Former MLB pitcher arrested in 2021 homicide: Police

Danny Serafini and Samantha Scott were arrested Friday in Nevada.

October 21, 2023, 1:29 PM

Danny Serafini, a former MLB pitcher, and a woman were arrested in connection with the 2021 shootings of a California couple, police said.

The Placer County Sheriff's Office said Serafini, 49, and Samantha Scott, 33, were arrested Friday in Nevada following a two-year investigation into the murder of Robert Gary Spohr, 70, and the attempted murder of Wendy Wood, 68.

Police said they received a 911 call from a North Lake Tahoe, California, home on June 5, 2021, and found Spohr dead from a gunshot wound. Wood was also shot and taken to a hospital where she recovered from her injuries, police said.

In this booking photo released by the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office, Danny Serafini is shown.
Humboldt County Sheriff's Office

Wood died a year later, according to the police.

Surveillance footage captured a hooded male wearing a face-covering and a backpack walking to the residence several hours before the homicide occurred, according to the police.

In these photo released by the Placer County Sheriff's Office, Danny Serafini and Samantha Scott are shown during their arrest on Oct. 20, 2023.
Placer County Sheriff's Office

In the last two years, the sheriff's office said it compiled evidence that linked Serafini and Scott to the incident, but they didn't immediately disclose details. The suspects and victims all knew each other, according to the sheriff's office.

In this March 1, 1999, file photo, pitcher Dan Serafini of the Minnesota Twins poses for the camera on Photo Day during Spring Training at the Hammond Stadium at Lee County Sports Complex in Fort Myers, Fla.
Brian Bahr/Allsport via Getty Images, FILE

Serafini, who played 104 games between 1996 and 2007 for six teams including the Minnesota Twins, according to MLB, and Scott are awaiting extradition from Nevada, the sheriff's office said.

Attorney information for Serafini and Scott wasn't immediately available.