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California farmer accused of killing his estranged wife
The Navajo County Sheriff's Office held a news conference on Dec. 29 to provide new information on the arrest of a California farming mogul who they say shot and killed his estranged wife in Pinetop.
PHOENIX - Sheriff's officials in Navajo County gave more details on Dec. 29 in connection with a murder case that allegedly involved a farming mogul out of California.
The backstory:
We first reported on the murder of Kerri Ann Abatti on Dec. 5.
Navajo County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Brian Swanty said on the night of Nov. 20, first responders were sent to the victim's home, after a family member inside the home called 911.
When crews arrived, Swanty said they found the victim, since identified as 59-year-old Kerri Ann Abatti, suffering from a gunshot wound.
"She was pronounced deceased while en route to the hospital," Swanty said.
On Dec. 23, we reported that 63-year-old Michael Abatti of El Centro, Calif. was arrested in connection with Kerri Ann's death.
According to a Dec. 24 article by the Associated Press, Abatti comes from a long line of farmers in the region bordering Arizona, and his grandfather, an Italian immigrant, was among the region’s early settlers.
The Abatti name, per the article, is known throughout the region and tied to farming enterprises, scholarship funds and leadership in local boards and groups.
As for Abatti himself, he and Kerri were married in 1992, and had three children.
Timeline:
NCSO held a news conference on Abatti's arrest on Dec. 29, where they said the investigation involved several law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, and that investigators spent four days investigating the home.
During the news conference, officials also said that investigators made two trips to El Centro between November and early December, talking to family members, friends, and anyone else who were close to Abatti and Kerri.
"There’s a lot of that that put the puzzle pieces together for us," said Navajo County Sheriff David Clouse. "We went door to door, everywhere in between, and we were working that canvassed between here and El Centro and here."
Michael Abatti (Imperial County Sheriffs Office)
Detectives eventually followed leads in El Centro, and they spoke with family and friends of the Abattis. They also executed search warrants at Abatti's home and business at the California community.
"When talking to friends, family, and everybody in the area and not only in Arizona and California, that’s one of the topics that came up in almost all interviews is the separation of the family and how things were being drawn out," said Navajo County Sheriff David Clouse.
Dig deeper:
Abatti and Kerri split in 2023, and Kerri filed for divorce in proceedings that were pending in California at the time of her death.
The Abattis were sparring over finances, with Kerri telling the court the couple had lived an upper-class lifestyle during more than three decades of marriage. They owned a large home in California, a vacation home in Pinetop and ranch land in Wyoming and vacationed in Switzerland, Italy and Hawaii while sending their children to private school, she said.
After the split, Kerri was granted $5,000 a month in temporary spousal support, but last year asked for an increase to $30,000, saying she couldn’t maintain her standard of living as she quit her job as a bookkeeper and office manager for the family farm in 1999 to stay home with the couple’s three children. Kerri, who previously held a real estate license in Arizona, also asked for an additional $100,000 in attorney’s fees, court filings show.
"I am barely scraping by each month, am handling all of the manual labor on our large property in Arizona and continuing its upkeep," she wrote in court filings earlier this year, adding she was living near her elderly parents. Kerri said she also needed to buy a newer car because her 2011 vehicle had more than 280,000 miles (450,600 kilometers) on it and sorely needed repairs.
Abatti said in a legal filing that he couldn’t afford the increase after two bad farming years took a toll on his monthly income. He said European shifts in crop-buying to support war-plagued Ukrainian farmers and rising shipping costs were to blame along with an unusually cold and wet winter.
He said in mid-2024 it cost $1,000 to grow an acre of wheat that he could sell for $700, and that he was receiving about $22,000 a month to run the farm as the business struggled to pay its creditors in full.
"The income available at this time does not warrant any increase in the amount to which the parties stipulated, let alone an increase to $30,000 per month," Lee Hejmanowski, Abatti’s family law attorney, wrote in court papers.
Days later, Abatti agreed to increase temporary spousal support payments to $6,400 a month, court filings show.
It should be noted that the motive of Kerri's murder remains unclear, as court documents in the case are currently sealed.
The other side:
According to the AP, Abatti's attorneys said in a statement that Abatti "has devoted himself to his family, to his work, and to his community," and will be entering a not-guilty plea.
His attorneys added they are "deeply concerned" about his health, as he suffers from numerous medical conditions requiring ongoing treatment and access to specialized care.
What's next:
It is unclear when Abatti will be extradited back to Arizona, but we have learned that Abatti has waived extradition.
The Source: Information for this article was gathered by FOX 10's Justin Lum, with additional information gathered from previous, relevant FOX 10 news reports, and from relevant reports by the Associated Press.