Former MLB pitcher and woman arrested as suspects in 2021 Homewood murder

LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Arrests have been made in a two-year-old Lake Tahoe murder case. The murder of 70-year-old Robert Gary Spohr and the attempted murder of his wife, 68-year-old Wendy Wood shocked the small community of Homewood on the shores of Lake Tahoe on June 5, 2021.

The Placer County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) announced Friday, that after a lengthy two-year investigation involving detectives and the District Attorney’s Office, 49-year-old Danny Serafini and 33-year-old Samantha Scott were arrested this morning in Nevada.

PCSO detectives assisted in the apprehension of Serafini in Winnemucca and also assisted in the apprehension of Scott in Las Vegas.

"We thank the U.S. Marshal Service Reno Office, U.S. Marshal’s Nevada Violent Offender Task Force (Las Vegas), Winnemucca Police Department, and the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office with the arrests," said PCSO in a statement

On June 5, 2021, deputies received a 911 call from a residence where they found Robert Gary Spohr deceased as a result of a single gunshot wound. Robert’s wife, Wendy, had also been shot but was taken to a nearby hospital where she recovered from her injuries. Sadly, Wendy passed away a year later after suffering from disability and depression.

Video surveillance obtained from the couple's home and along West Lake Boulevard during the early stages of the investigation showed a hooded male wearing a face-covering and a backpack walking to the residence several hours before the homicide occurred.

The couple’s daughter Adrienne Spohr, offered up to a $150,000 reward to find her father's killer and the person(s) responsible for the attempted murder of her mother.

Since then, PCSO detectives, along with the DA's office, worked endless hours to uncover the information that led to the arrests. Their gathered information identified Serafini and Scott as the suspects; both suspects are known to each other and to the victims.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Robert Spohr was Serafini’s father-in-law. They reported Adrienne’s older sister, Erin, married Major League Baseball pitcher Dan Serafini — whose career spanned 11 years with many teams, including a stint with the San Francisco Giants — and they ran a bar in Sparks, Nev. The Bullpen Bar had a surge in popularity after making it onto the “Bar Rescue” TV show in 2015, but it later closed. Erin told the Chronicle this summer that her husband worked in underground mining.

After the arrests, Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo praised the hard work and dedication put forth by detectives and the DA’s Office.

“Today, justice was served," said Woo. "The apprehension of those responsible for the tragic events that unfolded in Homewood, North Lake Tahoe in 2021 stands as a testament to the unwavering dedication of our detectives, law enforcement partners, and the persistence of our pursuit of truth. Understand that my team’s commitment to unraveling the most complex of cases prevails, and those who inflict harm upon our community will be held accountable every time."

The sheriff’s office is now awaiting Serafini’s and Scott’s extradition from Nevada into Placer County.