Former MLB pitcher, woman arrested in high-profile Lake Tahoe murder case after two-year search

WINNEMUCCA, Nev. (KRNV) — Two people wanted in connection to a high-profile murder in the Lake Tahoe area of California have been caught after more than two years.

Daniel Serafini, 49, and Samantha Scott, 33, were arrested separately in Nevada in connection to the shooting death of Serafini’s father-in-law, 70-year-old Gary Spohr, and the attempted murder of his mother-in-law, Wendy Wood.

Serafini was arrested in Winnemucca early Friday morning and Scott was arrested in Las Vegas with the help of the U.S. Marshals. Both are awaiting extradition back to Placer County, Calif.

On June 5, 2021, deputies with the Placer County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home in the community of Homewood, on the west shore of Lake Tahoe. Multiple people had been reported shot. Deputies found Spohr dead from a gunshot wound and Wood suffering from gunshot wounds to her head and wrist.

The couple’s daughter, Adrienne Spohr, offered up to a $150,000 reward to help track down whoever murdered her dad and tried to kill her mom.

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office released a series of surveillance videos of the person they wanted, captured on nearby home security cameras, pleading for help.

Adrienne Spohr said she remembers that tragic day vividly. She told reporters she punched a hole through a piece of drywall out of anger and drove to Reno as fast as she could to see her mom in the intensive care unit.

She detailed how her mom learned to walk, talk, and think again after she was shot in the head. According to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, Wood died about a year after the attempted murder.

Police said from the beginning of the investigation the attack was not random because the assailant entered the home earlier in the day, waiting for the couple to return home before opening fire.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Adrienne’s older sister Erin Spohr was married to Serafini who was a Major League Baseball pitcher for 11 years with several teams. The couple once ran a bar in Sparks called the Bullpen Bar but it has since gone out of business.

In July, Erin Spohr told Kevin Fagan of the SF Chronicle they sold the business a long time ago and Serafini was working in underground mining in Reno. She added, “I have no idea who did that to my parents. I wish I knew.”

It is unclear what Scott's relationship to the family is.

KRNV reached out to the family for comment but has not heard back yet.

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