Overview
- Deputies took the 63-year-old Imperial Valley farmer into custody in El Centro on Dec. 23 after an arrest warrant was issued.
- He was booked into the Imperial County Jail on a first-degree murder charge and is awaiting extradition to Arizona.
- Detectives executed Dec. 2 search warrants on Abatti family residences, vehicles and camp trailers in El Centro, seizing what they called a significant amount of evidence.
- Investigators say the evidence indicates he drove to Pinetop on Nov. 20, shot 59-year-old Kerri Ann Abatti, then returned to California.
- A family member called 911 the night of the shooting, and Kerri was pronounced dead en route to a hospital as the couple’s contentious divorce and financial disputes were pending.