A little after 9 p.m., Corey McGarrahan and his wife were watching TV at their home in rural Arizona when they heard a propane explosion outside.
“We paused the TV and looked at each other and said, ‘Did you hear that?'” McGarrahan told The Times in a phone interview Monday.
The couple later discovered that the explosion was a gunshot. Their neighbor, Kerri Ann Abatti, a daughter from the Pinetop community in Arizona, was killed.
At a news conference Monday, detectives from the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office and the Pinetop Police Department revealed the investigation into Abati’s killing and what led them to arrest her estranged husband, powerful Imperial Valley farmer Michael Abati, on suspicion of murder.
Kerri Ann Abatti was killed on the evening of November 20th. Authorities said Monday that their investigation is focusing on her husband’s whereabouts that day and the day after. Although they did not disclose the evidence they collected, Navajo County Sheriff David Krause told reporters that his detectives “have good reason to believe that Mr. Abati traveled from El Centro, California, to Pinetop, Arizona, on November 20, committed the homicide, and then returned to California.”
Abati plans to plead not guilty, according to his San Diego-based attorneys, Danielle Iredale and Owen Ross.
The team said he turned himself in in Imperial County and “now awaits his day in an Arizona courtroom.”
Abati cannot be released on bail until he is extradited.
According to Krause, Kerri Ann Abatti was found in her home by her nephew on the night of Nov. 20.
Michael Abatti, who appears in a booking photo from the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office, is awaiting extradition to Arizona. (Imperial County Sheriff’s Office)
Abati, 59, was embroiled in a bitter divorce from her 63-year-old husband when she was shot, and financial support she was owed was at the center of the disagreement, according to the couple’s divorce documents.
Kerri Ann Abatti’s nephew, who lives on the property, found his aunt lying unconscious on the dining room floor near the kitchen counter, bleeding from her head and face, according to the Navajo County Medical Examiner’s investigative report. He reportedly believed she fell from a high counter. The report states law enforcement agencies were busy responding to other calls in the area, resulting in longer wait times for officers.
Corey McGarrahan said first responders arrived 10 to 15 minutes after the loud noise, possibly a gunshot, occurred. Abati’s house sits on 14 acres, far enough away from the road that cars or emergency vehicles cannot see it.
According to the autopsy report, first responders noted that Kerry’s injuries were consistent with a gunshot wound to the head. She was pronounced dead in the emergency room, the report states.
As investigators searched the home for clues, they discovered a broken window and determined the shots were fired from outside the backyard.
That night, a bystander reported a roar consistent with a large-caliber firearm to police, and Abati’s nephew told police he heard a loud bang before finding his aunt, the report said.
Once it was clear a crime was committed, investigators from the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office and Pinetop Police took control of the scene, obtained a search warrant and canvassed the immediate area, Krause said.
“We are looking for any witnesses, including anyone who was home at the time,” he said. They gathered evidence through home surveillance technology such as doorbell cameras and interviewed her friends and family – including her three adult children – so they could build a timeline of her activities in the days before her death.
McGarrahan said he does not have cameras in his home. He also said he didn’t hear any cars on the street until emergency vehicles arrived.
According to court documents, Kerri Ann Abatti moved to a 7,000-square-foot property in the White Mountains east of her hometown in 2023 after leaving her husband and filing for divorce.
Krause said as part of the homicide investigation, detectives were “looking for anything out of the ordinary” before and after the woman was killed. They soon learned of the contentious divorce.
On Nov. 23, Krause said the investigation moved to the Imperial Valley and search warrants were executed at three different locations, including the Abatis’ El Centro home and Michael Abati’s commercial property.
In the Valley of the Kings, the name Abati carries a lot of weight. Michael Abatti served on the Imperial Irrigation District board of directors from 2006 to 2010 and sued the district over water rights disputes. He owns a large farm growing sugar beets, alfalfa and melons and is one of the largest farm operators in the area.
The sign in front of Michael Abatti’s farm store in El Centro bears his late father’s name. (Hainn Palmer IV/The Times)
Kerri Ann Abatti accused her husband of impeding her efforts to understand their income and real estate holdings, while he made changes to their finances without consulting her or her attorney, divorce documents show. Meanwhile, she claims she is struggling to make ends meet on the thousands of dollars in monthly spousal support the court has tentatively awarded her as the proceedings drag on for more than two years.
As part of the investigation, detectives interviewed the Abatis’ friends, family and business associates in Arizona and Southern California.
Once enough information is gathered, the team cross-references all the intelligence, looking for inconsistencies and flags and provides the findings to the Navajo County District Attorney’s Office, Krause said.
On December 23, the information was presented to a Navajo County grand jury and a warrant was issued for Michael Abati’s arrest.
The same day, the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office arrested Abati in El Centro. He is awaiting extradition to Arizona.
“We have received a pick-up order and he has been placed in our transport queue … a date and time will be announced once he returns to Navajo County,” Krause said. “We will notify everyone once he is safely brought back to the Navajo County Jail.”
Sign up for Essential California to get news, features and recommendations from the Los Angeles Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.