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Nearly two years after her husband was killed in a case that captivated Lake Tahoe and far beyond, the horror of it finally overwhelmed Wendy Wood. In the worst way possible. Wood had been shot twice in the head after an intruder broke into the couples home on the west shore of the lake and

Nearly two years after her husband was killed in a case that captivated Lake Tahoe and far beyond, the horror of it finally overwhelmed Wendy Wood. In the worst way possible.

Wood had been shot twice in the head after an intruder broke into the couple’s home on the west shore of the lake and peppered them with what he must have thought was a fatal fusillade of gunfire. Wood’s husband, Robert Spohr, died. Wood survived — but suffered from disability, depression and a longing for the man she’d been with for 50 years.

On March 9, in a senior home where she’d been slowly regaining strength, Wood killed herself. She was 70, the same age as her husband when he died.

Now her daughter Adrienne Spohr, already filled with a hunger for justice, is even more determined than ever to catch the man who killed her father — and, in her mind, killed her mother as well. Deputies responded to a 911 call from a Placer County home in Homewood on June 5, 2023. 70-year-old Robert Gary Spohr was found deceased as a result of a single gun shot wound. Video: Courtesy of Placer County Sheriff's Office

“She couldn’t handle it, the loss,” Spohr said from her Petaluma home. “She missed my dad like crazy. She was just stunned. It was like the killer killed her too. When we bring that person to justice, I certainly hope they are held accountable for both deaths. They are very much responsible for both.”

She said the shots that felled her dad and ruined her mom also left her with emotional scars that still gape wide. Only the capture of those responsible for the savagery can start true healing, she said. More Information If you need help

If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, call the free 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing “988” 24 hours a day or text “HOME” to 741741 to reach a crisis counselor anytime

“It’s awful,” Spohr said. “You can’t really ever go back to normal. There’s this big question mark floating — something horrific happened, and yet it’s like … everyone else goes on with their lives, but there’s this chasm in your life.

“You have your suspicions, but no one has yet been brought to justice.”

She believes the killer knew her parents “directly,” and she stays in close contact with the sheriff’s office in Placer County, where the victims’ towering chalet-style home sat in an upscale neighborhood alongside the lake and the Homewood ski resort.

Investigators said they have new clues that lead them to think someone may have hired the shooter to kill the couple on June 5, 2021 — and that whoever put up the money for the job or pulled the trigger may be from the Reno area.

The killing happened on a sunny Saturday with plenty of people around; the house sits next to the popular Hurricane Bay Beach and a busy bike path. There was no sign of forced entry, detectives said, and no reports that day of anything suspicious in the area.

The main clue into how the shooter got into the house comes from a surveillance video showing what officials believe to be a man loping up the driveway in the afternoon before 5:30 p.m., wearing a hoodie and a white mask over his face.

Once inside, detectives believe the shooter waited for the couple to arrive home. And when they did, sometime before 10 p.m., the killer pounced, shooting both in the head at point-blank range. He then fled, taking nothing from the house with him.

Wood managed to regain consciousness just long enough to dial 911, and though she couldn’t speak, dispatchers could tell something was wrong and sent officers to the home. There, they found Spohr dead near a fireplace on the second floor. Wood was prone in the bathroom. Her daughter thinks their dog, Maggie, licked her out of concern long enough to revive her to make the phone call.

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