In law enforcement affidavits seeking to collect DNA and guns and search the properties of influential farmer Michael Abatti, investigators lay out a detailed narrative of how his estranged wife, Kerri Ann Abatti, was killed.
They also detail the movements of Michael Abatti’s Ford truck the day of the shooting, his subsequent suicide attempt, and provide an intimate look at a couple and family in the midst of a contentious divorce — one that had been in the works for roughly three years with no end in sight.
The Abattis are wealthy landowners and farmers in the Imperial Valley. The documents stipulate the couple held a trust worth $200 million — all of which would become Michael’s in the event of Kerri’s death. The couple have three adult children together.
The affidavits were initially sealed upon request of the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office; there was concern if details of the investigation were disclosed, evidence could be destroyed. Attorneys for The Times argued to have them unsealed, and on Thursday the documents were opened with some personal material redacted. The County did not provide the documents to The Times until Monday.
Michael Abatti’s attorneys, Owen Roth and Danni Iredale, who disagreed with the court’s decision to unseal the documents, said in a statement that they believe the decision unduly risks Abatti’s fundamental right to a fair trial.
“Search warrants are untested, one-sided presentations meant to establish probable cause, one of the lowest standards of proof in law,” they wrote. They urged the public to remember that Abatti is “innocent unless and until proven otherwise” and that like any person accused of a crime, he has a right to a trial by a fair and impartial jury.
Abatti, 63, owns a large farming operation in the Imperial Valley, growing crops including sugar beets, alfalfa and melons.
He has been an influential figure in the community; he served as a board member of the Imperial Irrigation District from 2006 to 2010 and later sued the district in a dispute over water rights. His family has lived and farmed in the region since the 1920s, and are collectively considered one of the area’s largest landowners.
On Nov. 20, his wife, Kerri Abatti, 59, was killed in her 7,000-square-foot Pinetop-Lakeside, Ariz., home by a gunshot to the face.
According to the affidavit, her nephew, William Robbins, who lived in the house, was in his bedroom that night when he heard a loud bang. He found her lying in the dining room, unresponsive and “bleeding from the face.”
According to the documents, Robbins “seemed terrified for his own safety regarding the circumstances.” He called 911.
Emergency responders arrived and reported a bullet hole in one of the dining room windows. They transported her to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Law enforcement arrived soon after and deduced the shot must have come from outside, potentially from an area 30 yards away where a firearm-sniffing dog alerted the following day. No firearms or expended bullet casings were found. A reconstruction of the shooting indicated the round that killed Kerri came from a “higher-powered rifle.”
According to the documents, Kerri’s family tried to reach Michael the night she died to inform him of her death, but could not reach him. Michael Abatti’s family said he was “hunting in the desert” at the time, the affidavit said.
License plate readers indicated that a 2017 Ford truck belonging to Abatti was “showing a pattern of travel” between California and Arizona the night his estranged wife was killed. The shooting at Kerri Abatti’s home was reported about 9:19 p.m.
According to the search warrant affidavit, Abatti’s truck was spotted on license plate readers on Nov. 20 heading south in El Centro, leaving the area of his hunting grounds at about 1:30 p.m. It was spotted on license plate readers in Globe, Ariz., at about 6:30 p.m. local time.
The truck was spotted in Globe again at 11:41 p.m., according to the affidavit. It then was spotted back near Abatti’s hunting grounds in California at about 4:40 a.m. the following morning.
Pinetop-Lakeside is located roughly eight hours east of El Centro and two hours north of Globe.
On Nov. 23, officers with the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office were notified that Michael attempted suicide at his farm in El Centro. He called 911.
Emergency responders reported he told them that “he attempted to kill himself because of an incident involving his wife,” the affidavit said. He also told them he was depressed because she had died and his kids were “going through stuff.”
At the time Kerri Abatti was killed, the pair were working on how to divide property in the divorce, according to the affidavit. She wanted the home in Arizona while he’d take the others, resulting in him owing her about $10 million in the divorce because of the differing property values, investigators wrote. The Arizona property was going to be assessed two days after Kerri Abatti was killed, according to the affidavit.
When authorities searched Michael Abatti’s properties, they took possession of more than three dozen firearms including more than two dozen rifles, as well as shotguns, pistols and revolvers.
Abatti was arrested in El Centro four weeks after the shooting. He pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder on Dec. 31 in Navajo County Superior Court. Bail was set at $5.5 million.
Michael Abatti’s attorneys declined to comment on his health or current whereabouts.
In a statement, they said they continued to worry “deeply about his health and well being.”
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