COLD-BLOODED

MLB Pitcher Who Murdered In-Laws Learns Fate

A jury found former MLB pitcher Dan Serafini lay in wait before gunning down his in-laws in a bitter fight over money.

Former MLB pitcher Dan Serafini was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 2021 murder of his father-in-law and the attempted murder of his mother-in-law in Lake Tahoe, California. A jury found the shooting of Robert Gary Spohr was deliberate and premeditated. Serafini’s mother-in-law, Wendy Wood, survived being shot but died by suicide a year later. “He is a monster that knows no moral boundaries and has zero reservations about taking lives to benefit himself,” Serafini’s sister-in-law, Adrienne Spohr, said at the sentencing. Prosecutors said the attack stemmed from bitter financial disputes and accused Serafini of targeting his in-laws to access a multimillion-dollar inheritance. Jurors heard he lay in wait inside the home before opening fire. Serafini played seven major league seasons, including stints with the Minnesota Twins and Chicago Cubs. He maintained his innocence throughout, calling the trial a “popularity contest.”