\n\t\t\t\t\t\tInvestigators declined to reveal the suspected motive in the shooting death of a prominent California farmer\u2019s estranged wife in eastern Arizona, but they said the couple’s prolonged divorce case arose in nearly all interviews with family and friends.Michael Abatti, 63, was arrested last week in El Centro, California, in the shooting death of Kerri Ann Abatti, 59, at her family\u2019s vacation home in Pinetop, Arizona, where she moved after splitting with her husband.Investigators, who discussed the case at a news conference Monday, say Michael Abatti traveled from El Centro to Pinetop on Nov. 20, carried out the killing and returned to California early the next morning. They declined to say what occurred at the Pinetop house in the last days of Kerri Abatti\u2019s life.\u201cDifferent theories will come up,\u201d Navajo County Sheriff David Clouse said of the motive. \u201cThe only thing that\u2019s glaring that I think everybody already knows is there\u2019s a divorce in place and they weren\u2019t able to come to a resolution. But I can\u2019t speak exactly to what the motive would be.\u201dOwen Roth, one of Michael Abatti\u2019s attorneys, said his client surrendered to law enforcement, agreed to be extradited to Arizona and remains innocent under the law. \u201cOur client is in his mid-60s and has significant health issues, and we continue to worry about his well-being,\u201d Roth said. \u201cWe ask the public to respect his privacy and constitutional rights and reiterate that this case will be decided based on the evidence by a jury.\u201d An autopsy report released Monday said Kerri Abatti\u2019s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.The report said she was found unconscious on the floor near her kitchen by her nephew, who told investigators he heard a loud sound before finding her. When investigators searched the home they found a \u201ccircular defect\u201d on a window and determined \u201ca gunshot likely originated from the yard outside the home,\u201d the autopsy report said.The Associated Press left a message for the Navajo County Sheriff\u2019s Office for further explanation. The medical examiner\u2019s office in Coconino County, which conducted the autopsy, directed questions about the report to a Navajo County official, and the AP also left a message for the official. A descendant of early Latter-day Saints settlers who helped found Pinetop in the 1880s, Kerri had filed for divorce, with proceedings pending in California at the time of her death.Authorities searched his home in far Southern California on Dec. 2 as part of the investigation into his wife\u2019s 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\u2019s early settlers and his father helped start the Imperial Valley Vegetable Growers Association.Michael Abatti served on the board of the powerful Imperial Irrigation District from 2006 to 2010.The Abattis, who married in 1992 and had three children, were sparring over finances. Kerri told the court the couple had lived an affluent lifestyle during more than three decades of marriage. They owned property in three states, vacationed internationally and sent their children to private school.Kerri initially received $5,000 monthly temporary spousal support. She later sought an increase, citing struggles to maintain her standard of living as well as keep up the Arizona property. She also asked for an additional $100,000 in attorney\u2019s fees, court filings showed.Michael Abatti eventually agreed to raise support to $6,400 monthly, despite having countered in a court filing that poor farming years had reduced his income. He blamed market shifts favoring Ukrainian crops, rising shipping costs and harsh weather.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tHOLBROOK, Ariz. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Investigators declined to reveal the suspected motive in the shooting death of a prominent California farmer\u2019s estranged wife in eastern Arizona, but they said the couple’s prolonged divorce case arose in nearly all interviews with family and friends.<\/p>\n
Michael Abatti, 63, was arrested last week in El Centro, California, in the shooting death of Kerri Ann Abatti, 59, at her family\u2019s vacation home in Pinetop, Arizona, where she moved after splitting with her husband.<\/p>\n
Investigators, who discussed the case at a news conference Monday, say Michael Abatti traveled from El Centro to Pinetop on Nov. 20, carried out the killing and returned to California early the next morning. They declined to say what occurred at the Pinetop house in the last days of Kerri Abatti\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
\u201cDifferent theories will come up,\u201d Navajo County Sheriff David Clouse said of the motive. \u201cThe only thing that\u2019s glaring that I think everybody already knows is there\u2019s a divorce in place and they weren\u2019t able to come to a resolution. But I can\u2019t speak exactly to what the motive would be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Owen Roth, one of Michael Abatti\u2019s attorneys, said his client surrendered to law enforcement, agreed to be extradited to Arizona and remains innocent under the law. \u201cOur client is in his mid-60s and has significant health issues, and we continue to worry about his well-being,\u201d Roth said. \u201cWe ask the public to respect his privacy and constitutional rights and reiterate that this case will be decided based on the evidence by a jury.\u201d An autopsy report released Monday said Kerri Abatti\u2019s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.<\/p>\n
The report said she was found unconscious on the floor near her kitchen by her nephew, who told investigators he heard a loud sound before finding her. When investigators searched the home they found a \u201ccircular defect\u201d on a window and determined \u201ca gunshot likely originated from the yard outside the home,\u201d the autopsy report said.<\/p>\n
The Associated Press left a message for the Navajo County Sheriff\u2019s Office for further explanation. The medical examiner\u2019s office in Coconino County, which conducted the autopsy, directed questions about the report to a Navajo County official, and the AP also left a message for the official. A descendant of early Latter-day Saints settlers who helped found Pinetop in the 1880s, Kerri had filed for divorce, with proceedings pending in California at the time of her death.<\/p>\n
Authorities searched his home in far Southern California on Dec. 2 as part of the investigation into his wife\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s early settlers and his father helped start the Imperial Valley Vegetable Growers Association.<\/p>\n
Michael Abatti served on the board of the powerful Imperial Irrigation District from 2006 to 2010.<\/p>\n
The Abattis, who married in 1992 and had three children, were sparring over finances. Kerri told the court the couple had lived an affluent lifestyle during more than three decades of marriage. They owned property in three states, vacationed internationally and sent their children to private school.<\/p>\n
Kerri initially received $5,000 monthly temporary spousal support. She later sought an increase, citing struggles to maintain her standard of living as well as keep up the Arizona property. She also asked for an additional $100,000 in attorney\u2019s fees, court filings showed.<\/p>\n
Michael Abatti eventually agreed to raise support to $6,400 monthly, despite having countered in a court filing that poor farming years had reduced his income. He blamed market shifts favoring Ukrainian crops, rising shipping costs and harsh weather.<\/p>\n
See more coverage of top California stories here<\/a> | Download our app<\/a> | Subscribe to our morning newsletter<\/a> | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Investigators declined to reveal the suspected motive in the shooting death of a prominent California farmer\u2019s estranged wife…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113467,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1956,35581,7,60852,9,8,3622,41489,60853,3816,60855,46240,4446,46241,2488,46238,60856,1627,60854],"class_list":{"0":"post-113466","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-autopsy-report","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-california-farmer","12":"tag-california-headlines","13":"tag-california-news","14":"tag-court","15":"tag-estranged-wife","16":"tag-farmer-killer","17":"tag-investigator","18":"tag-kerri","19":"tag-kerri-ann-abatti","20":"tag-message","21":"tag-michael-abatti","22":"tag-motive","23":"tag-pinetop","24":"tag-prominent-california-farmer","25":"tag-shooting-death","26":"tag-vacation-home"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}