His father killed his brother. He killed his girlfriend. He'll likely die in prison.
A Marin Superior Court judge sentenced convicted killer James Mitchell -- heir to the infamous Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theater in San Francisco -- to 35 years to life in prison for the beating death of his girlfriend, according to the Marin Independent Journal.
Mitchell, 29, received the maximum sentences possible for the crime: 26 years to life in prison for first degree murder plus nine more years for kidnapping the one-year old daughter Mitchell had with girlfriend Danielle Keller, whom Mitchell bludgeoned to death with a a softball bat.
Mitchell didn't exactly do much to endear himself to the judge or to anyone present in court. He shocked his own defense team with a bizarre tale of two unknown men who appeared out of nowhere to kill Keller, and then prior to sentencing, he dubbed the proceedings "a circus." The victim's mother countered that display with comments calling Mitchell "a man-child" with a "skewed sense of entitlement," according to the newspaper.
Mitchell was convicted of driving from his home in Pittsburg to Keller's apartment in Novato, where he beat her to death. In his bizarre defense, an excuse as to why Keller's blood appeared on his pants, spattered at close range, did not materialize.
Mitchell's father was Jim Mitchell, who co-founded the porn empire with Artie Mitchell, Jim Mitchell's brother. Jim shot and killed Artie in a 1991 argument.
