Search warrants are served on Imperial Valley farming magnate whose wife was found slain
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Authorities have executed search warrants on properties associated with a powerful Imperial Valley farming magnate whose wife was found shot and killed in her Arizona home last month.Detectives with the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday served warrants on the El Centro, Calif., home of Mike Abatti, as well as multiple structures and properties associated with Abatti’s family and their business operations, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.Abatti and his family members run some of the biggest farming operations in the Imperial Valley, growing onions, cantaloupes, broccoli, lettuce, sugarbeets and hay, according to the website of Mike Abatti Farms.Investigators also served warrants on two camp trailers and two vehicles belonging to the Abatti family, the release said.“These warrants were obtained and executed based on the results of the ongoing homicide investigation and evidence developed by detectives,” the release said.
It did not state what evidence investigators were seeking or if they recovered anything.Authorities declined to answer follow-up questions.
Climate & Environment The Trump administration gave seven Western states a deadline to agree on initial terms for an agreement on cutting water use to address chronic shortages along the Colorado River.Abatti’s wife, Kerri Ann Abatti, 59, was found fatally shot inside her home in Pinetop, Ariz., on Nov.20 in what investigators have confirmed to be a homicide.
No arrests have been made, and the investigation remains ongoing, according to the sheriff’s office.Kerri Ann Abatti was living separately from her husband amid divorce proceedings that began in October 2023, when she cited irreconcilable differences in petitioning to end her marriage of more than 31 years, according to court records first reported by the Arizona Republic.She expected to seek at least $30,000 in monthly spousal supp...