Former Serra High baseball star Dan Serafini was convicted on Monday by a Placer County jury of first-degree murder and attempted murder in the 2021 shooting of his wife’s parents.

Serafini, the 26th overall pick in the 1992 draft who pitched for seven seasons in the majors, was found guilty of shooting his father-in-law, Gary Spohr, and severely wounding his mother-in-law, Wendy Wood on June 5, 2021 at the couple’s Lake Tahoe-area home. Serafini also was convicted of first-degree burglary.

Serafini, a 51-year-old graduate of the San Mateo private school, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole. Sentencing has been set for Aug. 18.

Prosecutors told the jury that Serafini snuck into his in-laws’ house on the West Shore of Lake Tahoe while his wife and their two children were spending time with her parents on the lake and he waited four hours for his family to leave and head back to their home in Reno before he ambushed the couple.

Spohr, who was 70, was shot once in the head and found dead at the scene by deputies. Wood, who was 68, initially survived two shots to the head and called authorities, but died a year later.

Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Miller, who prosecuted Serafini, told the jury that Serafini hated his wife’s wealthy parents and told others he was willing to pay $20,000 to have them killed, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Money was believed to play a role in the killings. Serafini, who made approximately $14 million in his pro baseball career, was in debt due to poor investments.

Serafini graduated from Serra in 1992 and was a first-round pick of the Minnesota Twins. He pitched for six teams over a seven-year MLB career and had a stint in the Giants’ minor league system. After pitching for the Colorado Rockies in 2007, he received a 50-game suspension for testing positive for a banned substance.

Serafini was arrested in October 2023 in Nevada and charged with the murder of Spohr and the attempted murder of Wood. Samantha Scott, a former family nanny, accepted a plea deal and became a witness in the prosecution’s case against Serafini.

— Michael Nowels and Laurence Miedema

COLLEGEs

Less than two weeks after terms of a multibillion-dollar college sports settlement went into effect, friction erupted over the definition of a “valid business purpose” that collectives making name, image likeness payments to players are supposed to have.

The new College Sports Commission sent a letter to athletic directors last week saying it was rejecting deals in which players were receiving money from collectives that were created solely to pay them and don’t provide goods or services to the general public for profit.

A lead attorney for the players responded by saying those instructions went against settlement terms and asking the CSC to rescind the guidance.

When NIL payments became allowed in 2021, boosters formed so-called “collectives” that were closely tied to universities to work out contracts with the players, who still weren’t allowed to be paid directly by the schools.

NFL

The New York Jets and wide receiver Garrett Wilson have agreed on a four-year, $130 million contract extension, a person familiar with the situation said.

Wilson, drafted 10th overall in 2022, was the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year.

MOTORSPORTS

The two race teams suing NASCAR over antitrust allegations filed for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to be recognized as chartered organizations for the remainder of 2025.

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports are locked in a lengthy legal battle over the charter system, which is the equivalent of the franchise model in other sports. 23XI, owned by retired NBA great Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row, owned by entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, last September rejected NASCAR’s final proposal on extensions and instead filed an antitrust suit.

The teams were set to lose their charters Wednesday.