On June 5, 2021 retired Major League Baseball player Daniel Serafini made a choice that would shatter his family forever.
Prosecutors say the former athlete broke into the $3.5 million lakefront home of his in-laws, Gary Spohr and Wendy Wood, in Lake Tahoe, on that fateful day.
He then waited for hours inside, and according to PEOPLE, he opened fire on the elderly couple as they returned from a family outing.
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| Daniel Serafini |
According to police reports, the 51-year-old former MLB pitcher had carefully planned the attack.
Investigators say he broke into the house while his wife, Erin Spohr, their two young children, and the victims were out on a boat ride.
At around 7:45 p.m., Erin (who is the eldest child of the victims), and the kids eventually left for their own home in Reno. It was at this point that Serafini reportedly came out from his hiding spot and launched his attack.
He shot Gary, 70, in the back of the head, killing him instantly, and wounded Wendy, 68, who managed to dial 911 despite being shot twice in the head and once in the hand.
Criminal investigators say the motive behind the Lake Tahoe shooting was money. Serafini, who once earned more than $14 million during his baseball career, had reportedly lost most of it through poor investments.
Prosecutors claimed he became financially dependent on his wealthy in-laws and wanted them dead to gain access to his wife’s share of their $23 million estate.
Erin’s parents had supported the couple financially — buying homes, cars, and even covering tuition - but they often clashed over how the money was used.
Erin testified that her mother would “cut off communication or stop payments” whenever there were disagreements. This made the family’s relationship mostly rocky.
In one email from 2016 uncovered by investigators, Serafini warned his father-in-law, after a disagreement. He wrote: “Take the house. But if Gary ever says f--- you to me again I will knock him out.”
Despite the disagreements, the victims still looked out for their daughter and her husband. Prosecutors even revealed that just weeks before the murder, Wendy had given Serafini a $70,000 check to help him buy his “dream car.”
Wendy later took her own life in 2023, and her younger daughter Adrienne says her mother was driven by heartbreak. “The heartbreak of losing my dad — and knowing who was responsible — became too much,” she told PEOPLE
“She was amazing,” said Adrienne Spohr, Wendy’s younger daughter. “She relearned how to walk and write and even went hiking. But the emotional scars never healed".
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| Daniel, Wendy, Gary and Erin |
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| Gary Spohr and Wendy Wood |
Even though security cameras at the couple’s home showed a masked man breaking into the victims’ house, Daniel Serafini wasn't arrested because his face couldn’t be seen, and there was no solid proof that he was the one
Wendy also told detectives she believed Daniel was responsible, but without evidence, the case went cold for almost two years.
But in 2023, police found new evidence that linked Serafini to the crime through a woman named Samantha Scott.
Scott was Erin’s friend and sometimes worked as their babysitter. She was secretly dating Serafini at the time, and investigators later uncovered that they were together when the crime happened.
Cell phone records placed Scott near the scene of the crime, and surveillance footage from a motel in Elko, Nevada, showed the pair spending the night together just before the killings.
When questioned, Scott initially denied any involvement, but after taking a plea deal, she agreed to testify against Serafini in exchange for a lesser charge.
In court, she told jurors that she had driven Serafini to and from the Lake Tahoe home and watched him test a gun with a crude silencer. “He said he was going to take care of business,” she testified.
Scott also claimed that Serafini confessed to her after the crime, saying he shot Wendy twice in the head, as per PEOPLE.
After a six-week trial that began on May 19, 2025, the jury found Serafini guilty of murder, attempted murder, and first-degree burglary on July 14, 2025.
“There can never truly be closure for Gary and Wendy’s family and friends,” said Placer County District Attorney Morgan Gire after the verdict. “We hope this verdict provides some semblance of resolve as they move forward.”
Sentencing was originally scheduled for August 18, 2025, but the defense filed a motion for a new trial, delaying the hearing until October, as per PEOPLE.
Daniel Serafini, who was facing a potential life sentence, remains behind bars while awaiting the outcome. His mistress who is also his accomplice is also waiting for her sentencing.
Despite the overwhelming evidence, Erin has continued to stand by her husband. During the trial, she said that the man seen in surveillance footage “did not look like the person I’ve laid next to for 13 years of my life.”
Her loyalty has only deepened the rift with her sister Adrienne, who now calls the ordeal “a nightmare that never ends.”
Additionally, Adrienne, has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against both Serafini and her sister Erin, saying they were responsible.
Adrienne said she wants her parents remembered not just for how they died, but for how they lived: “They were strong, adventurous, generous, and they loved deeply.”
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