A prominent Southern California farmer has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the shooting death of his estranged wife in northern Arizona. Michael Abatti, 63, was taken into custody Tuesday in El Centro, California, and faces first-degree murder charges in the death of Kerri Ann Abatti, 59, according to the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators believe Abatti drove from California to Pinetop, Arizona, on Nov. 20, where his wife had been living, and fatally shot her at the family’s wooded vacation home before returning across the state line. Deputies found Kerri Abatti’s body later that day. She had relocated to Pinetop after separating from her husband in 2023.
Authorities searched Abatti’s El Centro home on Dec. 2 as part of the investigation. He remains jailed in California, awaiting extradition to Arizona. An attorney representing Abatti has not commented publicly on the case.
The Abatti family is well known throughout the Imperial Valley, a fertile region near the Mexican border known for its vast crop production and heavy reliance on Colorado River water. Michael Abatti, who has grown onions, broccoli, and melons, once served on the board of the influential Imperial Irrigation District from 2006 to 2010. His grandfather, an Italian immigrant, helped establish farming in the region, and the family name has long been tied to agriculture, local organizations, and scholarship funds.
Court filings show the couple’s marriage had deteriorated into a bitter legal dispute over finances. Married in 1992, the Abattis shared three children and owned properties in California, Arizona, and Wyoming. Kerri, who left her job at the family farm in 1999 to raise their children, sought higher spousal support in 2024, saying she was struggling to maintain the lifestyle the couple once enjoyed. Michael, however, argued his farm was suffering from poor crop yields, global market shifts, and rising costs, claiming he couldn’t afford her request.
Kerri, a descendant of one of Pinetop’s earliest Latter-day Saints settlers, had written in court filings earlier this year that she was “barely scraping by” while maintaining the family’s Arizona property.
The case has drawn attention not only because of the Abatti family’s prominence in the Imperial Valley but also for the tragic unraveling of a decades-long marriage once rooted in shared success and community ties.
Authorities in Navajo County continue to investigate the killing, with updates expected once Abatti is extradited to Arizona. More information can be found through the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office.
