The California farming tycoon accused of killing his wife by shooting her in the head has been extradited to an Arizona jail, new photos show.
Michael Abatti, 63, is accused of killing his spouse of 31 years, Kerri Ann Abatti, in Pinetop, Arizona on November 20.
Abatti was transported from an Imperial County jail in California, to Holbrook, Arizona on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
Abatti allegedly traveled from his home in California to Arizona, shot his wife dead, then immediately returned to California, police said.
The beauty-queen wife of farming tycoon Michael Abatti was found by her nephew on the floor of her $1.6 million Arizona mansion, unconscious and with a bullet wound in her head, according to an autopsy report.
Investigators found a shattered window at the luxury ranch which they believe the fatal gunshot was fired through, according to the LA Times.
The couple was going through a bitter divorce battle over the farming mogul’s fortune when the wife, a former Miss Navajo County, was found dead in her home.
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His wife had accused him of stonewalling her attempts to uncover the truth about their income and real estate holdings, and said he had made changes to their finances without consulting her or an attorney, according to divorce filings seen by the Los Angeles Times.
She claimed to be struggling on just a few thousand dollars in monthly spousal support that was temporarily awarded to her by the court earlier this year, according to the filings.
Following her split from her husband, Abatti had moved back to her hometown in California, where her family had roots going back over a century, the outlet reported.
She was prom queen and student body president, as well as the band’s drum major and first-place winner of the talent show during her senior year at Blue Ridge High School, according to the paper.
That same year, 1984, she was named Miss Navajo County, receiving a $1,000 scholarship to the University of Arizona to study music education and studio performance.
