Law&Crime Sidebar - Ex-MLB Pitcher Had Affair with Nanny Before Gunning Down In-Laws: Prosecutors

Episode Date: May 17, 2025

The trial of former Major League Baseball player Daniel Serafini will soon begin in California. Prosecutors allege Serafini hid inside his in-laws’ home, waiting for them to return, before shooting them both. New details from court documents reveal a possible motive for the attack, as well as the depth of the connection between Serafini and his alleged co-conspirator, nanny Samantha Scott. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber breaks it all down with sports attorney Jeremy Evans.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Cybercrime is becoming more dangerous daily. Don’t wait until it’s too late—protect your business with Apollo Networks’ top-tier cybersecurity solutions today. Get a free network health assessment and 50% off your first month! https://www.apollonetworks.com/sidebar HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that will

keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. A big twist in a high-profile case out of Lake Tahoe, we have now learned that a man accused of attacking his in-laws, killing one, was apparently having an affair with his alleged conspirator, his nanny. It is a complex web of alleged deceit and lies, and we're combing through it all for you right now. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. We first told you about this wild case back in February. This is when a woman named Samantha Scott entered a guilty plea to a felony accessory charge in relation to the killing of Robert

Gary Spore, who sometimes goes by Gary. also the attempted murder of his wife, Wendy Wood. Now, she's going to face sentencing later this year, could get up to three years in prison, but for now, she's not in custody. Now, in return for her guilty plea, Scott has to testify against Daniel Serafini, a former Major League baseball pitcher who is accused of killing his wife's father and seriously injuring her mother. And during the years-long investigation, as police pieced together who was allegedly involved and eventually settled on Serafini and Scott, they weren't sure of how these two were even connected, or at least they didn't say so publicly.

The only connection known when we first reported on this story was that Scott had been close friends with Serafini's wife, Erin Spore, who at one point worked as the couple's nanny. However, it has now been revealed that Serafini and Scott were allegedly having an affair. Yeah, prosecutors alleged that this illicit relationship between the two. is what led Scott to drive Serafini to his in-law's house. According to a court paperwork that was reviewed by the Daily Mail, Scott admitted to police that she and Serafini spent the night together in a motel in Elko, Nevada.

Then she says she drove him to Tahoe City, a trip that would have taken more than six hours driving. The Daily Mail, citing court documents and testimony, that Scott first told investigators she was still back in Elko, Nevada, when the home invasion happened. But she changed her tune when she was confronted with cell phone GPS records. If that allegation is true, yeah, it's

not the first time somebody has changed their tune when confronted with that evidence. So she then claimed that she didn't know what Serafini was going to do and that he insisted on being dropped off at a spot called Fat Cat Bar and Grill saying he needed to pick up a package. She then apparently picked him up a few hours later

and drove back to Nevada. Now, Scott reportedly said that she and Serafini had this, quote, flirtatious, romantic relationship, stopping short of calling it an outright affair, but it seems that's what it was. And that's not the only piece of bombshell evidence that jurors will hear at this trial.

We're going to talk more about that in a minute. But first, got to give you a little bit of backstory to catch up on how all this went down. So on June 5th, 2021, authorities say a masked and hooded gunman entered the home of 70-year-old Robert Spore and 68-year-old Wendy Wood shooting both of them. Robert was killed. Wendy actually survived.

Two shots to the head. Her daughter, Adrian, would later tell reporters that she actually managed to dial 911 on her phone. She spent months recovering, learning how to do practically everything over again, but Adrian says Wendy never really got over Robert's death. And in the sad turn of events, she ended up taking her own life around a year later. Adrian says the family blames the shooter for Wendy's death too. So the Placer County Sheriff's Office released surveillance video from outside the home and nearby, showing a man, his face covered, moving up the Spor's driveway on the day of the shooting.

Officials say he laid in wait for the couple and then opened fire. Officials hoped the security footage would generate new leads, but the case seemed to be going cold. And then in 2022, the Spore family offered a $150,000 reward for anyone who could provide information that led to the arrest and conviction of the shooter. But it would be another year before deputies had a suspect in custody. while, in fact, two suspects. Scott and Serafini were arrested in separate Nevada cities in 2023, flown back to California to face charges. They both entered not guilty pleas to multiple charges.

Then earlier this year, it was announced that Scott had entered a guilty plea to violation of Penal Code Section 32, which is the statute covering being an accessory to a felony after the fact. According to investigators, Scott said she'd given Serafini a ride on the day of the shooting, but Scott's lawyer maintained that there was no evidence that Scott actively participated in the killing itself, so Scott pleaded guilty a few months back to being an accessory. Now, Serafini has maintained his not guilty plea. The trial is getting underway in California. According to Placer County Court records, Serafini faces four felony counts.

Felony murder with the aggravating factors of lying in weight and personal discharge of a firearm for Robert's death, attempted felony murder, in connection with Wendy's, terrible injuries, first-degree burglary that involves great bodily injury to an elderly victim and child abuse or endangerment. And the details surrounding that last charge is still unclear, but we have some ideas about what that might be. We'll discuss it too. But prosecutors alleged that Serafini, who at one point owned a bar with his wife, Aaron and Nevada, that was featured on the reality show, by the way, bar rescue, have had many problems over the years, financial issues. And they say Serafini may have killed his in-laws in a plot to get his hands on some of their money through his wife. Aaron, though, to be clear, is not

in charge to connection with the attack on her parents. Want to make that very clear. Now, Serafini's name might be familiar if you're a baseball fan. He pitched for six different teams between 1996 and 2007, including the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago Cubs. His career in the United States ended in 2007 after he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. This is according to outlet KRCA, but they also report that he continued playing baseball

out in Mexico. So to talk about the big twists revealed during a final pre-trial hearing, for Serafini's trial. I want to bring in Jeremy Evans, a sports entertainment and media attorney. Jeremy, so good to see you. Thanks so much for taking the time. What stands out to you about this case?

What stands out to you about some of the new developments I mentioned? No, and it's great to be on with you, Jesse. And I think for me, the biggest thing is that Scott is going to testify. So it sounds like to me she's brokered a deal with the prosecution to essentially get a lighter sentence. I think that's one of the big things. The second thing is that a weapon has not been found. So, you know, generally, you know, you have this sort of evidence that leads to, you know, a conviction.

But I think in this case, the fact that the weapon hasn't been found, they're going to have to make sure to find that, you know, that the person in the video was actually seraphini. So there's ways to tell that. And I'm sure they can do some things with artificial intelligence and investigation to figure that out. that's sort of a second thing. I think those two things are really the big ones for me. I think maybe a third thing would be the fact is that she changed her story. I think when she's cross-examined on the stand, there's going to be some very harsh questioning there as to why she changed her story. But also, if she did not know that something was happening in terms of a felony, there's potential that she could be excused from those charges as well for accessory after

the fact. Those are the three big things for me. By the way, I got to say this. Our content shows just how rampant crime is right now. And that is especially true with cybercrime. Cybercrime, it is growing more dangerous and widespread. It is threatening businesses like never before. I mean, did you know that in 2024, one in five businesses fell victim to ransomware? And half of those were small businesses. Let that sink in. Here's the good news. Apollo Network is here to protect your business and help you fight against these business-ending threats. They use the latest cybersecurity technologies to monitor your systems 24-7, stopping threats before you even know they're there, preventing downtime, safeguarding your data. Beyond just protection, they optimize your daily operations by managing your backups,

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You know, they're human beings. They're living in life just as anybody else. it's amplified because of that celebrity status, but why do you think that is? It's such a good question. I think ultimately what this really boils down to is the fact that a lot of the times when you're a professional athlete, you've got to figure that if you don't have a good upbringing and you're not around parents or coaches that are, you know, teaching you well and sort of humbling you, I think there's a tendency that,

from a young age, you're really told that you're the best thing in the world, which is not a bad thing, but it's got to be done with some humility, right? So I think that a lot of times these athletes get into a place where from age six, seven years old, when they're starting to play whatever sport they're playing, they're being told you're the best, you're the best, you're so good at this. A lot of times they're getting things for free or complimentary. People treat them differently. And then, of course, when you combine that with millions of dollars,

I think Serafini had made, I think, somewhere upwards of $14 million in his career, but I think it was about $300,000 in debt. There needs to be some financial education there, too. I think this is really some of the problems that we're seeing with college sports as well these days, where you need to have the financial education alongside of, you know, obviously your professional, you know, education and real life experience, yeah. That's really, really well said because sometimes I always wonder, is there is there a backup plan is that emphasized enough your career is only going to go so far whether

it's through injury testing positive for performance enhancing drugs whatever it may be there's that backup plan and I wonder you know the emphasis on education the emphasis on a life after baseball football basketball whatever it may be that seems to be an issue I completely agree and it needs to be addressed I know some of the the sports leagues have done a pretty good job of inserting financial education and making sure people, you know, have real life experience. And especially you got to figure a lot of these athletes are getting drafted, you know, 17, 18 years old. And they're being given, you know, large amounts of money. I don't know about you, Jesse, but I was 17, 18 years old. I don't know

what I would have done with, you know, millions of dollars, you know, probably wouldn't have been financially responsible. I probably would have bought, like, the real life or the replica, like, Ghostbuster Proton gun. That's always what I wanted. Never got it. But, yeah, that's a separate story. Yeah, no, look, I have to take away from this.

I don't know. Look, we don't know if these allegations are true. But when you think about financial issues, you think about a former star athlete, it's a fair question to be asking. So I want to get a little bit more intense. I want to talk about Serafini's alleged lover, Samantha Scott. So first, Serafini's alleged lover, Samantha Scott, as we've been talking about, is apparently going to be testifying against him. Well, get this, his wife, Aaron, apparently plans to testify in his defense.

That is according to court paperwork reviewed by the Daily Mail. So first of all, talk about a potentially very tense courtroom situation. I can't say, Jeremy, I've seen something like that before. No, I have not either. in this circumstance the wife would stay out of it and not involve herself in it so that is very fascinating that she's going to testify on his behalf even despite the fact that uh you know the allegation is that Danny killed her father and then not only that but that he was in a romantic relationship with another woman just I personally have never seen anything like that before

generally the the the victims or the victims family would stay out of it um now that The interesting part to this, too, is just as Scott is going to be vigorously cross-examined, the same is going to happen with the wife. And so that's going to be an interesting thing to watch on the stand. Yeah. So that will be interesting, for sure. And I will tell you this, the Daily Mail reports that Serafini's wife and children, they were visiting with Robert and Wendy, left not long before the shooting.

Outlet SFGate reports that Aaron and the kids, they were spending time with their grandparents. grandparents at a nearby lake, when Serafini allegedly entered the home, hid, waited for his in-laws to return. That seems to me what could be the child endangerment charge, right? Potentially putting his own children in danger with this alleged hit. You think I'm totally off base? No, that's exactly what it is. You know, the sort of definition and the elements of the crime for kidnapping or for child endangerment are, are fairly similar in the sense that if you're using a deadly weapon, any sort of force,

even if the kids were unaware as to what was going on, which sort of makes sense. It's their father, right? But that's clearly an endangerment piece where he's got an intention to do something. And by the way, another key factor in this is the six hours that it takes to drive from Elko to Lake Tahoe, because that is sort of the idea to show the element of the crime for, premeditation. You know, he had a long time to think about this on that drive. And of course, you have to imagine that that's where the prosecution is going in doing accessory after the fact with Scott. But yeah, I think you're right on target. And then documents from the prosecution

also reportedly revealed that Serafini had allegedly spoken ill of his in-laws before, especially in reference to money in 2012, the same year that he married Aaron. Serafini was reportedly heard offering $20,000 to have the couple murdered. In 2016, the prosecution says Serafini was heard calling his in-laws wealthy pieces of S. According to KCR, Erin previously revealed at Serafini's preliminary hearing

that on the day of the shooting, Wendy gave her a $90,000 check. So this wealthy couple over the years had also reportedly been paying for Serafini's home in Reno, daycare for their two children, baby supplies, schools, vacations, a $55,000 car.

You know, Jeremy, when you think about any murder case or alleged murder case or attempted murder case, you think about, are there any enemies who would want to do this? Is this a random attack? When you hear this, you know, who would attack this elderly couple, the pieces start adding together. Now, look, he is, he is innocent until proven guilty. He will have an opportunity to defend himself. But this doesn't look good. No, it looks terrible. And I think the point we talked about earlier with the long drive, he has time to think about it. I think the point that even though it seems minor, but the idea that he was willing to break the baseball rules and policy with order to taking steroids, his ability to basically make upwards of $14 million and then turn around and then essentially not have any money to speak of. And I think the other piece in here is interacting from a psychological standpoint, the idea that he was blaming his wife's parents for being wealthy and then not sort of paying for his and his wife's lifestyle, even though he had lost money and had been irresponsible. It's that piece we talked about earlier, that sort of lack of self-reflection, I think that is going to hurt him in this case. But, you know, the defense could say, hey, this guy and his family, they were very dependent on Robert and Wendy. Why would they, why would he attack them? Right. You know, it's funny because I think you've sort of seen this story before where psychologists will even talk about the idea that sometimes you go after the person who's treated you the best only because you feel a level of resentment there.

Somebody taking care of you and that it's a weird, you know, dynamic. but we've seen that, I think, many times before in these types of cases. Now, Erin was also shown the surveillance video of the alleged shooter outside of her parents' home during that preliminary hearing and testified that the man in the video was not Serafini. According to the Daily Mail's review of court documents, just a few months before the murder or alleged murder in June of 2021, a foreman in a mining operation in Nevada where Serafini was working, says he overheard Serafini saying he wanted to kill Robert and Wendy after he got off a furious phone call.

So Jeremy, you know, an alternative suspect always maybe has the jury perking up their ears a little bit, you know, show us somebody else. The defense doesn't have a burden to prove that someone else did this, right? But at the same time, it definitely tells an interesting story that, you know, Serafini may have had issues with Robert and Wendy and that, you know, if he did commit this crime it was you know likely not something spur of the moment but could it be somebody else yeah no to your point jesse i mean the weapon has not been found uh the video has not been totally secured that it was seraphini um and and so to your point the defense's really sole argument is there's no weapon found

nothing tying seraphini to the murder but then also too the idea of sort of putting up the straw man defense that there may be this other person out there. So yeah, really good point and I agree. And look, there is a big update, though, on evidence that the prosecution plans to present to the jury. Okay. So there are flirty messages that went back and forth between Serafini and his ledge co-conspirator Samantha Scott. But there's also a string of emails that Serafini reportedly sent to his in-laws that the judge in this case, Judge Garon Horst called, quote, intense, verbally violent interactions. So, Jeremy, having something in writing is key.

And I think that that can also be quite problematic for Mr. Serafini. Agreed completely. And I think that would go to like habit, habit and his personality and how he dealt with them in the past. So completely agree with you. And I think for Scott's situation, again, she's going to be vigorously cross-examined because ultimately in this case, she's sort of getting, you know, getting a deal and, you know, to sort of defend him, but I don't think the jury is going to look very lightly upon her. They're going to, you know, I think they're going to be very judgmental of her based on her situation. The fact that she was in a, you know, a relationship with a married person. And then also the fact that she cut a deal to basically get out of the accessory charge. So. it's it's going to be a tough uphill battle for both of these folks and i didn't even get to maybe

the biggest twist of all so we previously reported that adrian spore had said that you know her mother's recovery not only was intense but following the attack she had no memory of what happened but according to the prosecution as reported by the daily mail wendy wood actually recovered her memory and because of that had changed her will cutting out Serafini and Erin and leaving the family's fortune, reportedly $10 million, according to SEPGate, to Adrian.

So Jeremy, not only have we been talking about tension, not only have we been talking about alleged financial difficulties, but now we're talking about a pure, clear-cut, alleged motive to kill. Now again, innocent until proven guilty, prosecution doesn't have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, a motive it helps tell a story and what better story than money my gosh no i completely agree it sort of shows again that psychological piece where they're in this place where they don't have money they're relying on somebody to pay for things and then sort of going after the person who's

taken care of them i think another piece in this too jesse is this idea that is their potential that and i'm and maybe because it was too hard for the prosecution to bring this case, but the causation between the mother committing suicide and her being shot earlier and then seeing her husband die. So that may not be enough for a criminal charge, but definitely a civil case down the road for intentional infliction of distress or something like that. You know, Jeremy, there's actually legal action being reported between the two sisters over their parents' estate. It's been put on pause until the criminal trial's over. What do you make of that? Well, I think, sadly, this is something we see all the time with regard to families arguing over, and especially in a situation where you have such a tragedy happening and the two sisters fighting over.

And look, it makes sense. I mean, you have probably the one sister saying, you know, not the wife of Serafini, saying, you know, why are you testifying on behalf of this guy who, who, you know, allegedly killed, you know, our father. and, you know, at least causally, you know, killed our mother. So, definitely, I could see the tension there, and it makes sense. Yeah, I mean, thankfully the mother survived, but my gosh, I mean, you have a situation here where it's like, it's tense, to say the least. And, you know, by the way, we also learned a little bit about what the defense will say, mainly that Mr. Serafini wasn't the only one who had beef with Robert and Wendy.

So I go back to the question I said before, who were enemies of this couple? well, I'll tell you what, the Daily Mail reports that the two had been referred to as quote, nightmare neighbors. He had multiple restraining orders out against them. Wendy was reportedly convicted in 2018 of attacking a man with a paddle board for fishing

outside her home. Robert had been involved in a number of court cases too. Jeremy, that is interesting. That is interesting. It is. And I think that that's the one piece that I think maybe, again, the defense could bring up potentially is what sort of relationship did they

have? Was he involved in some sort of shady business dealings? You know, so again, I think to your point that that's sort of very interesting. I think another key piece of evidence, too, is the fact that Serafini had told Scott that he had dropped off or needed to drop off a package. And I wonder if that was just sort of some sort of concealed sort of talk towards dropping off the gun or getting rid of the evidence or you know, or whatever it was

or maybe it was even a situation where Serafini paid somebody. But I will tell you that I think generally in these criminal cases when you have somebody who's willing to go into a home and sit around for a while, that is either an issue of

you know, some sort of psychotic behavior or somebody who's psychotic, but also knows the family and sort of could have access and that sort of thing. So very, very good. And who's committed to doing it. I mean, that's the lying in weight that's, you know, incredibly chilling in those kind of cases. But by the way, the defense has also pointed out that Serafini wasn't the only one who could have benefited financially from this couple's deaths. What am I talking about?

The idea of the finger being pointed at Adrian, the daughter, also stood to inherit. So defense attorneys reveal that Adrian is currently dating a convicted bank robber. So now I wonder if it could backfire in the sense, you know, for the defense to point to alternative suspects, neighbors, Adrian, it's something for the jury to consider, but is it too much for them to consider? Is it you're just now pointing the finger at anybody? Although, you know, I mean, that's interesting to think about someone else, maybe had something to gain by the parents.

dying. Yeah, no, I agree. It's probably too much. I think it's not generally a good idea to point fingers at the victim's family in this case. But it is a good point. I think probably the defense's best chance is to point at the fact that there's no clear video evidence that it was Sarathini and the weapon was not found. And then thirdly to point at, you know, basically somebody else to it did this. That's really sort of, I think, the best case scenario for the defense. Well, I'll tell you what. Opening statements in Mr. Serafini's trial are slated to start next week. The trial could last several weeks. This is according to Outlet, SF. Gate. And I'll tell you, he faces life in prison if he's convicted so the stakes could not be higher. Jeremy, so good

seeing you. Thank you so much for taking the time. A pleasure. Thank you, Jesse. And that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.