Background: Kerri Ann Abatti's home in Pinetop, Arizona (KPNX/YouTube). Inset: Michael Abatti (Mike Abatti Farms).
A California farming magnate who is accused of fatally shooting his estranged wife — amid a divorce involving a $200 million trust — told his family he was going "hunting in the desert" before traveling to his former spouse's home in Arizona to blow her away with a "higher-powered rifle," according to court documents.
Michael Abatti, 63, is facing a first-degree murder charge for allegedly killing Kerri Ann Abatti, 59, last November.
Court documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times this week — following a court hearing to unseal them — outline how Abatti could not be found on the night of Kerri Ann Abatti's death when her family tried reaching him to tell the El Centro farming mogul what happened. His relatives told cops that he claimed to be "hunting in the desert" at the time, according to a police affidavit.
Abatti's Ford pickup truck was spotted on license plate readers that day heading south in El Centro and leaving an area in California where he typically hunts at about 1:30 p.m., according to the affidavit. It was allegedly spotted on license plate readers in Globe, Ariz., at about 6:30 p.m. local time.
Deputies responded to Kerri Ann Abatti's home in the area of Bruin Way and Branding Iron Loop in Pinetop, Arizona, around 9:20 p.m. and found her dead from a gunshot wound. Her nephew, who lived at the residence with Kerri Ann, reported hearing a loud bang before finding her in their dining room "bleeding from the face," the affidavit says.
Police allegedly found a bullet hole in one of the dining room windows but no other evidence of a shooting or gun inside the residence. Investigators determined that Kerri Ann Abatti was shot by a person outside the home after a gun-sniffing dog alerted cops to a scent roughly 30 yards away. Police believe a "higher-powered rifle" was used, according to the affidavit.
Michael Abatti's truck was caught on license plate readers in Globe, Ariz., at 11:41 p.m. and then again at his hunting grounds in California at 4:40 a.m., the affidavit says.
Police believe Abatti made the seven-hour drive to allegedly shoot and kill his estranged wife, then he "immediately returned to California" to try and take his own life.
"He attempted to kill himself because of an incident involving his wife," Abatti told EMS workers after he called 911 and they responded, per the affidavit.
According to the Times and Associated Press, the Abattis separated in 2023 and Kerri Ann Abatti moved to the Pinetop house, which was their vacation home. 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, with a $200 million trust being involved, the Times reports.
"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 reportedly married in 1992 and had three children. 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.
Conrad Hoyt contributed to this report.
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