Former Major League Baseball player, Dan Serafini, is facing trial for the alleged murder of his father-in-law, Gary Spohr, and the attempted murder of Spohr’s wife, Wendy Wood. The incident took place in their Lake Tahoe, California, residence in 2021. Court documents reveal that Serafini was reportedly involved in an extramarital affair with the family’s nanny, Samantha Scott, at the time of the incident.
Scott, 35, is expected to testify against Serafini, 51, during the trial. Both were arrested simultaneously after Scott was accused of driving Serafini to his in-laws’ home on the night of the fatal shooting. Scott, who accepted a plea deal earlier this year, confessed to having a “flirtatious, romantic relationship” with Serafini before the incident, according to court documents.
On the night before the shooting, Scott claimed that she and Serafini spent the evening drinking at a casino hotel in Elko, Nevada. Their text messages will be presented as evidence during the trial. Prosecutors believe the motive behind the murder was a longstanding family dispute over finances.
Wendy Wood initially survived the shooting but tragically took her own life in 2023. Serafini, who played for six different teams from 1996 to 2007, is married to the couple’s daughter, Erin Spohr. Erin, the mother of Serafini’s two children, is expected to testify in his defense.
Prosecutors claim that surveillance footage shows a hooded Serafini sneaking into his in-laws’ home hours before the attack. He is accused of hiding in the house before allegedly initiating the shooting. Responding deputies found Gary Spohr dead from a gunshot wound, while his wife had been shot at least twice.
The couple’s other daughter, Adrienne Spohr, stated that her mother never fully recovered from the incident. “She missed my dad terribly and was never able to comfortably live again in her home,” she said. Scott pleaded guilty to being an accessory to a felony in connection with the deadly ambush. Her sentencing date is yet to be determined.