Daniel Serafini, the ex-MLB pitcher convicted of shooting his in-laws in a 2021 murder-burglary at their Homewood residence near Lake Tahoe, was committed to life without parole after his sentencing Friday in Placer Superior Court.
Jurors in July convicted Daniel Serafini, 51, of first-degree murder in the death of his father-in-law, Gary Spohr, 70, and found the former pitcher guilty of attempted murder in the shootings that severely wounded his mother-in-law, Wendy Wood, 68.
Serafini reportedly hated his wife’s wealthy parents, Placer prosecutors said, telling friends that he would offer $20,000 to whoever would carry out their killings.
Ultimately, Serafini took the task into his own hands.
Gary Spohr and Wendy Wood pose in an undated photo. Former Major League Baseball pitcher Daniel Serafini was sentenced Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, in Placer Superior Court to life without parole for murdering Spohr and attempting to kill Wood during a June 5, 2021, burglary at their Homewood residence. Spohr Family
Spohr died from a single shot to the head from Serafini during the June 5, 2021, burglary at the home on Lake Tahoe’s west shore. Wood survived the shooting, but needed extensive rehabilitation in its aftermath and died a year later.
“Dan Serafini executed my dad and left my mom to die,” daughter Adrienne Spohr told reporters outside the Historic Auburn Courthouse following Serafini’s sentencing Friday afternoon. “My mom fought with everything she could and did not let Dan Serafini win. Dan Serafini is finally being held accountable and will spend the rest of his life behind bars.”
Friends of Wendy and Gary Spohr filed one after another before Judge Garen Horst to describe a loving couple who thrived on adventure and travel, whether skiing their beloved Sierra or diving in the waters of the South Pacific, but whose lives were cut down out of Serafini’s greed.
The couple’s generosity was exploited, their trust repaid with murder, one friend said, by a man whose evil hid in plain sight. Gary Spohr’s killing and the attempt on his wife’s life, said another, was “a senseless act of violence and hate.”
For that, another family friend said. “Daniel’s evilness deserves no sympathy.”
Former MLB pitcher Daniel Serafini wipes away tears in Placer Superior Court in Auburn on Friday after he is sentenced for murdering his father-in-law Greg Spohr and shooting his mother-in-law Wendy Spohr. HECTOR AMEZCUA hamezcua@sacbee.com
Serafini, in Placer jail orange, offered a lengthy rebuttal of his own. He said he was unfairly painted as a greedy manipulator and wrongfully convicted of the brutal crimes that killed his children’s grandparents. Serafini earlier this month lost a bid for a new trial. He had argued he was denied due process, a charge Horst rejected.
“There was no DNA, no photos, no video, to link me to this crime, but because you don’t like me, you found me guilty. This trial was a popularity contest,” Serafini said before offering “condolences to the victims of this heinous crime.”
But Adrienne Spohr — before Horst and her parents’ other survivors, with the exception of Serafini’s wife, Erin — delivered what amounted to a closing argument in calling for Serafini to die in prison.
Adrienne Spohr, daughter of the shooting victims of former MLB pitcher Daniel Serafini, looks at him as she gives her victim statement during his sentencing for murder in Placer Superior Court in Auburn on Friday. HECTOR AMEZCUA hamezcua@sacbee.com
She painted a grotesquerie of violence and greed from Serafini’s repeated requests for more money from her mom and dad to the moment Serafini fired the point-blank shots in the family’s living room to mother Wendy’s final, agonizing months before taking her own life.
“Daniel is true evil. I’m left with the lasting image of my dad shot in the back of the head and my mom lying on her back bleeding out,” she said. “Dan destroyed the lives of my parents and all four of their children.
“Danny Serafini should never see the outside of a prison ever again.”
Adrienne Spohr, daughter of the victims of former MLB baseball player Daniel Serafini, looks at him as she gives her victim statement during his sentencing for murder in Placer Superior Court in Auburn on Friday. HECTOR AMEZCUA hamezcua@sacbee.com
Former MLB pitcher Daniel Serafini looks up as he is sentenced for murdering his father-in-law and shooting his mother-in-law, in Placer Superior Court in Auburn on Friday. HECTOR AMEZCUA hamezcua@sacbee.com
Adrienne Spohr, daughter of the shooting victims of former MLB pitcher Daniel Serafini, speaks about his sentencing in Placer Superior Court in Auburn on Friday. Spohr said in her victim statement that she feared that Serafini would come after her, so she would sleep with a gun for safety. HECTOR AMEZCUA hamezcua@sacbee.com
This story was originally published February 27, 2026 at 5:12 PM.
.JPG)
The Sacramento Bee
Darrell Smith is a local reporter for The Sacramento Bee. He joined The Bee in 2006 and previously worked at newspapers in Palm Springs, Colorado Springs and Marysville. Smith was born and raised at Beale Air Force Base and lives in Elk Grove.