never in a million years. You said, would you have imagined this woman to be involved
in the murder of your brother. So what convinced you?
She was involved time limited time the beginning. I thought there would be a shadow of a doubt, but then she had no bail and then the indictment.
The very detailed outline of the plot to commit murder. Mary, full dignity is a former federal prosecutor. She took a look at the criminal complaint for forty eight hours. The charges, Harry capital, murder, with special circumstances and in the second charter, is a conspiracy.
for the two of them to commit murder. What is their motive? I mean beyond wanting to be together, what were they after its money? I mean it's sort of like this. Is the oldest crime in the book I mean
it's too lover is obviously wanting to.
together and in wanting to get rid of one of the spouses for money and in here it's like insurance policy and they had about approximately one point
six million dollar life insurance policy that they were hope
the cash in on our once he was gone.
Always say monica and rob tried this stage the murder to make it look like the work of a knock, knock bottles and through the cops after train.
they stage to be a burglary. You other ransacked the master bedroom as if they were looking for something and install the porch there.
What was stolen and used as a getaway car to begin with six months before the crime monica and rob allegedly came up with a plan to spy on her husband Fabio. Who do you think the
I believe that the mastermind monica why
Monica the one who, six months before the murder me.
sure she had about access to her surrounds video system. Monica was the one that federal
information to bakers so that he could have access to the media system. Monica according to the prosecution is the one who showed him with it. The dvr was that he could remove it from the house
police, say it was monica who arranged for a company to set up her phone, so she could watch allied feed of the cameras around or house. So this is how is transferred to the phone. We asked surveillance expert in a red salute to demonstrate,
How about will be world mckendrick, simply download a sulphur and connect to it.
camera remotely you connect to the tv or remote control?
any camera any of the cameras. Then you want and view each one. So I gave you it that's right kid. I send this to
what else? As long as you basically give em, the information about the media are with the password and other person can easily get an unjust, have the same exact view. According to police monica shared everything with raw baker, her password,
I p address her username, even the instruction manual for the system,
on the day of the murder of Lee, say both monica and rob or using their phones.
To monitor this them until he homes surveillance system? Is there a way for them to detect when she was lying?
into this system if they have their phone and they have the info
from their phones. They could see her trying to
according to the d ma,
and raw baker met here in a remote corner of the parking lot at a target store just two miles from her home. It was like something out of a fine movie
They allegedly began to stage an elaborate alibi for monica making sure she be away from the home
and would be seen shopping first at the target and late
at a supermarket, but police say money.
There was following the action all the while monitoring there.
Surveillance video system remotely so she could see what was going on detectives allege that both monica and baker use the streaming surveillance. To be sure the coast was clear:
police believe Monica actually stayed away from our home until her youngest daughter. Sixteen year old, isabella came home, isabella discovered her fathers body
I can't understand: how are you and being can inflict pain to their children its counter major and something that I can never understand.
What's most damning evidence against them with regard to baker, they ve got a smoking, they ve got his dna at the scene of the crime and their dna happens to be blood with regard to monica. They don't have a smoking gun they dont have or at the scene of the crime,
They don't have her obviously involved in the physical act of murder, so they've got only circumstantial evidence against her remember. Monica was clearly not home when Fabio was murdered and she was outspoken in her grief for him to be the best person condition.
And they all ass an adventure. She also went on social media, putting up pictures and posts, but according to police, that was all for show. They say at the very same time she was posting those messages monica was quote having sexual relations with Robert baker in LAS vegas, hotel, room,
I'm quote it confuses us thinking about how this could be possible.
Feeling deceived, but Fabio sister thinks there's
More to the story.
The
the love story of all time. The people only read about the.
You had an executive husband, you had two beautiful daughters. You had a grown up steps. I knew had a beautiful home. You didn't
work. You had cleaning. Ladies, you poor people, you had cars money, you had it all
hmm.
it took away so much. We don't know who was to blame morale of things. There may have been some clues about monica they just about everyone missed.
It begins with the move, to los angeles
maybe was definitely becoming the big daddy and it was definitely growing, and
in his personality was getting a lot bigger in and she kind of took a little bit more of a step back
What are you wearing your hair like that, for she be like promised
with my hair. You like, but I don't like your hair, like that. Let's do it like that and cheap,
sit there and let him do it road map.
A shared that she was an entirely happy and allay. I've had conversation with monica where she felt that way. Of course, Fabio was a hundred percent into building his relationship with well. Ah, but for monica she said she was a bit lonely.
It couldn't have helped Fabio was on the road all the time, with a big new social life
is awarded to fire, was a very worldly individual and as for obvious reasons, he traveled quite a bit. He saw it a lot. He had an incredible capacity of connecting with people. That's what made him special is his capacity to connect things time for a hug
not to mention he was incredibly charming. So imagine that individuality was, I want to say thank you to monica stopped working. Her kids were growing up and morello began to notice changes just weeks before Fabio summer.
You went out to allay the one thing:
that I notice. When I was there, I noticed she was drinking a lot more and she was
marking a lot more and she was
looking ass much in a no she loved cooking. How much more was she drank
Normal drinking say between five and nine o clock she'd have glass of wine
so is it earlier in the day, serving as eleven o clock. That was the signal to use. Something was wrong.
And then two days before he was murdered, Fabio announced she was gone
a boy's, only fiftieth birthday, golf trip. All I want for my fiftieth birthday, his two golf with my buddies pebble beach.
It's a dream, come true for me, and he said I'm sorry. Girls
girls this time. I love you.
This is something I wanted to with the guys in there
They have been other hints two years before Fabio death. Monica apparently confided her unhappiness with the marriage.
To a friend she shared sunday when my wife that I thought ipod. That's that's interesting. What was that one? At a dinner she just said- and I like it here, like the? U S,
Want to go back to canada, I'll leave and fixing behind without her husband with her husband.
But what fabulous friends and family found really strange? Looking bag was something Monica did right after Fabio murder
Monica invited her alleged lover and coke and spirit or raw baker to join
in the mourners you did meet him. I did where I on the saturday there was awake at the house and then about a half. An hour later I saw her back outside again the drink, smoking and talking to this guy one guest even snapped these pictures and monica and rob you can just make
Add a bandage on baker's finger Luigi notice, the bandage to robert and monica were in the corner talking to each other sort of away from the party and that he had bad injuries on his hands. Monica's friend Elise tried to make sense of it all. She imagined dozens of scenarios, rob needed money and monica you know, had money
and bob probably seduce stir and messed with her mind and convinced her, and she was wrapped the hot
In this sense. We had all sorts of theories
what
monica and robert vaguer currently in custody, in los angeles. They both have bled not guilty. As of now they are being tried to get
politicians, people vs Robert they're, not the same as telling monica's lawyer Leonard Levine.
The only relevant question is whether or not my client had anything to do with the death of her husband and that she adamantly denies and theirs.
One more loosened in all of this police say there was a third person involved in the murder remit,
Were that video at the joggers hidden by hoodies police say one of them is rob baker. They believe the other person is an associate of his, but they haven't found it.
In the meantime, Fabio friends and family are left agree. I judge
No, my friend, my dear friend, my best friend
is no longer available.
to me and I to him. So what are you didn't I surfer almost overnight. We also you praying for.
Brain that somehow is still smiling, tries to put a smiley face that wanted to smile
I once most of all, I want people to understand how greatly
that. He was a great man and that he deserves a lot better than than what you got.
As for marilla. She just
keeps remembering back to the time Fabio and monica move to los angeles to shoot
a promise. Your mother,
where she told my mother, that she was gonna, take care of my brother before they left.
in los angeles, my mumps. It we'll take care of my son.
Storm worry Maria, I'm tick.
the
the knock, knock burglars continued hit homes in los angeles, the trial of.
monica some until eight and robert baker is expected to be next year,
to see more of fabio sentimentally doing what he loved go to.
forty eight hours dot com.
Hi, I'm lindsey, graham the host and wonders pod cast american scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in. U s. History, presidential lies environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our new a serious, we look at the kids for cash scandal. A story
corruption inside america's system of juvenile justice in northeastern pennsylvania residents had begun, noticing and alarming trend. Children
We're being sent away to jail in high numbers and often
for committing only minor offences, the
the I began? Looking at two local judges and wonderful
picture emerged. It made national headlines. The judges were earning a fortune carrying out a brazen criminal scheme. One-
would shatter the lives of countless children and force a heated debate about punishment and america's criminal justice system following
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Transcript generated on 2023-06-03.