Background: Kerri Ann Abatti's home in Pinetop, Arizona (KPNX/YouTube). Inset: Michael Abatti (Mike Abatti Farms).
A farming magnate in California is accused of fatally shooting his estranged wife at their home in a remote area across the state border in Arizona.
Michael Abatti, 63, has been charged with the first-degree murder of 59-year-old Kerri Ann Abatti, the Navajo County, Arizona, Sheriff's Office announced. He was arrested on Tuesday afternoon in El Centro, California, booked into the Imperial County Jail, and awaiting extradition to Arizona.
On Nov. 20 at 9:20 p.m., deputies responded to a home in the area of Bruin Way and Branding Iron Loop in Pinetop, Arizona, a small town in the eastern part of the state. Someone inside the house had called 911 to report a medical emergency, according to Mesa, Arizona-based NBC affiliate KPNX.
Deputies entered the home and found Kerri Ann Abatti dead from a gunshot wound.
Detectives spent the ensuing days continuing to process the scene and collect evidence. On Dec. 2, they "served multiple search warrants on residences, properties, vehicles, and camp trailers associated with the Abatti family in El Centro, California." Some of that evidence was still being analyzed as of Tuesday, the sheriff's office added.
The investigation led them to Michael Abatti, who they believe traveled from the agricultural-rich part of southern California to eastern Arizona — roughly a seven-hour drive — shot and killed his estranged wife, "and then immediately returned to California." On Tuesday, detectives secured an indictment and arrest warrant for the suspect and detained him.
According to The Associated Press, the Pinetop house was the couple's vacation home, and Kerri Ann Abatti moved there after they separated in 2023. She had filed for divorce, and proceedings were ongoing at the time of her death. They are said to have disagreed over money she was owed.
"I am barely scraping by each month, am handling all of the manual labor on our large property in Arizona and continuing its upkeep," Kerri Ann Abatti reportedly wrote in court filings earlier this year. Michael Abatti, for his part, said he couldn't afford to raise her monthly spousal support from $5,000 to her requested $30,000 due to two bad farming years. He eventually agreed to pay $6,400 a month.
The couple married in 1992 and had three children, AP reported. In addition to having homes in California and Arizona, they also held ranch land in Wyoming, vacationed in Hawaii, Italy, and Switzerland, and sent their children to private school.
Mike Abatti Farms, which is based in El Centro, California, "has been in the agriculture industry for over 100 years," according to its website.
In 2021, Abatti asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision by the California Court of Appeals' 4th Appellate District, which held that the Imperial Irrigation District was the "sole owner" of water rights in the Imperial Valley, not farmers.
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