Trial set for ex-MLB pitcher accused of gunning down father-in-law

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A trial is set to get underway for a former Major League Baseball player accused of the ambush murder of his father-in-law and attempting to kill his mother-in-law.

Prosecutors allege Dan Serafini, who pitched in parts of seven seasons between 1996 and 2007, snuck into and hid inside his in-laws’ California house at Lake Tahoe where he shot and killed Gary Spohr and fired two bullets into Wendy Woods’ head in June 2021.

Woods spent a month in hospital recuperating and didn’t have any memory of the shootings. She died by suicide in March 2023, heartbroken over the loss of her husband.

Placer County Superior Court officials said jury selection began Tuesday, reports NBC Sacramento affiliate KCRA. The trial is expected to begin next week.

Investigators assigned to the case reviewed video surveillance footage from the couple’s Homewood home days later and saw a man walking up to the property wearing a black hoodie and a white mask covering his face while carrying a backpack.

Spohr, 70, and Wood, 68, were not at home at the time the suspect entered the property, reports SFGate.

The couple were with their eldest daughter, Erin Spohr, and her two children enjoying a Saturday afternoon by the lake.

They returned home around 7:45 p.m. Before their daughter left, Wood handed her a $90,000 cheque. She later testified that her parents financially supported her and Serafini by paying for their home in Reno, Nev., while also helping cover the cost of day care, baby supplies, schools, vacations and a $55,000 car.

Following his baseball career, Serafini appeared on an episode of reality TV series Bar Rescue in 2015 where the show’s host offers advice to failing bar owners trying to save their business.

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An hour later, police said six gunshots were fired inside the home and the shooter left.

It wasn’t until later that evening a 911 call came from the home, but the dispatcher could only hear a person gasping for air.

The North Tahoe Fire Department arrived first at the home and discovered Spohr dead from one shot to the head and Wood in the upstairs bathroom suffering from gunshots to her head but still alive.

After the family told detectives to stop contacting their mother while she recuperated, the case grew cold until the couple’s youngest daughter, Adrienne Spohr, held a press conference in February 2022. She offered a $150,000 reward for information that led to the arrest and conviction of the shooter.

It took detectives two years to finally identify the suspect as Serafini.

In February, Serafini’s friend Samantha Scott pleaded guilty to being an accessory to a felony for the fatal ambush. At her trial, an investigator testified that Scott gave Serafini a ride on the day of the shooting.

Opening statements are set for next week. Serafini faces murder and attempted murder charges.