Holbrook, Arizona– A prominent California farmer has pleaded not guilty to murder in the shooting death of his estranged wife at her home in a mountain community in eastern Arizona.
Michael Abbate, 63, made his first appearance Wednesday in Navajo County Superior Court after being extradited from El Centro, California, where he was arrested on an Arizona charge of killing Kerry Ann Abbate. She was found dead in a home in Pinetop, Arizona, where she had moved after separating from her husband.
While prosecutors say Michael Abate is being held in the Navajo County Jail on $5.5 million bail, Owen Roth, one of his attorneys, said his client is able to post bail.
Investigators say Michael Abate traveled from El Centro to Pinetop on Nov. 20, carried out the killing and returned to California early the next morning.
Kerry Abate, a descendant of early Latter-day Saint settlers who helped found Pinetop in the 1880s, had filed for divorce, and proceedings were pending in California at the time of her death.
Michael Abate comes from a long line of farmers in the crop-rich Imperial Valley region, which is the largest user of Colorado River water and is known for growing leafy greens, watermelons and forage crops. His grandfather, an Italian immigrant, was one of the first settlers in the area and helped his father found the Imperial Valley Vegetable Growers Association.
The couple, who married in 1992 and had three children, separated in 2023 and have been arguing over finances in divorce proceedings.
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