Former MLB pitcher Dan Serafini convicted of murder in California home invasion
Former Major League Baseball pitcher Daniel Serafini has been convicted of first-degree murder in the 2021 shooting death of his father-in-law, Robert Gary Spohr, in a case prosecutors described as a financially driven, premeditated attack.
A California jury on Monday found the 51-year-old Serafini guilty of murder, attempted murder of Spohr’s wife, Wendy Wood, and first-degree burglary. The verdict follows a shocking trial that exposed deep family conflicts and a $1.3 million dispute over a ranch renovation project, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
According to evidence presented at trial, Serafini entered the Spohrs' home on June 5, 2021, where security footage captured a hooded figure arriving three hours before anyone called 911.
Prosecutors said Serafini secretly waited inside the house with a 22 caliber gun for three hours before attacking. Two young children, ages 3 years and 8 months, were in the home during the shooting.
Wood survived the initial attack but later died by suicide in 2023, with her family saying the shooting's trauma led to her death.
The case centered on a $1.3 million dispute over a ranch renovation project. Text messages revealed Serafini had written "I'm gonna kill them one day" in a message mentioning $21,000, according to ABC News' Sacramento affiliate KXTV. The victims had given $90,000 to Serafini's wife the day of the shootings.
Serafini's baseball career included playing for six different teams after being drafted in the first round by the Minnesota Twins in 1992. His career ended in 2007. That same year, he was suspended for 50 games for using performance-enhancing drugs.
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