Background: Kerri Ann Abatti”s home in Pinetop, Arizona (KPNX/YouTube). Inset: Michael Abatti (Mike Abatti Farms).
A prominent California farmer has been accused of shooting and killing his estranged wife at their vacation residence in Arizona, according to authorities.
Michael Abatti, 63, faces charges of first-degree murder following the death of his 59-year-old wife, Kerri Ann Abatti. The announcement came from the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona. Abatti was apprehended in El Centro, California, on Tuesday afternoon and is currently held at the Imperial County Jail, 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.
Law enforcement officers discovered Kerri Ann Abatti deceased from a gunshot wound inside the home.
Investigators spent several days meticulously examining the crime scene and gathering evidence. On December 2, they executed numerous search warrants at properties, including residences, vehicles, and camp trailers linked to the Abatti family in El Centro, California. As of Tuesday, some of the evidence was still under analysis, according to the sheriff’s office.
The investigation pointed to Michael Abatti as the suspect. Authorities believe he traveled from California’s agricultural heartland to eastern Arizona—a journey of about seven hours—to commit the crime before quickly returning to California. On Tuesday, detectives secured an indictment and arrest warrant, leading to his arrest.
As reported by The Associated Press, the Pinetop residence served as a vacation home for the couple. Following their separation in 2023, Kerri Ann Abatti moved there. She had filed for divorce, and legal proceedings were ongoing at the time of her death. Financial disputes over money reportedly owed to her were part of the conflicts between them.
“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.
