Former baseball player Daniel Serafini convicted for in-law murder plot

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Daniel Serafini has been sentenced to two terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole following his conviction for the 2021 shooting of his in-laws.

In a story revisited by NBC's Dateline on Friday, the case detailed how Serafini ambushed Robert Gary Spohr and Wendy Wood at their £2.8 million Lake Tahoe home.

Prosecutors revealed that Serafini, who had squandered his professional earnings on poor investments, intended to secure his wife's £18 million inheritance.

During the trial, it was established that he hid inside the residence for five hours before emerging to shoot the couple after his wife, Erin Spohr, and their children had departed.

Gary Spohr died at the scene from a single gunshot wound, while Wendy Wood survived the initial attack but tragically died by suicide in 2023.

Serafini was arrested in October 2023 alongside his mistress, Samantha Scott, whose mobile phone data and subsequent testimony proved pivotal.

Scott, who received probation after a plea deal, testified that she witnessed Serafini testing a silencer before the murders.

At the February 2026 sentencing, Adrienne Spohr described her brother-in-law as "a monster who knows no moral boundaries."

The judge ordered that Serafini's life sentences, along with an additional 25-year term for burglary, be served consecutively.

Serafini’s athletic career included stints with the Minnesota Twins and Chicago Cubs during the late 1990s. Following this conviction, he is expected to spend the remainder of his life within the California correctional system.