Former MLB pitcher Dan Serafini will spend the rest of his life behind bars for shooting his in-laws in their California home, killing one of them in a twisted plot to inherit their fortune.
Serafini, who played for six major league teams over 22 years, was slapped with two life sentences Friday for murdering his father-in-law, Gary Spohr, 70, and shooting his mother-in-law, Wendy Wood, in the head after ambushing them in their Lake Tahoe home on June 5, 2021, according to multiple outlets.
“He is a monster who knows no moral boundaries and has zero reservations about taking the lives of others to benefit himself,” the victims’ daughter, Adrienne Spohr, said at his sentencing, KCRA reported.
“He thought he had gotten away with murder. He thought that he’d be cashing out my parents estate with his wife in the months afterwards. He was happy while my dad lay deceased and my mom laid bleeding out on her couch clinging to life. Dan destroyed my sense of safety, my health and my family.”
The devastated daughter blasted the 52-year-old killer as a man who “embodies true evil.”
Prosecutors said the disgraced athlete broke into the couple’s home while they were out boating with family – including wife Erin Spohr – and hid in a closet with a .22-caliber gun for three hours. When they returned, he opened fire and shot them both in the head, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Wood survived the shooting but died by suicide in 2022 at 69, with her grief-stricken family reportedly blaming her death on the depression and trauma she suffered from the heinous attack.
The deadly ambush stemmed from a $1.3 million loan intended for his wife’s horse ranch business, prosecutors argued at his six-week trial last year, the outlet reported.
They alleged Serafini murdered his in-laws to claim their $23 million fortune through his wife’s inheritance, according to People.
The pitcher-turned-killer – arrested with his mistress nanny, Samantha Scott, in 2023 – was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and first-degree burglary.
He was handed life sentences for the murder charges and 25 years to life for burglary – all to be served consecutively, the outlet reported.
Serafini’s estranged wife did not appear in court but asked the judge to show leniency in his sentencing.
The former baseball player also addressed the court, rejecting the charges against him and claiming he had been wronged by the justice system.
“Justice is fragile. I am just a man,” he pleaded, KCRA reported.
“I am far from perfect, but I am no murderer. We live in a society that lacks compassion and empathy. A society that sadly thrives on hearing the misfortunes of others. I sit before you today, a broken man, humiliated, embarrassed, angry, and sad. But I am not a murderer. I am a survivor, but I am no murderer.”
Scott reportedly pleaded guilty to an accessory charge in February 2025.
Serafini, a No. 26 draft pick by the Twins in 1992, debuted four years later and finished his MLB career with the Rockies in 2007, when he was suspended 50 games for performance-enhancing drugs.
During a “Bar Rescue” episode showcasing the Nevada bar he opened in 2013, Serafini revealed he had lost $14 million through bad investments and a divorce settlement.
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