Dan Serafini

Daniel Joseph Serafini

• Bats Both, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.
• High School Junipero Serra High School (San Mateo)

• Debut June 25, 1996
• Final Game September 13, 2007
• Born January 25, 1974 in San Francisco, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Dan Serafini pitched in the majors from 1996 to 2000, then played in Taiwan in 2002 before returning briefly to the majors in 2003. After that, he spent two season in Nippon Pro Baseball in 2004 and 2005. He was one of a fine group of hurlers for the Chiba Lotte Marines in 2005, going 11-4 to help them to the 2005 Japan Series title. He slipped to 0-4, 9.97 in 2006 and 2-5, 5.40 in 2007, prompting his release. He attempted a comeback in the U.S, after that, with 3 games for the Colorado Rockies at the end of the 2007 season.

Serafini was 0-1 with a 5.68 ERA for the Yaquis de Obregon in the 2008 Caribbean Series. He allowed 12 baserunners in 6 1/3 IP. He was added to Italy's roster for the 2009 World Baseball Classic and started his team's second game against Canada. He continued pitching professionally, mainly in the Mexican League, until 2013.

On October 20, 2023, he was arrested in Winnemucca, NV in connection with the 2021 murder of his father-in-law; a second person, who was reportedly known to Serafini, was also arrested that day in Las Vegas, NV. She was identified as Samantha Scott, a woman with whom Serafini was having an affair at the time. The arrests followed a two-year investigation of the death in North Lake Tahoe, CA of wealthy real estate investor Robert Gary Spohr and the shooting of his wife, Wendy Wood, who survived the shooting but who committed suicide a year later out of psychological distress. Serafini was convicted of the crime on July 14, 2025; he was also convicted of first-degree burglary in addition to murder and inflicting grievous injury. He faced the possibility of life in prison. It was explained at the trial that he had lost all of the money he had made in the majors in bad investments and was financially dependent on his wife's parents, something he deeply resented. He arranged for their murder in order to obtain his wife's part of their inheritance, estimated at $23 million. Scott struck a plea-bargain deal with prosecutors in order to testify against Serafini, confessing that she had driven him to the crime scene on the day of the murder, and that she had witnessed him test the gun and silencer used in the attack. He was supposed to be sentenced on August 18th, but instead the judge granted his defense team additional time to file a motion for a new trial.

That motion came up before a judge in February 2026, with Serafini claiming he had received poor legal counsel that had prevented him from testifying at the trial, and that he had since obtained an audio tape of his mother-in-law saying he was not the shooter. To which prosecutors responded with their own tape in which she told a detective the exact opposite. The hearing brought to light the fact that Serafini's behavior in prison had been less than model, as he had become the leader of a faction of "white guy" inmates and had ordered punitive discipline on some he thought were "scheming" against the faction's leadership. As a result, prison authorities had to transfer him to another detention facility to break up the gang. The judge issued his sentence on February 27th, with Serafini receiving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Further Reading

• The Associated Press: "Former MLB pitcher Dan Serafini is convicted of murder in the 2021 shootings of his wife's parents", Yahoo! Sports, July 15, 2025. [1]
• Jessica Hill (Associated Press): "Former MLB pitcher sentenced to life in prison without parole for shooting his in-laws", Yahoo! News, February 27, 2026. [2]
• Callie Lawson-Freeman: "Former MLB pitcher arrested in 2021 murder of his father-in-law, authorities say", Yahoo! Sports, October 21, 2023. [3]
• Chris Spargo (People): "Ex-MLB Player Daniel Serafini Gunned Down In-Laws for $23M Fortune — with Babysitter's Help. Inside the Shocking Case (Exclusive): Gary Spohr and Wendy Wood were both shot point-blank in the head inside their $3.5 million Lake Tahoe home", Yahoo! News, August 5, 2025. [4]
• Chris Spargo (People): "Ex-MLB Star Dan Serafini Admits to Being Head of 'White Guys' Group in Prison, Forcing Inmate to Do 500 Burpees: Serafini was questioned by prosecutors on Monday, Feb. 9, in his quest for a new trial after being convicted of murder in July", Yahoo! Sports, February 12, 2026. [5]