Daniel Serafini, a former Major League Baseball pitcher, was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole for a 2021 shooting targeting his wife’s parents in Lake Tahoe.
The 51-year-old Serafini was convicted in July 2025 of first-degree murder in the death of his father-in-law, Gary Spohr, first-degree attempted murder of his mother-in-law, Wendy Wood, and first-degree burglary.
Spohr died in the attack. Wood survived the shooting but died a year later by suicide.
Prosecutors described Serafini as harboring hatred for his wife’s wealthy parents. A witness overheard him express willingness to pay $20,000 to have them killed. During the trial, jurors reviewed angry emails and text messages between Serafini and the couple.
“The impact of this attack has extended far beyond the immediate victims, deeply affecting family members and the broader community, and highlighting the lasting harm caused by deliberate violence,” Placer County District Attorney Morgan Gire said in a statement, per Fox Live Now.
Serafini proclaimed his innocence at the sentencing hearing. He told the court he had been out partying with his wife the night of the shooting and called himself a “broken, imperfect man that makes mistakes,” MyNews4 reported. His lawyer declined to comment afterward.
A left-handed pitcher, Serafini was first drafted into MLB in 1992 by the Minnesota Twins, records show. He spent 11 seasons in the majors, also playing for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, and Colorado Rockies.
Serafini will serve his sentence in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, prosecutors said.