California Farmer Pleads Not Guilty in Wife's Murder

A prominent California farmer pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of his estranged wife at her home in the eastern Arizona mountain community of Pinetop. Michael Abatti, 63, of El Centro, California, was extradited from Imperial County and appeared in Navajo County Superior Court in Holbrook, where he faces a $5.5 million bond. Prosecutors allege he traveled about 500 miles from his home to Pinetop on November 20, fatally shot Kerri Ann Abatti, 59, and returned to California early the next morning.

Kerri Abatti was found unconscious on the floor near her kitchen by her nephew, who had heard a loud noise earlier that evening. An autopsy confirmed she died from a single gunshot wound to the head, with investigators determining the shot likely came from outside the home through a window based on a circular defect found at the scene. The couple's 7,000-square-foot property in Pinetop, a family vacation home in the White Mountains, had become Kerri Abatti's primary residence after she separated from her husband in 2023.

Law enforcement launched an immediate investigation following the discovery of her body. Officers from the Navajo...