Overview
- Placer County Superior Court Judge Garen J. Horst imposed the life-without-parole sentence following Serafini’s 2025 convictions for first-degree murder, attempted murder and burglary.
- Jurors found special circumstances of lying-in-wait and felony murder, along with firearm allegations, supporting the no-parole term under California law.
- Prosecutors said Serafini broke into his in-laws’ Homewood home, waited inside and shot Robert Gary Spohr and Wendy Wood; Spohr died and Wood later died by suicide.
- A Feb. 20 ruling denied Serafini’s motion for a new trial; at sentencing he maintained his innocence while the court heard emotional victim impact statements from family and friends.
- Samantha Scott, who pleaded guilty as an accessory, testified she drove Serafini to the scene and saw a gun and a makeshift silencer; a restitution hearing is set for March 16 and the defense plans an appeal within 60 days.