Former MLB pitcher Dan Serafini sentenced to life in prison for murder of father-in-law
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Former Major League Baseball pitcher Dan Serafini was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Friday for the 2021 first-degree murder of his father-in-law and attempted murder of his mother-in-law 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 is a monster who knows no moral boundaries and has zero reservations about taking the lives of others to benefit himself,” said Adrienne Spohr, daughter of the victims, at the sentencing hearing.He was convicted in July after a six-week trial and made two unsuccessful appeals, denied a new trial only a week ago.
During his ruling, Placer County Superior Court Judge Garen J.Horst said Serafini, 52, was a “liar, manipulator, 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 lying-in-wait and felony murder, as well as related firearm allegations, to be true.
Serafini broke into the Spohr’s home while the couple was boating with their grandsons and daughter Erin Spohr — Serafini’s wife and sister of Adrienne Spohr.He waited in a closet until his family left and shot them both in the head upon their return, according to prosecutors.Wood took her own life in 2022 at age 69.
After a year of rehabilitation after the shooting, she had regained her ability to read and write, as well as to hike and ride a bicycle, according to Adrienne Spohr.But she battled disability and depression.
Sports After playing professionally for 22 seasons with six MLB clubs and two in Japan, Serafini is found guilty of murdering father-in-law plus other charges.Samantha Scott, a nanny employed by Serafini and Erin Spohr to wa...