Trial date set for ex-MLB player accused in Tahoe-area shooting
A Placer County murder trial is expected to begin next month and continue through late July for a former Major League Baseball player accused of shooting his wife’s parents at their Lake Tahoe-area home.
Daniel Serafini, 51, is accused of murder in connection with a reported burglary at the home of the married couple, 70-year-old Gary Spohr and 68-year-old Wendy Wood.
Spohr was shot once in the head during the June 5, 2021, burglary at the Homewood residence on the west shore of Lake Tahoe, the victims’ family has said. Wood suffered two gunshot wounds to the head but regained consciousness and called authorities for help. Although Wood received extensive rehabilitation, she died a year after the shooting.
Placer Superior Court Judge Garen J. Horst held a hearing Monday afternoon at the historic courthouse in Auburn to discuss the scheduling for Serafini’s trial.
Serafini was in the courtroom for the hearing along with his attorneys, David Dratman and David Fischer, and Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Miller, who is prosecuting the case. Serafini remains in custody at the Placer County Jail as he awaits his trial.
The judge said the attorneys are expected to give their opening statements followed by testimony from the first witness on May 20.
Horst expects the trial will continue through July 25 with jury deliberations possibly beginning July 18. He said the trial will not be in session for several days over those nine weeks.
Jury selection to start on Friday
The process of selecting a jury is expected to begin Friday with a panel of potential jurors filling out court questionnaires, before returning May 13 for jury selection in the courtroom. Horst said jury selection is anticipated to last three days.
“Quite a commitment for these folks with three months they’re going to be needed; certainly with some breaks,” Horst told the attorneys on Monday.
The judge ordered that 100 questionnaires be ready for the potential jurors on Friday.
The Placer County District Attorney’s Office in fall 2023 charged Serafini and family friend Samantha Scott with murder in Spohr’s death, along with a charge of attempted murder in the shooting that wounded Wood. The filed charges indicate prosecutors believe Serafini shot his wife’s parents, not Scott.
Only Serafini faces special allegation and circumstance enhancements that allege he used a .22-caliber gun to kill Spohr during a burglary while lying in wait for the victim, according to the criminal complaint. The enhancements made Serafini eligible for the death penalty if convicted. But the District Attorney’s Office in September said it would not to seek a capital sentence.
Serafini also faces a charge of first-degree residential burglary stemming from the June 2021 shooting. Only Serafini faces enhancements for allegedly using a gun and causing great bodily injury to two elderly victims during the burglary, along with an enhancement that alleges he used a .22 caliber gun to shoot Wood.
In February, Scott pleaded guilty to a felony charge of being an accessory after the fact in the crime. Her sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled. Prosecutors said the accessory charge could result in a sentence of 16 months to three years.
As a result of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped charges of murder and first-degree residential burglary against Scott, who also worked as the family’s nanny. She had been in custody since her October 2023 arrest, but she was released from jail on her own recognizance with GPS monitoring after pleading guilty.
At the time of the shooting, Serafini was married to Spohr and Wood’s eldest daughter, Erin Spohr, and they have two children. Serafini faces an additional charge of child endangerment listing his two small children as victims on the day of the shooting, according to the criminal complaint. Prosecutors have said Serafini’s wife and children had been at the home earlier in the day and left before the fatal shooting occurred.
This story was originally published April 28, 2025 at 5:34 PM.
