Ex-MLB Star Dan Serafini Admits to Being Head of ‘White Guys’ Group in Prison, Forcing Inmate to Do 500 Burpees

Dan Serafini returned to the witness stand this week as he pursues a retrial after being convicted of murder in July last year.

On Monday, Feb. 9, prosecutors questioned the former MLB player and presented evidence supporting their request that the judge deny his motion for a new trial, which argues he received inadequate legal representation. Serafini, who did not testify in his own defense during his first trial, spent much of the day answering questions that cast him in an unfavorable light.

During cross-examination, Serafini acknowledged that while in jail he once led a faction of inmates made up of “white guys,” according to a reporter who was in the courtroom. He said he served as a “keyholder” for several months at the South Placer County Jail but lost that role after being transferred to another facility. The term “keyholder” is slang for someone who leads an inmate faction inside a jail or prison.

Serafini also said he was responsible for disciplining members of the group who broke its rules. He denied ever assaulting anyone or directing others to do so, but admitted that other punishments were used, including requiring at least six inmates to do exercises. He confirmed that one individual was ordered to complete 500 burpees and said he did the same number alongside him. Serafini said he could not remember what that person had done, but described the punished inmates as having been “caught scheming.”

Serafini also admitted on the stand that he had committed insurance fraud and previously violated a restraining order filed by his first wife. He said he had used a variety of illegal drugs over the years and had taken his late father-in-law’s prescription medication.

Serafini was arrested in October 2023 after a two-year investigation into the June 5, 2021, shooting at his in-laws’ Lake Tahoe home. The shooting killed his father-in-law, Gary Spohr, 70, and seriously wounded his mother-in-law, Wendy Wood, 68. The attack happened a few hours after Serafini’s now-estranged wife, Erin Spohr, and their two sons left the home after a day on the water. Wood survived the shooting but later died by suicide two years later.

After a six-week trial featuring testimony from dozens of witnesses and physical, digital, and forensic evidence, a jury found Serafini guilty. Prosecutors argued during the trial that Serafini wanted to kill his in-laws so he could benefit from his wife’s inheritance of their $23 million estate.

Serafini is now seeking a new trial and recently introduced a voicemail in which his mother-in-law said she knew he was not the shooter. Prosecutors responded on Monday by presenting a different recording, reportedly of Wood speaking with a detective and identifying Serafini as the gunman.

In the recording, Wood reportedly said she remembered seeing Serafini shoot her husband and then point the gun at her.

The judge is expected to issue a decision by Feb. 20. If the motion is denied, Serafini will be sentenced that day.