Ex-MLB pitcher Dan Serafini sentenced to life in prison for murder
Former Major League Baseball pitcher Dan Serafini was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2021 first-degree murder of his stepfather and the attempted murder of his stepmother in Lake Tahoe.
Serafini, who pitched for six MLB teams during a 22-year professional career that ended in 2013, killed Gary Spohr, 70, and seriously injured Wendy Wood during a burglary of their home on the west shore of Lake Tahoe.
He was found guilty in July after a six-week trial and made two unsuccessful appeals, before being denied a retrial only a week ago. In his ruling, Placer County Superior Court Judge Garen J. Horst said Serafini, 52, was a “liar, manipulative, arrogant and someone who has a loose relationship with the truth.”
The jury also found Serafini guilty of first-degree burglary and found the special circumstance allegations of pending murder and felony murder, as well as the gun-related allegations, to be true.
Serafini broke into the Spohr home while the couple was boating with their grandsons and daughter Erin Spohr, Serafini’s wife. He waited in a closet until his family left and shot them in the head when they returned, prosecutors say.
Wood committed suicide in 2022 at the age of 69. After a year of rehabilitation after the shooting, she had regained the ability to read and write, as well as hike and bike, according to her daughter, Adrienne Spohr. But she struggled with disability and depression.
Samantha Scott, a nanny employed by Serafini and Erin Spohr to watch their two young children, pleaded guilty to being an accessory to the crimes. She testified in 2025 that she drove Serafini to the crime scene, believing it was for a drug deal.
Scott also testified that he saw Serafini with a gun and a silencer made of PVC pipes in his backpack. She testified that she dropped him off near the Spohr home and later saw him throwing items from his backpack after crossing the Nevada state line.
“When I learned that my sister’s husband, Daniel Serafini, and my sister’s close friend, Samantha Scott, had been arrested for shooting my parents, I was deeply shaken,” Adrienne Spohr said in a court statement. “This was a heinous and calculated crime. My parents were incredibly generous to Daniel Serafini and Erin Spohr throughout their marriage.”
The Minnesota Twins made Serafini their first-round draft pick in 1992 out of Junipero Serra High in San Mateo, California, the same school as all-time home run king Barry Bonds. Serafini made his big league debut in 1996 with the Twins and pitched with the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies.
Serafini launched in Japan from 2004 to 2007 before returning to the United States. He was suspended for 50 games in 2007 for using performance-enhancing drugs, which he blamed on drugs he took in Japan. He also pitched for Italy in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
Serafini’s bar in Sparks, Nevada, was featured in an episode of “Bar Rescue” in 2025. The bar’s name was changed from Bullpen Bar to Oak Tavern as part of the transformation, but not before Serafini’s financial struggles were depicted: he spent $14 million in career earnings and took out a $250,000 loan from his parents.
Prosecutors said Serafini’s crimes were motivated by anger and financial distress. Evidence was presented that he had made threats and said he wanted his in-laws dead for many years. He and Gary Spohr also had disputes over a $1.3 million loan for Erin Spohr’s horse ranch business.
