More than a month after a woman was found shot dead inside her Arizona home, authorities have arrested her estranged husband — a prominent California farming and business figure — and charged him with murder.
According to the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office, 59-year-old Kerri Ann Abatti was discovered dead from a gunshot wound inside her home in Pinetop, Arizona, on Nov. 20. Investigators announced this week that her husband, 63-year-old Michael Abatti, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with her death.
Authorities say the couple was in the middle of a contentious divorce at the time of the killing. While Kerri had returned to Pinetop — a town deeply tied to her family’s history — Michael was living more than 400 miles away in El Centro, California.
Investigators allege Michael made the roughly seven-hour drive from California to Arizona, killed Kerri, and then immediately drove back home.
Michael was taken into custody by Imperial County authorities in California and is currently being held while awaiting extradition to Arizona.
Kerri is being remembered by friends, family, and neighbors as a kind and radiant presence in the tight-knit mountain community. A former Miss Navajo and prom queen, she was also an accomplished violinist known for her thoughtfulness and generosity.
“She was one of those people who radiated light,” her cousin Cathy Penrod told The Los Angeles Times. “She was love and she was light.”
Neighbors echoed those sentiments, recalling that Kerri was always smiling and considerate — even asking visitors to drive slowly down the dirt roads so they wouldn’t kick up dust onto nearby homes.
Michael and Kerri jointly owned Abatti Farms, a large agricultural operation spanning thousands of acres in the El Centro area. Michael also reportedly held financial interests in energy and real estate ventures.
Court filings indicate the divorce took Michael by surprise. He claimed Kerri left the marriage in August 2023 while he was away on a fishing trip.
From early in the investigation, Michael was considered a person of interest. On Dec. 3, the sheriff’s office confirmed investigators were executing search warrants on multiple properties, vehicles, and trailers connected to the Abatti family.
In an update announcing the arrest, authorities said they seized a “significant amount of evidence” during those searches, ultimately leading to murder charges being filed.
Michael Abatti is currently being held in a California jail and will be transferred to Arizona to face prosecution in the coming days.
CA again .Are the people crazy in this state