Ex-MLB hurler won’t face death penalty in alleged murder scheme

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Former MLB journeyman pitcher Daniel Serafini won’t be executed if convicted of the murder of his father-in-law and attempted murder of his mother-in-law.

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Prosecutors in Lake Tahoe have filed a declaration of intent to waive the death penalty.

Serafini — who toiled for the Minnesota Twins, the Pirates, Cubs, Reds, Padres and Rockies — is charged with gal pal Samantha Scott in the 2021 alleged plot to kill his in-laws at their Tahoe home.

On June 5, 2021, while his wife Erin Spohr and their children were visiting his in-laws at their Lake Tahoe home, cops say Scott drove Serafini to the area and dropped him off.

According to cops, Serafini slipped into the house and hid while the family were on a boat enjoying the lake. Three hours after his wife and children departed following dinner, the former pitcher allegedly shot his in-laws, Robert Spohr and Wendy Wood in the head.

Following the carnage, cops say Serafini hooked up again with Scott, who drove him over the state line to Nevada where he lives.

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Spohr was dead at the scene but Wood survived. She took her own life two years later as the case grew cold.

After her death, homicide detectives closed in on Serafini and Scott and the pair were arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder. He also is charged with “lying in wait,” which put him in the frame for a date in San Quentin’s green room for the night train to Nowheresville.

But after getting input from the victims’ families, prosecutors have taken the ultimate option off the table.

However, the 50-year-old’s lawyers want the whole case kicked to the curb claiming its foundation is based on speculation.

Serafini’s lawyers said the prosecution could not show that he was “the man in the mask” seen in CCTV. In addition, the weapon used in the executions has never been located and the slugs found at the scene could have come from a variety of weapons.

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The former Twins hurler once owned a .22-calibre handgun but claimed he no longer owns it.

Prosecutors say they have easily met their burden during preliminary hearings.

They claim that Serafini hated his in-laws and even plotted to murder them months before that fatal night.

But his wife earlier testified that wasn’t so. The extremely wealthy Robert Spohr bought the pair a $1-million mansion, new cars and sprung for their vacations and his golf membership.

Meanwhile, Erin Spohr, and her sister, Adrienne Spohr, have gone to war in civil court over their parent’s multimillion-dollar estate. That will be put on hold until the criminal case is resolved, according to an agreement they filed in court on Sept. 23.

Serafini was born in San Francisco and was selected in the first round of the 1992 MLB draft by the Twins. His record in the MLB was a dreary 15-16 with a 6.04 ERA.

After the MLB, he played in Taiwan, Japan and Mexico.

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@HunterTOSun

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