Michael Abatti, 63, allegedly shot dead his wife Kerri Ann Abatti, 59, in their $1.6 million property in Pinetop, Arizona, on November 20

Separated since 2023 after a 31-year marriage and three children, the now estranged couple were in divorce court, wrangling bitterly over finances

The farmer and business tycoon from California has been charged with first-degree in the shooting death of his estranged wife at their remote Arizona vacation home

On December 23, Abatti was arrested at his home in El Centro, California, after investigators uncovered evidence linking him to the shooting

The arrest came on the heels of multiple search warrants executed against property, vehicles, and camp trailers owned by the wealthy farmer

Those warrants led to recovering a ‘significant amount of evidence’ indicating that the suspect traveled between California and Arizona to commit murder 

California farming and businessman Michael Abatti, [right], was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of murdering his estranged wife Kerri Ann Abatti, [left], on their remote Arizona vacation home. He was charged with First-degree murder

A millionaire California farmer and businessman was arrested Tuesday December 23, on suspicion of murdering his estranged wife at their remote Arizona vacation home.
63-year-old Michael Abatti on November 20 allegedly, shot dead his wife of 31 years Kerri Ann Abatti, 59, at their $1.6 million estate in Pinetop, Arizona. 
Abatti, a powerful millionaire farmer and businessman tycoon in California with 20,000 acres under cultivation, was charged Tuesday with First-degree murder in the death of estranged wife.
The couple were reportedly in a bitter divorce at the time of the shooting. According to declarations submitted by Michael Abatti, his wife Kerri Ann left their California home in August 2023 while he was away on a fishing trip.
Kerri Ann Abatti had been living at the couple’s Arizona vacation home during the split. 
Just over a month after the murder, Michael Abatti was arrested at his home in El Centro, California, after investigators said they uncovered evidence linking him to the shooting, according to a release from the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office. 
Investigators allege Mike Abatti traveled from his home in California to Arizona, shot his wife dead, then immediately returned to California. The arrest came on the heels of multiple search warrants executed against property, vehicles, and camp trailers owned by the farming magnate. Those warrants investigators said, led to recovering a ‘significant amount of evidence,’  according to the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office.
The trail of evidence led investigators to believe the suspect traveled between California and Arizona to carry out the killing. 

Victim: Abatti, a 63-year-old influential Imperial Valley farmer has been charged with shooting dead his wife of 31 years, Kerri Ann Abatti, [photo], 59, at their $1.6 million property in Pinetop, Arizona, on Nov. 20 

Abatti reportedly, is one of the most prolific farmers in California’s El Centro area, renowned for its abundant farming industry as it feeds off the Colorado River. 
While Abatti Farms LLC produces over $10 million per year in revenue, however the family’s fortune has been a point of contention when his marriage broke down in 2023. 
California businessman/farmer Micheal Abatti wed former Navajo county beauty queen Kerri Ann Penrod, from Pinetop-Lakeside, Arizona, in 1992. The couple shared three children in their 31 years of marriage, but lately the relationship had turned messy. Now estrange, the couple were in divorce court before Kerri died.
The pair were in a bitter war over finances, with Kerri claiming that her millionaire husband had left her a ‘measly’ allowance after she left him.
Kerri in an October 2023 filing, claimed she had little knowledge of her husband’s finances during their marriage, despite their owning a number of properties including a $12.5 million ranch in Wyoming.

Kerri a native of Pinetop, Arizona, had returned home since 2023, after her decades-long marriage broke down. She was found shot dead inside the family’s $1.6 million home in Pinetop on November 20

In court documents, Kerri who claimed that her husband left managing their Arizona estate to her, said she was ‘barely scraping by each month.’
After their separation, Kerri was granted $5,000 a month in temporary spousal support.
She alleged that Michael expected her to run the 14-acre Pinetop property single-handedly while paying her $5,000 a month as part of a spousal agreement. The support payment she stated, was ‘insufficient’.  
In 2024 she filed for an increase to $30,000, claiming she could not 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. She also asked for an additional $100,000 in attorney’s fee
In January 2025, a judge ruled in Kerri’s favor, increasing her monthly spousal support payment to $6,400. 

Michael Abatti [photo], is one of the most prolific farmers in the El Centro area, with 20,000 acres of crops, yielding over $10 million annually, was arrested Tuesday for first-degree murder in the shooting death of his wife of over three decades

Kerri was a Girl Scout, a cheerleader and a member of the school’s orchestra. When she was a high school senior, she was named Miss Navajo County and earned a $1,000 scholarship to the University of Arizona. However, divorce records indicate that she never graduated from college, she went to obtain a real estate license. She also became an EMT, according to divorce filings.
Overtime eventually certifications lapsed as she went on to work as an office manager for a third-party company. She also worked as a bookkeeper for the Abatti family company, Abatti Farms LLC.

Mike Abatti was arrested on Tuesday Dec. 23 at his home on Aurora Drive in El Centro, California

After the birth of her second child, Kerri worked solely as a bookkeeper for Abatti Farms until 1999, when she stopped working altogether to focus on her family. 
As their bitter divorce wranglings worked it’s way through the court system, in her filing for increased support Kerri highlights that she worked as an office manager and did her family’s bookkeeping, but quit both jobs in 1999 to focus her “time and attention on raising our young family,” a decision her husband supported.
While she performed these duties Kerri Abatti claimed, she was given a $1,000 monthly allowance by her husband, who owns one of the largest agriculture operations in the Imperial Valley.

Investigators executing search warrants against Abatti’s El Centro home on December 2, were seen loading a black gun safe into a truck

In moving back to Arizona during the divorce Kerri’s relatives said, she wanted to reconnect with her roots as her family dated back to the Pinetop community for generations. 
The town was originally settled by Kerri’s Mormon ancestors, William and Polly Penrod, who had moved their family of nine children from Utah to the mountain community more than a century ago. Ultimately that is where she passed.