Dan Serafini Tahoe murder trial updates on June 13

The murder trial of Dan Serafini, the former Major League Baseball pitcher accused of shooting and ambushing his in-laws at their Tahoe-area home, is on hold until June 23.Serafini, 51, is standing trial for murder, attempted murder and burglary for the June 5, 2021, shootings of his in-laws, Gary Spohr and Wendy Wood, at their house in Homewood.The attack left Spohr, 70, dead and Wood, 68, seriously wounded. Despite surviving and making a full recovery, Wood later died by suicide, according to her family.A violent crime analyst with the California Department of Justice testified Friday morning.Sara Morin said she analyzed the communication between Serafini and Samantha Scott’s cell phones. The pair had an affair beginning months after the shootings, according to Scott’s testimony. Morin said her data analysis mainly accounts for phone calls, not text messages and the locations picked up for cell phone towers. Her job was to break down the communication analysis from the search warrants on the two cell phones.”Looking at call or text activity, patterns or trends in the communication, looking for breaks in activity, frequently have breaks or never have breaks,” Morin said. “Also contain data sessions, transactions when the phone is accessing the internet, whether it’s user or network generated and specialized record locations, such as when the phone is on, your phone is always connected to the network.”Morin went over how she outlined the cell phone use from June 4 to June 6, 2021.This was her analysis:The final communication was call from Serafini to Scott phone on June 6th at 2:08pmBoth phones were in Elko Jun 4-5Both phones on June 5 at 11:56am were connected to cell sites in Crescent ValleyJune 5- June 6, there was a break in communication between the two phones for over 19 hours. June 5, 2021, Scott’s phone traveled from Crescent Valley to Tahoe City area. That was the only date that recorded that pattern of travel.June 5, 2021, 4:40pm that’s where Morin observed Scott’s phone connecting in the West Shore area of Lake TahoeJune 5, 7:47pm, was the last connection of Scott’s phoneBreak until 7;58am June 6 in Elko, NVJune 6 2:08 pm, last communication between the two phonesMorin also testified Serafini’s phone was in Crescent Valley June 5, 2021.She analyzed the number of IP connections that occurred in the time frame of June 4-6.IP connections such as apps or applications. She said there were “quite a few” from Amazon and Apple.”There were over 3600 transactions. (different IP addresses) There were quite a few different ones,” Morin said.The prosecutor asked if you can you tell if someone is constantly scrolling or constantly going to websites versus or do phones just do that in the background?”Yes,” she said.Testimony will resume June 23. Reporter Michelle Bandur will be in the courtroom during the proceedings. See her liveblog updates when the trial resumes at 8:30 a.m.What happened recentlyThe woman whom police arrested along with Serafini revealed new information in the murder trial Thursday. Samantha Scott, 34, wrapped up her third day of testimony but could be recalled to the witness stand. Under cross-examination, Serafini’s defense attorney, David W. Dratman asked about the plea deal she made with prosecutors, which investigators called “Queen for a Day” in the January 2025 interview. They told her anything she said would not be used against her.The more serious charges could be dropped in exchange for her testimony, keeping her out of prison. The maximum sentence for the felony charge of accessory after the fact, which she pleaded guilty to in February, is three years. With good time and time served, it’s unlikely she would go to jail for 90 days. It’s possible she would get two years’ probation. She is currently wearing a GPS ankle monitoring device.Dratman: This is a big incentive for you?Scott: Yes.Dratman: You don’t want to go to prison, correct?Scott: Correct.Dratman: This deal is giving you a lifetime of freedom?Scott: PotentiallyBefore their affair, which began in October 2021, Scott described how she drove Serafini to and from Elko, Nevada to Tahoe City and watched him undress and throw clothing and what she believed were gun parts and a silencer out the window.Dratman asked if she returned to Interstate-80 to look for his shoes and backpack.Scott: Yes…days after the shooting.Dratman: Did you tell that to anyone until just now?Scott: No, I stopped at that exit to see what was there.Scott said she found nothing and later told Serafini she didn’t find anything. A Placer County sheriff’s deputy told the jury they searched 133 miles from the California-Nevada border to Elko and used a dive team to search part of Lake Tahoe, but never found a gun or clothing.The defense questioned Scott’s credibility because she lied for a year and a half and asked why she never went to law enforcement after she testified Serafini told her he shot his mother-in-law three times.”It was to protect him,” Scott said.Dratman: You did all this lying over a period of some years, according to your testimony?Scott: YesDratman: It was easy for you to lie?Scott: NoDratman: This story you told today about going back to the exit to look for items… that was a made up story today too, correct?Scott: NoDratman: It was a story you never told law enforcement?Scott: CorrectDratman: You lied because you wanted to make sure it would benefit you by not telling the truth?Scott: I think there were a few reasons for it.The prosecution asked her about a jail letter she wrote to Serafini, calling him her “Ride or Die.”Scott testified it means, “I’ve got your back still and that I will continue to tell the lies.”Deputy district attorney, Rick Miller: What was your hope?Scott: That we would both be going home.Miller: Is that still your hope?Scott: Sometimes, yes.Miller: For him even?Scott: YesScott, Serafini’s former lover, spent all of Tuesday on the witness stand.During her testimony, Scott said she started getting suspicious that Serafini may have been involved in the attack about a month after the shootings.”I had my suspicions. I had conflicting thoughts on that. I just didn’t think it was something he would do or was capable of,” Scott said. She received confirmation of her suspicions when Serafini told her privately about the shooting, she testified.”He told me he had shot Wendy twice in the head and once in the hand and survived it,” Scott testified.She couldn’t recall if he said anything about Gary.The jury has also heard how Scott, earlier this year, pleaded guilty to being an accessory to a felony after the fact in connection with the case. She first appeared on the witness stand on June 6 to testify about how she gave a ride to Serafini the day of the shooting but believed it was for a drug deal. Previous trial coverage:May 19 | Opening statements begin in former MLB pitcher’s Tahoe burglary caseMay 20 | Testimony of seasoned fire captain calls crime scene ‘shocking’May 22 | Defendant becomes emotional when jury sees video of his children, grandparentsMay 23 | Dan Serafini’s brother testifiesMay 27 | Emails between victims, defendant shownJune 3 | Text messages shown to jurorsJune 5 | FBI physical scientist testifiesJune 6 | Accessory to crime begins direct examinationJune 10 | Former lover, codefendant continues testimony, explaining why she first lied to police June 12 | Former lover, codefendant finishes testimonySee more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

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