Former MLB pitcher found guilty in 2021 Tahoe murder

Editor's note: This story was updated at 8:17 a.m. Tuesday, July 15, 2025. Following a six-week trial, Daniel Joseph Serafini, 51, was found guilty Monday of the murder and attempted murder of his in-laws. A Placer County jury also found Serafini guilty of first-degree burglary and found the special circumstance allegations of lying-in-wait and felony murder, as well as related firearm allegations, to be true, the Placer County District Attorney's Office confirmed. Serafini, a former Major League Baseball pitcher, was arrested Oct. 20, 2023, in Winnemucca, Nevada, in connection to the June 2021 murder of Robert Gary Spohr and the attempted murder of Wendy Wood. Serafini was extradited to Placer County on Oct. 27, 2023, and remains in custody without bail. In June 2021, deputies found Spohr deceased in his Homewood residence as a result of a single gunshot wound, the Placer County Sheriff's Office reported. Wood, Spohr's wife, had also been shot but was transported to a nearby hospital. She recovered from her injuries but passed away a year later. Surveillance video revealed a hooded male wearing a face covering and a backpack walking to the residence hours before the homicide. Information and evidence gathered led detectives to identify Serafini and Samantha Maria Scott. In October 2023, the Placer County Sheriff's Office confirmed it filed murder, attempted murder, burglary, child endangerment, firearm enhancement and a lying-in-wait special circumstance charges against Serafini. Serafini entered a not guilty plea during his arraignment in October 2023. According to the DA's Office, the trial consisted of the jury hearing testimony from dozens of witnesses and the presentation of physical evidence, including digital, cell phone, and other forensic evidence. Serafini is scheduled to be sentenced at 1 p.m. Aug. 18 in Department 4 of the Placer County historic courthouse in Auburn. Court documents also noted Scott's next review hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday, Aug. 1, in Department 4 of the Placer County historic courthouse in Auburn.