Why Former MLB Player Dan Serafini Killed His Father-in-Law for His Wife’s Inheritance Money

Former Minnesota Twins pitcher Dan Serafini had squandered away a $14 million fortune when he contrived a murderous plot to rid of his wealthy in-laws at their opulent home overlooking California's Lake Tahoe, according to prosecutors.

Despite spending seven years as a professional Major League Baseball player, pitching for teams like the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates, Serafini’s career ended in 2007 when he tested positive for steroids. Subsequently unemployed, the ex-athlete went on to lose his millions through a series of bad investments and a messy first divorce, according to KCRA 3.

In 2010, he married his second wife, Erin Spohr, whose affluent parents, Gary Spohr and Wendy Wood, were real estate tycoons who found themselves funding the couple’s lavish lifestyle—paying for their Reno, Nev., home, car, vacations and day care for their two little boys.

But the financial support seemingly wasn’t enough to satiate Serafini. Placer County Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Miller said Serafini and his wife would often get into heated arguments with his in-laws over money, and after years of pent-up “resentment, anger and frustration,” he made the decision to kill, The Sacramento Bee reported.

“The motivation seems to be anger triggered by lack of money he thought he was entitled to,” Louis Schlesinger, professor of forensic psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice tells A&E Crime + Investigation. “He sounds like he got pissed off because they weren't giving him as much money as he wanted.”

During Serafini’s six-week trial that began in May 2025, prosecutors alleged Serafini had his lover, Samantha Scott, also a friend of his wife’s, drop him off near his in-laws’ multimillion dollar Lake Tahoe, Calif., home on June 5, 2021, where he was lying in wait for three hours until they returned from an afternoon of boating with Serafini’s wife and young children.

Once Spohr and Wood were alone, Serafini used a .22 caliber gun to ambush them. He fired a single fatal round in the back of Gary’s skull, while Wood suffered two gunshot wounds to her head and one to her hand, yet survived. She died by suicide in 2023, citing trauma, loved ones said according to ESPN.

It would take two years for investigators to arrest Serafini on charges of murder with special circumstances, attempted murder and burglary, to which he would plead not guilty.

His accomplice, Scott, pleaded guilty to an accessory charge and acted as a key witness for the prosecution, testifying against her former paramour as part of a plea agreement.

During his trial earlier this year, prosecutors alleged property surveillance footage captured a masked and hooded Serafini walking up his in-laws’ driveway hours before the shooting—the same day Wood handed Erin a $90,000 check to help them maintain their lifestyle.

Prosecutors alleged Serafini despised his rich in-laws and sent a text message to someone that he’d pay $21,000 for a fixer to take a hit out on them. "I'm gonna kill them one day," the text read, per ABC10. They were also entangled in a $1.3 million dispute over a ranch renovation project for Erin’s horse ranch business. In 2016, the former pitcher sent emails to his in-laws threatening, "I will be coming after you," prosecutors said, according to the outlet.

“Greed does not really have a definitive line that can't be crossed,” Kenneth Rosenfeld, a criminal defense attorney and managing partner of California law firm Rosenfeld and Sawyer, tells A&E Crime + Investigation.

Rosenfeld, who is familiar with both parties, but has no ties to the case, surmises Serafini assumed he’d get away with murder and receive millions after Erin received her share of her inheritance triggered by her wealthy parents’ deaths.

“In my experience with people who are famous or have a lot of money or name recognition, there's a certain degree of arrogance and entitlement that goes with that sometimes,” Rosenfeld explains, “and I have seen cases where people just believe that because of who they are, they can get away with things. And I'm not saying that's what happened here, but the idea that somebody famous has a high opinion of themselves is nothing novel.”

In July, a jury found Serafini guilty of first-degree murder and attempted murder of his in-laws. He was also convicted of first-degree burglary, lying-in-wait and firearms charges, according to the Placer County District Attorney’s Office.

Although Erin stood by her husband's side during the trial and testified they had an open marriage where she was aware that Scott was his mistress, she filed for divorce the same month he was convicted.

Sentencing was originally scheduled for August 2025 but has since been delayed after the defense accused several jury members of misconduct after it was revealed during an interview with a local news station that some jurors allegedly conducted their own partial investigation by comparing two separate surveillance videos.

“The interview… exposed the fact that the jurors manipulated the admitted videos, created their own still shots and used the still shots to decide Mr. Serafini’s guilt based on a comparison of shoes,” the defense argued in their motion filed August 22, 2025, the Bee reported. However, the shoe evidence had not been discussed during the trial, and no evidence of the sort was submitted.

Serafini has since retained new representation, and a judge is currently considering the defense’s request for a new trial.

“I believe that the defense has a chance at this—now, whether it gets granted or not, it's hard to predict. But this is certainly not going to be one of those where the judge is going to simply deny it and move on to sentencing,” Rosenfeld says. “The judge has to give this great weight and consideration.”

Sentencing has been pushed back until February 20, 2026. Serafini faces up to life in prison if his request for a new trial is denied.