Ex-MLB pitcher Dan Serafini convicted of murdering father-in-law

Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News on Jul 15, 2025

Published in Baseball

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Former MLB pitcher Dan Serafini was convicted Monday of murdering his father-in-law and attempting to murder his mother-in-law in 2021.

Serafini, 51, fatally shot Gary Spohr and seriously wounded Wendy Wood after breaking into their home in North Lake Tahoe, Calif., on June 5, 2021. Spohr, 70, and Wood, 68, were the parents of Serafini’s wife, Erin Spohr.

Though Wood survived the attack, she died by suicide in March 2023. Serafini was not arrested and charged in the case until October 2023.

Investigators said Serafini staked out Spohr and Wood’s home for hours, lying in wait outside until they arrived home. Surveillance cameras at the home captured a man wearing a hood, face covering and backpack lurking outside the residence on the day of the murders.

Prior to the attack, Serafini and his in-laws were involved in a protracted argument over a $1.3 million ranch property in Texas, according to prosecutors. Serafini’s brother, Joseph Serafini Jr., testified at trial that Dan once offered him $20,000 to kill Spohr and Wood.

Another defendant in the case, 33-year-old Samantha Scott, pleaded guilty in February to being an accessory to murder. Scott testified that she drove Serafini to his in-laws’ neighborhood, then watched him throw gun parts out of a window when they returned to Nevada. She has not yet been sentenced.

Serafini pitched in seven MLB seasons with six different teams from 1996-2007, beginning with three years on the Minnesota Twins. He had a career ERA of 6.04 in just over 263 innings; he now faces up to life in prison at his Aug. 18 sentencing hearing.