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A Placer County jury on Monday found the
51-year-old guilty of killing his father-in-law, Gary Spohr, and
severely wounding his mother-in-law, Wendy Wood, on June 5,
2021, at their home on the lake's west shore. Wood received
extensive rehabilitation but died a year after the shooting.
Serafini also was convicted of first-degree burglary.
Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Miller, who
prosecuted the case, told jurors that Serafini hated his wife’s
wealthy parents and was heard saying he was willing to pay
$20,000 to have them killed, the Sacramento Bee reported.
A left-hander, Serafini was drafted in 1992 by the Minnesota
Twins. He also played for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres,
Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies.
The jury was shown transcripts of angry emails and text messages
between Serafini and his in-laws in which they were involved in
a heated, ongoing dispute over a $1.3 million loan to help fund
his wife’s fledgling horse ranch business, the Bee reported.
Defense attorney David Dratman argued that there was no physical
evidence linking Serafini to the crime scene, noting that
security camera footage showed a masked intruder entering the
couple’s home who appeared to be younger with a smaller body
frame than the former baseball player.
Dratman told the jury that although his client had a rocky
relationship with his in-laws, the couple was generous with
Serafini and his wife, loaning them money and treating them to
lavish vacations. “Does that provide a motive for murder? That’s
killing the golden goose,” Dratman said in his closing argument.
Dratman declined to comment about the verdict.
Serafini faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the
possibility of parole when he is sentenced Aug. 18.
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