Adrienne Spohr pictured during a 2022 interview (KOVR/screengrab), Daniel Serafini and Erin Spohr (in a selfie together in 2015 on their way to Vegas, as seen on their @Oaktavernsparks account on X).
A surviving daughter sued her own sister and brother-in-law in a wrongful death case months before criminal charges were brought against both a “close friend” to her sibling and the former Major League Baseball pitcher in the 2021 shooting of Homewood, California parents.
In June, Adrienne Spohr filed a civil case on behalf of herself and her parents’ estates in Placer County Superior Court against Daniel “Danny” Joseph Serafini, 49, her sister Erin R. Spohr (Serafini’s wife), and between 1 and 10 Does. The suit was filed months after an April update by investigators that they were searching in the Reno, Nevada, area for possible suspects in the alleged murder of 70-year-old Robert Gary Spohr and the alleged attempted murder of 68-year-old Wendy Wood.
The lawsuit, which demanded a jury trial, alleged four causes of action against all defendants named and unnamed: Wrongful death, survival and survival damages, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and punitive damages.
Adrienne Spohr, seeking punitive and exemplary damages against the defendants, claimed non-economic damages to herself, citing the “loss of love, affection, society, service, comfort, support, right of support, expectations of future support and counseling, companionship, solace, and mental support” the resulted from her parents’ deaths. She also claimed economic damages in the form of funeral and burial expenses and hospital bills shouldered by her parents’ estates.
The lawsuit claimed that the defendants’ “malicious, despicable, cruel, and unjust conduct” makes them liable for damages after the “senseless murder” of Robert Gary Spohr and the eventual death of Wendy Wood, who reportedly died by suicide a year after the shooting.
“On Saturday, June 5, 2021, a masked and hooded man ran up the driveway toward the Homewood/West Lake Tahoe home of Robert Gary Spohr and Wendy Wood. Hours later, Placer County authorities found Mr. Spohr dead from a point-blank gunshot wound. Ms. Wood was clinging to life with two gunshot wounds to the brain. Ms. Wood subsequently died because of the June 5, 2021, incident,” the lawsuit alleged. “Wendy Wood spent a month in the Intensive Care Unit and several weeks in rehab. Wood was forced to relearn basic skills, including how to walk, talk, and eat again. She never regained memory of the June 5, 2021, incident. Eventually, her injuries stemming from the June 5, 2021, incident led to her death.”
Please see updated video below. pic.twitter.com/VyKzmwanek
— Placer Sheriff (@PlacerSheriff) June 10, 2021
The pending litigation likely explains why Adrienne Spohr did not comment directly this week on her sister’s potential “level of involvement” in the shooting, for which Erin has not been charged or accused of any wrongdoing. To be clear, only Danny Serafini and 33-year-old Samantha Scott — described by Adrienne as Erin’s “close friend” — have been accused of criminal wrongdoing. Authorities said Danny Serafini and Samantha Scott “are known to each other and to the victims.”
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.
“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.
Adrienne said that her “proud, giving” parents were “incredibly generous” to both Danny and Erin over the years.
“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.”
As for Samantha Scott, she was reportedly connected to the family as a nanny.
Last Friday, authorities in Humboldt County, Nevada, booked Serafini into jail in the murder, attempted murder, and child abuse/endangerment case to await his extradition to California. Samantha Scott was arrested in Las Vegas and was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on a fugitive warrant. As of early Wednesday afternoon, authorities had not provided an update on when those extraditions will occur.
While a potential alleged motive behind the shooting has not been discussed publicly by investigators, Danny Serafini and Erin Spohr did appear on a 2015 Bar Rescue episode that chronicled the rebranding of a Nevada establishment once known as the Bullpen Bar at Aspen Glen. Though the Sparks-area bar was renamed Oak Tavern, the tavern is no longer open.
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)
During the Bar Rescue episode, the married couple spoke about how Danny Serafini lost millions of dollars from his baseball career to failed investments, a “bitter divorce,” and mounting bar business debts. Erin remarked that the crushing debts had noticeably changed her husband.
Danny Serafini himself commented that he experienced feelings of being a “disappointment.”
“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,” he said on the show.
This week, Adrienne Spohr said her father was the “emotional backbone of our family” and her mother was the “strongest woman I’ve ever known.” Adrienne said she 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.
“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,” she 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.”
In mid-September, weeks before the arrests of Serafini and Scott, the civil case docket included a statement ahead of a scheduled Oct. 2 case management conference. The statement checked off a box that said plaintiffs would be filing a “motion to stay the case pending the criminal charges being filed.”
Law&Crime reached out to Adrienne Spohr’s attorney of record for comment. The docket did not list an attorney of record for the civil case defendants.
Read the lawsuit here.
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