Porn King Arrested In Death Of Brother -- Partners Well-Known Around San Francisco

CORTE MADERA, Calif. - Pornographer Artie Mitchell was shot to death in his suburban tract home, and Jim Mitchell, his older brother and partner in San Francisco's legal sex trade, was charged with the slaying, police said yesterday.

In San Francisco, a sign in the mirrored window of the brothers' main theater - variously called the ``Cadillac of Whorehouses'' and the ``Carnegie Hall of Sex'' - attributed the temporary closure to a ``death in the family.''

Jim Mitchell, 47, was arrested 100 yards away from Artie Mitchell's rented home in the Marin County town of Corte Madera. Police said Jim Mitchell had a rifle in a pants leg and a pistol.

Artie Mitchell, 45, was found dead in a bathroom, about 25 feet from seven shell casings that police found, said Twin Cities police Capt. Andre Horn.

Police had not determined a motive, and it was not known what would come of the Mitchell Brothers' empire, which includes the O'Farrell Theater, the ``Cadillac of Whorehouses,'' in the Tenderloin district, several other pornographic movie theaters and film-production capabilities.

Police arrived moments after Artie Mitchell's girlfriend, Julie Bajo, 27, phoned for help. She and Artie Mitchell had been in a back bedroom when they heard noises coming from the front of the house. Artie Mitchell, dressed in a pair of sweat pants, went to investigate.

Bajo reported hearing no conversation or argument before the shots, Horn said.

``There was no struggle whatsoever,'' Horn said. He added that Jim Mitchell did not try to run from police, and made no statement to police other than to ask for a lawyer.

Law-enforcement authorities repeatedly have tried and failed to shut the theater since it opened as a pornographic movie house July 4, 1969. All the while, the Mitchell brothers gained celebrity status in San Francisco, and often were mentioned in newspaper columns.

The brothers long had been close business partners and often were seen together away from the O'Farrell Theater. Recently, they embarked on a costly effort to fund a pro-peace publication called ``War News,'' edited by San Francisco columnist Warren Hinkle.

Last May, they arrived in a bright-red convertible with two of their so-called ``lap dancer'' entertainers at the Woody Creek, Colo., home of friend, author and gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. Thompson often wrote about them in a column he did during the 1980s for the San Francisco Examiner.

The purpose of their trip to Colorado was to rally support for Thompson, who had been charged with drug possession and assault. Prosecutors in Aspen, Colo., ultimately dismissed the case.

Friends, employees, and even people in law enforcement were shocked that it was Jim Mitchell who was being held for the murder of his brother.