
A prominent California farmer has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in the shooting death of his estranged wife at her home in an eastern Arizona mountain community.
Michael Abatti, 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 in the killing of Kerri Ann Abatti. She was found dead at a home in Pinetop, Arizona, where she moved after splitting with her husband.