Former Major League Baseball pitcher Dan Serafini (49) has been arrested on suspicion of murder.
Serafini was arrested for the murder and attempted murder of his father-in-law, NBC News reported on Nov. 22 (KST). The Placer County Sheriff’s Office in California said it arrested Serafini in Winnemucca, Nevada, in connection with a murder that occurred in North Lake Tahoe in 2021. A 33-year-old woman, Samantha Scott, who allegedly conspired in the case, was also arrested at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas.
Serafini is accused of killing his 70-year-old father-in-law on June 6, 2021, at a home in North Lake Tahoe. His father-in-law was found dead from a gunshot wound, and his then 68-year-old mother-in-law, who was nearby, was also shot. The mother-in-law recovered after being taken to the hospital, but took her own life a year later.
Authorities obtained surveillance footage from the neighborhood and identified Serafini wearing a hood and carrying a backpack with his face covered as he entered the house where the incident occurred. After more than two years of investigation, investigators gathered evidence and identified Serafini and Scott as suspects. Authorities have only said that the two men were acquaintances, but have not revealed any specific relationship. Scott was reportedly a nanny for the Serafini family, according to various media outlets, but the exact motive for the crime remains unclear.
Serafini was a left-handed pitching prospect who was selected by the Minnesota Twins with the 26th overall pick in the first round of the 1992 draft. After making his major league debut in 1996, he spent seven seasons with the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies, going 15-16 with a 6.04 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 104 games (33 starts, 263⅔ innings) through 2007.스포츠토토
He also played professional baseball in Japan. In four seasons with the Chiba Lotte Marines (2004-2005) and the Orix Buffaloes (2006-2007), he went 18-17 with a 4.13 ERA and 217 strikeouts in 74 games (45 starts-298⅔ innings). He also played with Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yeop, who was a foreign-born hitter for Chiba Lotte in 2004 and 2005.
He also had a brief stint in Korea. In May 2002, the Hanwha Eagles, who had released foreign-born pitcher Amaury Garcia, were looking for a new foreign-born pitcher and agreed to terms with Serafini for a total of $170,000. On May 22, Serafini announced his signing, but it was determined that he was not eligible to play in the KBO because he did not meet the rules for hiring foreign players, so he left Korea without throwing a single pitch. At the time, according to Article 6 of the KBO’s Foreign Employment Policy, players who were on the Major League Baseball expanded roster after Sept. 1 of the previous year were not allowed to play in Korea.
Serafini had played for Pittsburgh since September 2000, and at the time of his contract, he was not eligible to be signed due to KBO employment rules. Hanwha was unaware of this, and Serafini arrived in South Korea unannounced, even meeting with the team before a May 22 game against Doosan in Jamsil. The contract ended up being voided, and Serafini left South Korea two days later without throwing a single pitch.
After a brief stint in Taiwan in August of that year, Serafini traveled to Japan and returned to the major leagues in September 2007 in a Colorado uniform. But in November of that year, he tested positive for a banned substance and was suspended for 50 games. At the time, Serafini said, “I used a drug prescribed by a doctor to help me recover from an injury in Japan. I didn’t realize it was a banned substance. I didn’t take it when I came to the United States,” but that was the end of his major league career.
Serafini went on to play in Mexico and the independent leagues before retiring in 2013, reportedly opening a bar and running a baseball academy in Sparks, Nevada. He hasn’t been heard from since, but his sudden appearance as a suspect in a murder case is shocking.