SF Porn King's Son Busted in Girlfriend's Murder

The son of a legendary San Francisco killer porn king has been charged with beating his girlfriend to death with a baseball bat and running off with their screaming baby daughter, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. James Raphael Mitchell, 27, was arrested on a highway near his girlfriend's Marin County home. The baby, who had just celebrated her first birthday with her mom only hours earlier, was unharmed.

Mitchell's late father, Jim, and his uncle Artie opened the infamous Mitchell Brothers' O'Farrell porn theater in 1969 that was popularized by Playboy and writer Hunter Thompson. The two produced several pornographic films, including the 1972 "crossover" hit Behind the Green Door. Jim shot Artie dead in 1991. James Mitchell took the killing hard, according to his mom. "I had him in therapy for years," she said. "It's madness here," said Terence Hallinan, a former San Francisco district attorney who is representing James. "Nothing really makes sense." (More Artie Mitchell stories.)