A prominent California farmer was arrested Tuesday in the Imperial Valley on suspicion of murdering his estranged wife, who was found dead in November in Arizona.
Michael Abatti, 63, was taken into custody in El Centro at about 3:20 pm, according to a news release from the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office.
Kerri Ann Abatti was shot and killed on Nov. 20 in Arizona’s Navajo County.
Michael Abatti was booked into the Imperial County Jail on charges of first-degree murder and is awaiting extradition to Arizona.
Earlier on Tuesday, detectives provided testimony to the Navajo County grand jury and obtained an indictment and an arrest warrant from the county’s Superior Court.
The arrest comes after weeks of investigative police work in both Arizona and California. On Dec. 2, detectives served multiple search warrants on Abatti family residences and properties, as well as vehicles and camp trailers, in El Centro.
The couple lived in El Centro before Kerri Abatti left in 2023 for Pinetop-Lakeside, Ariz. — her hometown in the eastern White Mountains. The couple was embroiled in a bitter and contentious court battle over spousal support.
Divorce filings show Kerri accused her husband of stonewalling her attempts to learn the full picture of their income and real estate holdings while he made changes to their finances without consulting her or her attorney. Meanwhile, she contended, she was struggling to stay afloat on the several thousand dollars in monthly spousal support that the court temporarily awarded her as the proceedings stretched on for more than two years.
“As the investigation continued, a significant amount of evidence was seized, some of which is still being analyzed, leading the detectives to identify Michael Abatti” as the suspect in the murder of his estranged wife, wrote officials from Navajo County in the news release.
The multistate investigative team found evidence suggesting that Abatti had traveled from California on Nov. 20 to Pinetop-Lakeside, where he is “believed to have shot and killed Kerri Ann Abatti” before immediately returning to California, according to the release.
“We extend our sincere condolences to Kerri’s family and to all those affected by this tragedy,” Navajo County Sheriff David Clouse said.
He also thanked other police agencies that had worked on the case, including the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office, the Imperial County district attorney, George Marquez, and “all of the Arizona agencies that have been instrumental in this investigation.”
Abatti owns a large farming operation in the Imperial Valley, growing crops including sugar beets, alfalfa and melons.
He has been an influential figure in the community. He served as a board member of the Imperial Irrigation District from 2006 to 2010. He later sued the irrigation district in a dispute over water rights.
The Abatti family has been farming in the valley for more than a century. Other Abatti relatives run their own separate farming businesses.
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