Authorities have executed search warrants on properties related to a robust Imperial Valley farming magnate whose spouse was discovered shot and killed in her Arizona dwelling final month.
Detectives with the Navajo County Sheriff’s Workplace on Tuesday served warrants on the El Centro, Calif., dwelling of Mike Abatti, in addition to a number of constructions and properties related to Abatti’s household and their enterprise operations, the sheriff’s workplace stated in a information launch. Abatti and his relations run a few of the greatest farming operations within the Imperial Valley, rising onions, cantaloupes, broccoli, lettuce, sugarbeets and hay, in accordance with the web site of Mike Abatti Farms.
Investigators additionally served warrants on two camp trailers and two autos belonging to the Abatti household, the discharge stated.
“These warrants had been obtained and executed based mostly on the outcomes of the continued murder investigation and proof developed by detectives,” the discharge stated. It didn’t state what proof investigators had been in search of or in the event that they recovered something. Authorities declined to reply follow-up questions.
Abatti’s spouse, Kerri Ann Abatti, 59, was discovered fatally shot inside her dwelling in Pinetop, Ariz., on Nov. 20 in what investigators have confirmed to be a murder. No arrests have been made, and the investigation stays ongoing, in accordance with the sheriff’s workplace.
Kerri Ann Abatti was dwelling individually from her husband amid divorce proceedings that started in October 2023, when she cited irreconcilable variations in petitioning to finish her marriage of greater than 31 years, in accordance with court docket information first reported by the Arizona Republic. She anticipated to hunt at the very least $30,000 in month-to-month spousal help, however she was first working with specialists to evaluate the couple’s in depth earnings from farms, leases and different sources, in addition to the worth of their properties in California, Arizona and Wyoming, court docket filings state. Within the meantime, the court docket had awarded her $6,400 in non permanent month-to-month help.
Mike Abatti Farms didn’t instantly return messages in search of remark. Along with his farming enterprise, Abatti has received hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in publicly funded power contracts and is thought to exert outsize affect over native elected officers, in accordance with reporting by the Desert Solar. He and his spouse additionally donated greater than $50,000 to San Diego State College, which presents a scholarship of their title, the paper reported.
