An influential agricultural businessman from California faces allegations of murdering his estranged wife at their secluded residence located across the border in Arizona.

Authorities have charged 63-year-old Michael Abatti with the first-degree murder of Kerri Ann Abatti, aged 59, according to an announcement by the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona. Law enforcement apprehended Abatti on Tuesday afternoon in El Centro, California, where he was detained in the Imperial County Jail. He now awaits extradition proceedings to face charges in Arizona.

On Nov. 20 at 9:20 p.m., deputies responded to a home in the area of Bruin Way and Branding Iron Loop in Pinetop, Arizona, a small town in the eastern part of the state. Someone inside the house had called 911 to report a medical emergency, according to Mesa, Arizona-based NBC affiliate KPNX.

Upon entering the residence, deputies discovered Kerri Ann Abatti deceased, the victim of a gunshot wound.

Over subsequent days, detectives meticulously processed the crime scene, gathering crucial evidence. On December 2, they executed multiple search warrants on properties, vehicles, and trailers linked to the Abatti family in El Centro, California. Some of the collected evidence was still under analysis as of Tuesday, as reported by the sheriff’s office.

The investigation zeroed in on Michael Abatti, with detectives suspecting he traveled from California’s agriculturally prosperous south to eastern Arizona—a journey of approximately seven hours—where he allegedly shot his estranged wife before swiftly returning to California. By Tuesday, investigators had secured an indictment and arrest warrant, leading to Abatti’s apprehension.

According to The Associated Press, the Pinetop house was the couple’s vacation home, and Kerri Ann Abatti moved there after they separated in 2023. She had filed for divorce, and proceedings were ongoing at the time of her death. They are said to have disagreed over money she was owed.

“I am barely scraping by each month, am handling all of the manual labor on our large property in Arizona and continuing its upkeep,” Kerri Ann Abatti reportedly wrote in court filings earlier this year. Michael Abatti, for his part, said he couldn’t afford to raise her monthly spousal support from $5,000 to her requested $30,000 due to two bad farming years. He eventually agreed to pay $6,400 a month.

The couple married in 1992 and had three children, AP reported. In addition to having homes in California and Arizona, they also held ranch land in Wyoming, vacationed in Hawaii, Italy, and Switzerland, and sent their children to private school.

Mike Abatti Farms, which is based in El Centro, California, “has been in the agriculture industry for over 100 years,” according to its website.

In 2021, Abatti asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision by the California Court of Appeals’ 4th Appellate District, which held that the Imperial Irrigation District was the “sole owner” of water rights in the Imperial Valley, not farmers.