Authorities have executed search warrants on properties related to a strong Imperial Valley farming magnate whose spouse was discovered shot and killed in her Arizona house final month.
Detectives with the Navajo County Sheriff’s Workplace on Tuesday served warrants on the El Centro, Calif., house of Mike Abatti, in addition to a number of buildings and properties related to Abatti’s household and their enterprise operations, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned in a information launch. Abatti and his members of the family run among the largest 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 mentioned.
“These warrants have been obtained and executed based mostly on the outcomes of the continued murder investigation and proof developed by detectives,” the discharge mentioned. It didn’t state what proof investigators have been looking for 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 house 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 residing 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 courtroom information first reported by the Arizona Republic. She anticipated to hunt at the least $30,000 in month-to-month spousal help, however she was first working with consultants to evaluate the couple’s intensive revenue from farms, leases and different sources, in addition to the worth of their properties in California, Arizona and Wyoming, courtroom filings state. Within the meantime, the courtroom had awarded her $6,400 in momentary month-to-month help.
Mike Abatti Farms didn’t instantly return messages looking for remark. Along with his farming enterprise, Abatti has gained hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in publicly funded vitality contracts and is understood 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 identify, the paper reported.
