Former professional baseball player Danny Serafini and a female associate, Samantha Scott, have been detained in relation to a 2021 shooting that resulted in the death of 70-year-old Robert Gary Spohr and injured 68-year-old Wendy Wood. The Placer County Sheriff’s Office in California confirmed the arrests after a two-year investigation.
On June 5, 2021, law enforcement officials responded to an emergency call from a residence in North Lake Tahoe, California. Upon arrival, they found Robert Gary Spohr dead from a gunshot wound. Wendy Wood, who had also been shot, was rushed to a nearby hospital. Sadly, Wood passed away about a year later, although it remains uncertain whether her death was directly related to the injuries she sustained in the 2021 shooting.
Serafini and Scott were taken into custody in Nevada on a recent Friday morning. The sheriff’s office revealed that the victims, Spohr and Wood, were related to Serafini by marriage.
Security camera footage from the crime scene showed a person, concealed by a hood and face mask, carrying a backpack and approaching the residence just hours before the murder. Over the past two years, investigators have gathered evidence linking Serafini and Scott to the crime. Both suspects are currently awaiting extradition from Nevada.
Serafini, now 49, had a notable career in Major League Baseball, playing for six teams, including the Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and the Colorado Rockies. The exact nature of the relationship between Serafini and Samantha Scott has not yet been disclosed.