Jury Selection Begins in Murder Trial of Former MLB Pitcher

Jury selection has begun in the murder trial of former major league pitcher Dan Serafini.

From 1996-2007, Serafini appeared in 104 games for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, and Cincinnati Reds.

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Serafini's MLB career effectively ended when he was suspended 50 games in November 2007 for failing a performance-enhancing drug test. In the years that followed, his post-playing career took a dark turn.

Tuesday, potential jurors gathered in a Northern California courthouse, more than an hour west of where Serafini is accused of shooting Gary Spohr and Wendy Wood Spohr, his father and mother-in-law, at their Lake Tahoe-area home in June 2021. Serafini was arrested in October 2023.

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Opening statements are expected to begin next week, according to KCRA. Serafini's attorney, David Dratman, did not return multiple messages left by Newsweek Sports.

Serafini, who is reportedly being held in South Placer County Jail, faces murder and attempted murder charges.

According to court documents obtained by ABC 10 in Sacramento, Serafini was having an affair with Samantha Scott, who worked as a nanny for Serafini and his wife, Erin Spohr, at the time of the shootings. Scott has already pled guilty to being an accomplice in the shootings.

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Erin Spohr, with whom Serafini shares two children, is scheduled to testify on her husband's behalf.

Serafini, 51, pitched professionally in Taiwan, Mexico, Japan, and Venezuela in addition to the United States across 22 seasons in professional baseball. He also pitched for Team Italy in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and made two separate stints in the independent Atlantic League.

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Serafini retired after pitching four games as a 39-year-old in the Mexican League in 2013.

As a major leaguer, Serafini went 15-16 with a 6.04 ERA (76 ERA+) in 104 career games (33 starts). Serafini went 9-6 with a 5.88 ERA with the Twins from 1996-98, his longest tenure with any one organization.

Serafini struggled financially in the years that followed his playing career. He was featured in an episode of "Bar Rescue" that aired in 2015, which pulled back the curtain on one of his failed investments.

Soon his fate will rest in the hands of a jury, far from the site of his peak as a professional athlete.

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