Former MLB Pitcher Daniel Serafini Convicted Of Murder

Former MLB pitcher Daniel Serafini was convicted of murder Monday for the 2021 killing of his father-in-law inside a Homewood, California, home.

A Placer County jury also found Serafini guilty of attempted murder and first-degree burglary, prosecutors said, according to TMZ. Authorities alleged Serafini broke into the home of his in-laws, Gary Spohr and Wendy Wood, and lay in wait for them to return.

He shot both with a .22-caliber pistol, investigators said. Spohr died at the scene, while Wood survived the shooting but died by suicide in 2023, the outlet reported.

A former Major League Baseball pitcher has been found guilty of murdering his father-in-law in what prosecutors called a financially motivated attack. https://t.co/P15Z9p8BiG pic.twitter.com/lhrgQshaTp

— ABC News (@ABC) July 15, 2025

“The guilty verdicts come after a six-week trial during which the jury heard testimony from dozens of witnesses and the presentation of physical evidence, including digital, cell phone, and other forensic evidence,” the Placer County District Attorney’s Office said, according to TMZ.

TMZ reported that the jury was told Serafini, Spohr and Wood faced a strained relationship due to financial issues, but Serafini’s attorneys argued all money-related disputes were always resolved. (RELATED: Sam Haskell Jr., On Trial For Allegedly Killing, Dismembering Wife, Takes His Own Life In Jail)

Serafini was arrested in Winnemucca, Nevada, in October 2023 after a two-year investigation that leveraged home surveillance video and cell phone data; family friend Samantha Scott pleaded guilty earlier this year to being an accessory and later testified for the prosecution, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Serafini, 51, was the Minnesota Twins’ first-round pick in the 1992 draft. He played a total of six seasons in the MLB, logging a 6.04 ERA with a 15-16 record.

A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for August 18.