Former MLB pitcher arrested in 2021 murder of his father-in-law, authorities say

A former Major League Baseball pitcher was arrested Friday in the 2021 shooting that left his father-in-law dead and his mother-in-law hospitalized in northern California, authorities said.

Danny Serafini, 49, who played for the Minnesota Twins and five other teams for seven seasons before retiring in 2007, was arrested in Winnemucca, Nevada, according to a news release from the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.

Samantha Scott, 33, also was arrested, in Las Vegas, the release said.

Serafini was a son-in-law of the victims, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office said Friday at a news conference. Scott also knew them, possibly as a nanny for the family, the spokesman said.

Serafini and Scott, who each face a murder charge and an attempted murder charge, were awaiting extradition to Placer County, the sheriff’s office said.

CNN has reached out to an attorney for Serafini. It is unclear if Scott has an attorney.

On June 5, 2021, police responded to a call at a home in the North Lake Tahoe, California, area, near the border with Nevada, where they found Robert Gary Spohr, 70, dead with a single gunshot wound, according to the sheriff’s office.

His wife, Wendy Wood Spohr, 68, also was shot and taken to the hospital, where she later recovered. She died a year later, the sheriff’s office said in the news release.

Video surveillance of the home showed a hooded man wearing a face covering and a backpack prior to the killing, the sheriffs said.

Detectives continued working on the case and were eventually led to Serafini and Scott, according to the sheriff’s office.

ADVERTISEMENT