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Son of porn king captured in Novato slaying, kidnap; infant unharmed

July 14, 2009 by mamaliberty

CALLING ALL FATHER RIGHTS GROUP….WE’RE STILL KEEPING COUNT…..WHERE IS YOUR STATISTICS THAT WOMEN/MOTHERS KILL MORE THAN MEN/FATHERS? COME ON…..WE KNOW YOU CAN LIE SOME MORE…..JUST ASK MENS DAILY FUCKS

MURDERER

By Jim Staats

Marin Independent Journal

The 27-year-old son of the late pornography king Jim Mitchell was booked into Marin County Jail early Monday on suspicion of beating to death the Novato mother of his 1-year-old daughter.

James Raphael Mitchell, of Pittsburg, was detained late Sunday night in Citrus Heights, near Sacramento, after fleeing with the toddler, triggering a statewide Amber Alert.

James Mitchell is suspected of killing 29-year-old Danielle Keller, a Novato High School graduate who was living with her mother and the couple’s daughter, Samantha Mitchell, on Diablo Court in Novato. Police found Keller dead in the backyard when they responded to a call at 6:53 p.m. Sunday about a possible assault.

Mitchell was located using cell phone technology in Citrus Heights and arrested at 11:59 p.m. Sunday by local police. Samantha was recovered unharmed and was placed with child protective services in Sacramento, according to Novato police Capt. Jim Berg.

“They will most likely contact Marin County child protective services to coordinate the best location for the child,” Berg said.

Mitchell was booked in Marin County Jail at 6:50 a.m. Monday on suspicion of murder, child concealment, violation of court orders and domestic violence, according to police. He was due to be be arraigned in Marin Superior Court at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. His attorney was reported to be former San Francisco district attorney Terence Hallinan.

Marin County Coroner Kenneth

Holmes said the cause of death was blunt force head trauma. Berg said police have a suspected weapon, though he declined further comment. There have been unconfirmed reports that a baseball bat was used.Keller’s mother, Claudia Stevens, spoke outside her home Monday morning as investigators searched for evidence on the property and yard behind her.

Stevens said she arrived home at about 5 p.m. Sunday after a Giants afternoon baseball game and was playing with Samantha, who was celebrating her first birthday. They had an ice cream cake ready for the young girl and Stevens went to visit some friends at 5:30 p.m. when she received a phone call from neighbors.

“They said I better get back over here right away,” said Stevens, a retired California Highway Patrol officer from Bakersfield. “I asked if Dani was OK and they told me she was dead and Samantha was missing.

“She was such a wonderful mother,” said Stevens of her daughter, who moved in with her six months ago after leaving the Pittsburg home she had shared with Mitchell.

Shaking with emotion as she spoke, Stevens said she saw Samantha on television Monday morning in the arms of a police officer.

“She seemed to be OK,” Stevens said. “She’s such a loving child.”

Stevens said her daughter, who worked in the cosmetics industry, had been interviewing for a new job and was trying to get her life back together after exiting an abusive relationship with Mitchell. She said the two had met two years ago at a club in San Francisco.

San Rafael attorney Charlotte Hideko Huggins represented Keller six months ago, helping her to gain a domestic violence restraining order against Mitchell.

Hideko Huggins said she had just mailed paperwork for a three-year restraining order Friday to Mitchell that he likely received Saturday.

Gina Stahl-Ricco of Novato was a fellow Novato High School graduate with Keller in 1998 who reconnected with “Dani” recently through Novato Mothers Club events.

“She moved back here six months ago to get away from this horrible person,” Stahl-Ricco said. “She always seemed bubbly and happy even though she was going through hard times. She was so committed to Sam. She was trying to get a support system here. She was trying to make a good life for Sam. She knew that’s what it was all about.”

Stahl-Ricco said although Mitchell had been abusive to her, Keller wavered in recent months about going back to him until she caught him doing drugs a month ago.

“She was sympathetic to his cause and would say ‘Oh, I hope he gets some help he’s had a tough past’ and I would tell her it doesn’t matter” and that she should stay away from him because he had allegedly hit her.

She said Keller was constantly having to ignore calls on her cell phone from Mitchell and had become increasingly scared of his recent messages.

“Sadly, it’s like you hear: You have a child together with somebody and you want it to work out and be ideal,” Stahl-Ricco said. “It didn’t seem like he wanted help.”

Hideko Huggins said Sunday was also the two-year anniversary of the death of porn king Jim Mitchell, the suspect’s father.

The elder Mitchell had developed a multimillion-dollar adult-film empire with his younger brother, Artie, and later was convicted of killing Artie in 1991 in Corte Madera. Jim Mitchell died on July 12, 2007 at his ranch near Petaluma at age 63 after serving three years of a six-year sentence for manslaughter in San Quentin State Prison.

Longtime Mitchell family friend Warren Hinckle, a veteran Bay Area author and journalist, said he saw Mitchell on July 5 at a party celebrating the 40th anniversary of the opening of the Mitchell brothers’ O’Farrell Theater. Hinckle said Mitchell had recently been doing well, having worked for a time at his family’s theater and serving in the Marines as a weekend reserve.

“He seemed in good shape to me, but a little tense,” he said. “I’m not sure how well domestic life suited him.”

A donation fund in the name of both Danielle Keller and Samantha Mitchell has been set up at Chase Bank, 1595 Grant Ave. in Novato.

Contact Jim Staats via e-mail at jstaats@marinij.com; IJ reporters Jim Welte and Brent Ainsworth contributed to this report.

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