Prominent California farmer pleads not guilty to killing estranged wife in Arizona

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HOLBROOK, Ariz. (AP) — A prominent California farmer has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in the shooting death of his estranged wife at her home in an eastern Arizona mountain community.

Michael Abatti, 63, made his first appearance Wednesday in Navajo County Superior Court after being extradited from El Centro, California, where he was arrested on an Arizona charge in the killing of Kerri Ann Abatti. She was found dead at a home in Pinetop, Arizona, where she moved after splitting with her husband.

While prosecutors say Michael Abatti is being held in the Navajo County jail on a $5.5 million bond, Owen Roth, one of his attorneys, said his client is able to post bond.

Investigators say Michael Abatti traveled from El Centro to Pinetop on Nov. 20, carried out the killing and returned to California early the next morning.

Kerri Abatti, a descendant of early Latter-day Saints settlers who helped found Pinetop in the 1880s, had filed for divorce, with proceedings pending in California at the time of her death.

Michael Abatti comes from a long line of farmers in the crop-rich Imperial Valley, which is the biggest user of Colorado River water and known for growing leafy greens, melons and forage crops. His grandfather, an Italian immigrant, was among the region’s early settlers and his father helped start the Imperial Valley Vegetable Growers Association.

The couple, who married in 1992 and had three children, split in 2023 and were sparring over finances in their divorce proceedings.