Background: Kerri Ann Abatti”s home in Pinetop, Arizona (KPNX/YouTube). Inset: Michael Abatti (Mike Abatti Farms).
A prominent California agricultural tycoon is accused of traveling to Arizona with the intent to kill his estranged wife amid a contentious divorce involving a $200 million trust. According to court documents, the businessman, Michael Abatti, informed his family he was going “hunting in the desert” before allegedly using a “high-powered rifle” to commit the crime.
Michael Abatti, aged 63, is charged with first-degree murder for the alleged shooting of his former wife, Kerri Ann Abatti, who was 59 years old at the time of her death last November.
Documents released by the Los Angeles Times following a court decision to make them public, detail that on the night of Kerri Ann’s death, Michael Abatti was unreachable when her family attempted to contact him. His relatives reported to authorities that he had mentioned going “hunting in the desert,” as described in a police affidavit.
That day, Abatti’s Ford pickup was recorded on license plate readers traveling south in El Centro, California, and later leaving an area known for hunting around 1:30 p.m. It was later detected in Globe, Arizona, approximately at 6:30 p.m. local time, according to the affidavit.
Authorities arrived at Kerri Ann Abatti’s residence near Bruin Way and Branding Iron Loop in Pinetop, Arizona, around 9:20 p.m., discovering her dead from a gunshot wound. Her nephew, who shared the home with her, reported hearing a loud noise and subsequently found her in the dining room, “bleeding from the face,” the affidavit states.
Investigators noted a bullet hole in a dining room window, but no additional physical evidence or weapon was found inside. A gun-sniffing dog detected a scent approximately 30 yards from the house, leading police to conclude that Kerri Ann Abatti was shot from outside with a “high-powered rifle,” as per 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.
