A prominent Southern California farming mogul is accused of traveling to Arizona to carry out the fatal shooting of his estranged wife, who had filed for divorce two years prior.
Michael Abatti, a member of an influential farming family in California’s Imperial Valley, was arrested Tuesday after an Arizona grand jury indicted him on murder charges in the death of his wife of 31 years, Kerri Ann Abatti.
The 59-year-old mother of three was found dead on November 20 at the couple’s second home in the small community of Pinetop in Arizona’s White Mountains.
The pair separated in August 2023 and Michael Abatti resided in El Centro, California, while Kerri Ann Abatti moved to the Arizona home, which was also near her aging parents. She filed for divorce that October, citing irreconcilable differences, according to court records.
Records showed that the divorce proceedings had grown contentious in court and the process began to drag on, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Kerri Ann Abatti accused her husband of “stonewalling” her attempts to understand the couple’s income and real estate holdings “while he made changes to their finances without consulting her or her attorney,” records seen by the newspaper stated.
She reportedly argued that she was “barely scraping by” on monthly spousal support from Michael Abatti that was temporarily awarded to her by the court.
He is accused of traveling more than 400 miles to the home on 14 acres in Pinetop and shooting his estranged wife, who died from her injuries on the way to the hospital after a relative discovered her, according to Chief Deputy Brian Swanty of the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office.
The divorce was pending on the day she died.
Detectives carried out search warrants at properties and vehicles tied to the prominent farming Abatti family in El Centro on December 2, where they found “a significant amount of evidence” that led them to name Michael Abatti as a suspect, the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
“Detectives worked with multiple police agencies in the state of Arizona and in the state of California to develop information and evidence leading to probable cause to believe that Michael Abatti traveled from the state of California on November 20, 2025, to Pinetop, Arizona, where he is believed to have shot and killed Kerri Ann Abatti, and then immediately returned to California,” the statement said.
At high school, Kerri Ann Penrod was named prom queen, went on to be named Miss Navajo County, and was a talented violinist.
After the birth of her second child, she quit her job as an office manager to focus on raising the children at home but continued to work as a bookkeeper for Abatti Farms, LLC, according to the Times.
The Abatti family enjoyed the high life, according to a profile in the newspaper. They reportedly vacationed in Europe and Hawaii with the children, traveling first class and staying in luxury five-star hotels. The three children, reported to be in their young teens, all attended private school.
Kerri Ann Abatti returned to Pinetop, her ancestral home and a strictly religious community, to support her parents in August 2023, according to the Times.
Her family told the outlet that they didn’t know what drove her to leave her husband.
Michael Abatti was booked into the Imperial County Jail and is awaiting extradition to Arizona.
