He died on July 12, 2007, two years to the day before the alleged murder and kidnapping. The slaying led to a spectacular trial, and the elder Mitchell served half of a six-year prison sentence. Jim Mitchell was carrying a rifle and a revolver when police arrested him at the scene. Jim Mitchell was convicted in 1991 of manslaughter and weapons charges in the shooting death of Artie at his brother's Marin County home. In their heyday, the brothers faced multiple arrests on obscenity charges and ultimately produced hundreds of films, including "Resurrection of Eve" and "Sodom and Gomorrah: The Last 7 Days." In 1969, the Mitchell brothers opened a still-running adult theater in San Francisco. Jim Mitchell was part of a pioneering family-owned adult-film empire who directed the 1972 porn classic, "Behind the Green Door," one of the first X-rated flicks with a plot line. Novato is about 29 miles north of San Francisco.
"She'd had enough," said Stevens, adding that Keller had sole custody of Samantha and obtained a restraining order against Mitchell after Keller left the Pittsburg home the couple shared earlier this year.Ī neighbor, Lynn Treboutat, of Novato, said Monday there had been a party for Samantha's first birthday when she saw Mitchell running with his screaming daughter and driving away Sunday evening. Keller and Mitchell had been in a "pretty combustive and combative relationship" for about two years, Stevens said. "He showed up out of the blue," Stevens said about Mitchell, adding that she was not home when her daughter was killed. Police said the weapon was found near Keller was likely a baseball bat. James Mitchell is being held without bail in the Marin County Jail on suspicion of murder, kidnapping and violating a restraining order. Mitchell is the son of late San Francisco pornography mogul Jim Mitchell, who fatally shot his brother and longtime business partner Artie Mitchell in 1991. Police arrested the girl's father, James Raphael Mitchell, 27, after finding him and Samantha unharmed near Sacramento about five hours after she disappeared. Keller of Pittsburg, Calif., and Samantha, who turned 1 on Sunday, had been living with Stevens for about six months. Stevens said her daughter, Danielle Keller, 29, was found beaten to death in her backyard Sunday evening. "We're working to get her returned to me as soon as possible," Stevens said. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A San Francisco Bay area grandmother said Monday she is relieved her granddaughter was found safe after the girl's father allegedly killed her mother and fled with the 1-year-old, prompting an Amber Alert.Ĭlaudia Stevens of Novato said she expects her granddaughter, Samantha Mitchell, to be back home sometime Monday.