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Testimony is underway in the murder trial of former major league pitcher Dan Serafini, with the prosecution providing graphic evidence from the scene of the crime.
Serafini, 51, is accused of shooting Gary Spohr and his wife, Wendy Wood, in their Lake Tahoe-area home on June 5, 2021. He has been present in the Auburn, California courthouse for the first two days of the trial, which paused Wednesday.
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On Monday, Placer County Deputy District Attorney Richard Miller and Serafini's defense attorney, David Dratman, made their opening statements.
According to Sacramento television station KCRA, jurors heard audio of the 9-1-1 call placed by Wood, saw bloody crime scene photos, and heard testimony from Capt. Gary Nelson with the North Tahoe Fire Protection District on Tuesday.
Nelson testified that the Homewood, California scene of the shootings was "shocking," per KCRA's Jonathan Ayestas.
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From 1996-2007, Serafini pitched for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, and Cincinnati Reds. His MLB career effectively ended when he was suspended 50 games in November 2007 for failing a performance-enhancing drug test.
As a major leaguer, Serafini went 15-16 with a 6.04 ERA (76 ERA+) in 104 career games (33 starts). He went 9-6 with a 5.88 ERA with the Twins from 1996-98, his longest tenure with any one organization.
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Serafini retired after pitching four games as a 39-year-old in the Mexican League in 2013. He struggled financially in the years that followed his playing career.
Serafini was featured in an episode of "Bar Rescue" that aired in 2015, which pulled back the curtain on one of his failed investments.
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Days after the June 2021 shooting in Homewood, investigators uncovered a surveillance video from the Spohrs' home showing a man wearing a hoodie approaching the residence hours before the shooting.
Detectives later identified the man as Serafini, who was arrested in 2023.
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Dratman argued the hooded man in the surveillance video is not Serafini, according to SFGate.com. The plausibility of this argument figures to be a key component in the outcome of the trial. Soon enough, Serafini's fate will rest in the hands of the Placer County jurors.
According to KCRA, testimony is expected to resume Thursday.
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About the writer
J.P. Hoornstra writes and edits Major League Baseball content. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers ... Read more