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Danny Serafini (left in a Humboldt County, Nevada, mug shot); Serafini (center) and Samantha Scott (right) in arrest photos provided by the Placer County Sheriff’s Office in California.
One of the daughters of a California couple shot at home in 2021 is speaking out about the arrests of her brother-in-law and her sister’s “close friend” — but she noticeably isn’t commenting on her sister’s “level of involvement at this time,” if there is any.
Adrienne Spohr released a lengthy statement to local NBC affiliate KNTV expressing relief that Daniel “Danny” Joseph Serafini, 49, and 33-year-old Samantha Scott have been taken into custody in the alleged murder of her 70-year-old father Robert Gary Spohr and the alleged attempted murder of her 68-year-old mother Wendy Wood, who reportedly died by suicide a year after the June 5, 2021, North Lake Tahoe shooting.
“When I learned on October 20th that my sister’s husband Daniel Serafini and sister’s close friend Samantha Scott were arrested for the shooting of my parents, I was shaken to my core. This was a heinous, calculated crime,” Adrienne said.
The grieving daughter said that her “proud, giving” parents were “incredibly generous” to both Danny Serafini and her sister Erin, but Adrienne would not comment further on Erin, as she has not been accused of a crime or any wrongdoing.
“My parents had been incredibly generous to Daniel Serafini and Erin Spohr throughout their marriage,” she said. “Despite being pressed for my opinion, I cannot comment on my sister’s level of involvement at this time.”
Robert Gary Spohr, Wendy Spohr (Image via KXTL/screengrab), Danny Serafini and Erin Serafini pictured on a 2015 episode of Bar Rescue (Image via YouTube/Paramount screengrab)
As Law&Crime reported on Monday, Serafini was a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who was once the owner of a failing Nevada establishment known as the Bullpen Bar at Aspen Glen. The bar was featured on the 2015 Bar Rescue episode “Take Me Out to the Bar Game and was rebranded as the Oak Tavern, which his since shuttered.
While the alleged motive behind the shooting is not yet clear, the episode discussed how Serafini’s millions in earnings from his playing career had been lost to failed investments, a “bitter divorce,” and mounting debts from the bar business.
Adrienne Spohr’s sister Erin, Serafini’s wife, also appeared on the show and said that being hundreds of thousands in debt had noticeably changed her husband.
“My parents were so proud of me at one time for being a successful baseball player and now I’m thinking what a disappointment I am to everybody,” an emotional Danny Serafini remarked on the episode.
According to investigators, Placer County sheriff’s deputies first learned of the deadly shooting after receiving a phone 911 call on June 5, 2021.
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“Deputies arrived at the home and 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,” officials said. “Unfortunately, Wendy passed away a year later.”
Adrienne Spohr recalled the harrowing moment she learned that her father — the “emotional backbone of our family” — was shot to death and her mother was shot multiple times in the head: “Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to get the call I received on June 6, 2021.”
Calling Wendy Wood the “strongest woman I’ve ever known,” Adrienne said her mother had to endure “hundreds of hours of physical and mental rehabilitation, but eventually regained her ability to read and write, as well as to hike and ride a bicycle.”
Tragically, Wendy “missed my dad terribly and was never able to comfortably live again in her home in Lake Tahoe,” Adrienne said.
After the shooting, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office shared videos of a “hooded male wearing a face-covering and a backpack walking to the residence several hours before the homicide occurred.”
Please see updated video below. pic.twitter.com/VyKzmwanek
— Placer Sheriff (@PlacerSheriff) June 10, 2021
“The information and evidence detectives gathered led them to identify Serafini and Scott as the suspects; both suspects are known to each other and to the victims,” authorities said.
According to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office in Nevada, Serafini was booked into jail in the murder, attempted murder, and child abuse/endangerment case to await his extradition to Nevada. Samantha Scott was arrested in Las Vegas and was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on a fugitive warrant.
Adrienne Spohr said that is “beyond grateful for the hard work and dedication of the Placer County Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney’s Office” for never giving up, adding, “that has meant the world to me and my family.”
“The call I received on Oct. 20, 2023 will forever be etched in my mind — a moment of profound relief and gratitude after two years of fear and uncertainty. I feel an immense weight lifted off my shoulders,” Adrienne said. “I have held onto my parents’ ashes as I never felt right scattering them without the justice they deserved. Now that just ice has been served, my parents can finally rest in peace.”
