923:(The phrase "ne or more" was used above, because this editor, an academic but lacking legal training, found it impossible, comparing the the source provided to portions of text to which the evaluation citation was attached, to ascertain whether only one evaluation was being referenced, versus more than one was being used—i.e., in the latter case, based on mentions in book/other sources, with editors conflating the multiple evaluations, and therefore omitting other needed sources. This confusion is engendered in part by the evaluation being used to describe state/behaviour well before the crime—see the mention of a 2009 evaluation, quoted above, used in reference to youthful circumstances—as well as in support of a defense based in part on mental state relevant to criminal acts committed in 2003, in a trial for those acts that ended in 2004.)
281:
254:
291:
384:
208:
183:
113:
95:
396:
64:
453:
432:
123:
843:—something not possible for editor's that do not possess a hard copy of the book. A further issue here is that the original citations are only to chapters, not page numbers, making the verification all the more onerous. (Chapters referenced are now (given the preface to this issue, immediately above)
935:
Bottom line with regard to this last point: it is wholly inappropriate to cite a blog written by the article's title subject (and a convicted murderer) to provide content for the description of the facts of the history of his own proceedings, in particular with regard to the criminal's motivations
708:(with, per other published records, the outside assistance of his father), a site that presents, extensively, his writings, and records of his trial (see link contained within the citation), a site functioning under his control (i.e., as a personal website). Despite now having a voluteer staff, he
764:
For instance, there were several appearances stating that TDW had won writing awards while in prison, that—rather than citing a news source stating that he had won an award, instead—presented a citation for an online source of the piece that was purported to have won the award (i.e., the citation
930:
If these sentences are ever returned, each appearance must make clear when the relevant evaluation was ordered, the context of the order (i.e., what legal proceeding), whether it was ordered by prosecutors or by the defense , and then all of this must cite independent sources (i.e., not be
765:
failed to support the factual content of the sentence, instead promoting the written work of the TDW). All such cases were removed as citations (e.g., with the information salvaged in a new "Writings" text section), but with tags placed in each instance, calling for a news citation.
757:
There were two exceptions to this, a quote from TDW, indicating his response to the commutation (where a personal view and source were appropriate), and the statement in the article communicating that TDW had founded the blog in question (where citing the blog as a second source was
964:
given the experience to date with checking particular sentences against the citations appended to them, or to paragraph ends, there is a dire need in the article to check it comprehensively, top-to-bottom, with regard to the accuracy of content versus appearing
836:
The problem that arises with regard to this unavailability is that there is little reason for confidence, based on verification checking to date, that all of the content of the sentences to which these book citations are appended were actually drawn from the
739:
In this earlier version, 19 historical sentences cited the two KW sources (book and excerpt), and overall, 12 of the 36 total non-legal (non-case law) article citations were citations to works authored directly by TDW or KW (TEN from TDW and TWO from
927:
The action taken here was to hide such purported case-relevant defendent psychology statements from view, as being given inadequate context and being unsourced independently, but to leave it readily available to future editors as <!-- hidden
789:
it appears that text was composed, and then sources that were not actually the sources from which content was drawn were added as the inline citations, leading to appearances of purported facts not actually appearing in the inline citations
996:
At present, until the top-to-bottom check for bias and check of statement accuracy against source is performed, the cleanup tag should remain. Likewise with regard to the check of the appearing legal information, and the tag calling for an
567:
With regard to the removal of references, please see the next section. Generally, little of this has actually happened, and when it has, it was either temporary (until a new, reliable source could be placed), or it us called for under
792:
This again is a common problem at WP, and is only highlighted here as a matter of context for the preceding and following problems. (See also close of this comment, for ongoing work on this.) With regard to other problems identified:
834:—other editors are invited to find such a source, and to replace the URL in this appearing citation. (The references currently contain the statement "Note, no access to content is apparently available online." for this reason.)
969:
and, accordingly, there will be a need to edit content to sources eventually found (i.e., to provide further sources and extract from them in place of what now appears), and so the likely need to remove existing
753:
that constituted non-independent sourcing of purported factual, historical content of the events reported in this article—early life, description of the murders, investigation and trial, appeals, and commutation—
769:
All appearances of the repeated citation of the KW book and excerpt were allowed to remain, but were marked with inline tags, to indicate that the content needed to be checked, and the citation supplemented or
597:
The aims of the recent major edits are stated above. There is one further thorny issue that must be addressed regarding the earlier and continuing sourcing of this article, about Thomas
Bartlett Whitaker (TBW).
607:
The citations were to work published, directly or indirectly by the convicted felon himself, or by his immediate family (in particular, his father). The identified problematic works include (in inverse order):
559:
The only basis for the appearance of the "addition to BLP" issue tag in the edit summaries is our changing the location of already appearing, unreferenced content placed by earlier editors of the article.
967:—for instance, checking the first paragraph of the earlier appearing "Murders" section resulted in almost all of that content being marked (because it did not appear in the single cited KW excerpt work)—
499:
990:
on the succession of cases associated with this article (referenced in the various sections, including the case chronology list), and to ensure the published and esp. the unpublished cases are properly
860:
A 2009 psychological evaluation, performed in relation to a trial, noted that after high school
Whitaker was given "unearned trappings of wealth" and that his thoughts became increasingly disorganized.
726:
In addition, there was and is a continuing issue with other autobiographical source material in this article—material from interviews of TBW and KW, and author bio and award recipient webpages, where,
464:, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Crime and Criminal Biography articles on Knowledge (XXG). If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
1088:
1006:
681:
Apart from a short introduction, ostensibly from the ABC News staff (and therefore presumably fact-checked), the bulk of this citation is to a long excerpt from the same book, by the father.
579:
465:
1053:
722:
There is no gainsaying that TBW historically presented his own perspective via this site, and there is little evidence to argue that this does not continue to be a venue for him to do so.
321:
728:
absent evidence that it undergoes fact-checking by the posting organisation, such content constitutes non-independent, autobiographical information unsuited to encyclopedic writing
43:
460:
437:
338:
716:. And while the site now accepts contributors from across the American penal system, it began as a venue for TBW to post his own work; the Contributors tab at the home page
905:(which appears at least in one instance to have been the case), and therefore, no supporting verifiable source related to such critical contextual information; and finally
601:
In the editing to remove redundancies of content, and to make the article structure chrono/logical and consistent, and the citations reliable and consistent in format,
374:
48:
1083:
1048:
489:
364:
328:
1028:
1073:
31:) policy, even if it is not a biography, because it contains material about living persons. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or
909:
there is a glaring failure to provide independent, supportive citations regarding the defendant's state of mind from other comprehensive sources appearing
333:
141:
23:
1078:
1043:
1038:
903:
there was no factual content to provide context for the evaluation(s), in particular, no statement such as "ordered independently by the defense"
145:
1063:
414:
521:
With regard to recent edits of this article, the WP bot system that is running has generated issue tags in the edit summaries, in particular
304:
259:
854:
various sections in the past attempted in unscholarly and possible dissembling fashion to cite one or more psychological evaluations of TDW
140:, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Knowledge (XXG)'s articles about people. All interested editors are invited to
1068:
1033:
316:
149:
841:
Given disparities already found (see close of this comment), it appears necessary to check these portions of text against this source
136:
100:
1010:
814:
623:
583:
312:
on
Knowledge (XXG). If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions.
919:(yet a poor source, but still better than none in providing insight to be otherwise checked), or for any other appearing source.
730:. This is a general issue at Knowledge (XXG), and while being attended to for this article, it is a secondary issue at present.
214:
188:
1058:
782:
the problems that arise with regard to these issues are accentuated by the observation—from initial attempts to verify content—
75:
949:
given the past serious issue of sourcing purported facts from convict's blog (cites removed) and father's book (cites remain)
646:
886:
409:
264:
780:
At least two additional content reliability issues were identified, which will be summarised here. As preface, note that
869:
the evaluation(s) are only apparently available via a non-independent, self-published (and arguably self-serving) source
784:
that the article repeatedly reflects an earlier pattern of placing inline citations where content does not match source.
573:
687:
603:
two problematic citations with regard to WP:NPOV were discovered, and a third general WP:VER issue was identified.
550:
The major aim of identifying biased and otherwise unreliable content, and misused or otherwise unreliable sources
539:
properly organise the content (dealing with all trial content in one place, same with appeals, commutation, etc.);
32:
593:
Major edit to make article structure chronological, consistent, etc., and to reduce
Whitaker sourcing of article
81:
977:
there is a widespread, general need to provide more and better (reliable, verifiable) sources for the article
899:(date that the evaluation was ordered, period of TDW's life that the evaluation was seeking to cover, etc.);
219:
193:
657:
This is a full-length treatment of much of the history of the son's murder case, by the father, Kent (KW).
832:
After extensive checking to find this source online, it was concluded that its full text is not available
943:
To conclude, I would note four things currently mentioned/contained in the two article tags appearing:
986:, to provide secondary references and opinions from them, in place of case- (primary source-) derived
915:
appears as a citation, it is nowhere cited in reference to defendant state of mind, likewise for KW's
762:
All appearances of TDW sources in the citation list that were not otherwise justifiable were removed.
296:
42:. If such material is repeatedly inserted, or if you have other concerns, please report the issue to
63:
864:
were presented with this paucity of reliable sourcing. Specifically, with regard to these cases,
569:
640:
46:.If you are a subject of this article, or acting on behalf of one, and you need help, please see
280:
253:
39:
811:
620:
128:
755:
were hidden from sight (removed via <!-- markup), and tags were placed in their steads.
616:
Murder by Family: The
Incredible True Story of a Son's Treachery and a Father's Forgiveness
663:
987:
562:
Any time new content that has been added, it has been added with a new, reliable source.
652:
1022:
309:
1014:
951:, and other sourcing concerns (like the inability to verify content from Mitchell's
587:
542:
properly source all content from independent/third-party, and secondary sources, and
401:
713:
705:
517:
Note regarding auto-generated issue tags in edit summaries, for recent major edits
805:
614:
856:, profiles that are unavailable in any reliable form online. Statements such as
709:
533:
In neither case are these tags truly accurate to the editing that has been done.
383:
1005:
from this former academic, now ending vacation and returning to honest labour.
733:
For the state of the article with respect to the use of these issues, see this
207:
182:
112:
94:
883:
constitutes a primary source, unaccompanied by a secondary interpretive source
391:
286:
118:
308:, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the
799:, there are repeated references to the following reliable book source,
717:
148:. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the
557:
The issue tags have been generated in the process of these aims.
452:
431:
545:
to present the citations to all sources in a consistent manner.
655:, ISBN 9781416578130, which requires registration for access.
57:
38:
from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially
15:
382:
845:
noted using {{rp markup, e.g. , and a tag is attached.)
662:
ABC News Staff & Whitaker, Kent (January 19, 2009).
474:
Knowledge (XXG):WikiProject Crime and
Criminal Biography
734:
706:
founded by the convicted subject of this article, TBW
839:(see the preface to this issue, immediately above).
885:, thereby setting WP editors up for violations of
1089:WikiProject Crime and Criminal Biography articles
477:Template:WikiProject Crime and Criminal Biography
1054:C-Class United States articles of Low-importance
893:there is otherwise a lack of clarity in the text
751:All citations to the "minutesbeforesix.com" site
525:Tag: possible unreferenced addition to BLP , and
217:, a project which is currently considered to be
685:Various references to content at the website
8:
664:"'Murder by Family': Read Shocking Excerpt"
426:
248:
177:
89:
931:hand-selected personal postings of TDW).
911:; that is to say, while Corey Mitchell's
349:Knowledge (XXG):WikiProject United States
957:the article needs to be checked for bias
461:WikiProject Crime and Criminal Biography
984:attention from a legal expert is needed
428:
250:
179:
91:
61:
710:remains listed as the Creative Advisor
638:
535:The foci of these edits have been to
1084:Low-importance Crime-related articles
1049:Low-importance United States articles
158:Knowledge (XXG):WikiProject Biography
7:
1007:2601:246:C700:558:D87:7AFA:6C0D:481A
852:, and more technically challenging,
619:. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.
580:2601:246:C700:558:D87:7AFA:6C0D:481A
458:This article is within the scope of
302:This article is within the scope of
213:This article is within the scope of
134:This article is within the scope of
1029:Biography articles of living people
895:, and to some extent the citation,
229:Knowledge (XXG):WikiProject Houston
80:It is of interest to the following
1074:WikiProject United States articles
352:Template:WikiProject United States
14:
810:. New York: Kensington/Pinnacle.
718:continues to feature TBW's image
451:
430:
394:
289:
279:
252:
206:
181:
121:
111:
93:
62:
21:This article must adhere to the
688:"Thomas Bartlett Whitaker (TX)"
494:This article has been rated as
369:This article has been rated as
1079:C-Class Crime-related articles
1044:C-Class United States articles
1039:WikiProject Biography articles
161:Template:WikiProject Biography
1:
1064:Low-importance Texas articles
468:and see a list of open tasks.
407:This article is supported by
24:biographies of living persons
471:Crime and Criminal Biography
438:Crime and Criminal Biography
232:Template:WikiProject Houston
146:contribute to the discussion
1015:20:32, 7 January 2022 (UTC)
588:17:38, 7 January 2022 (UTC)
552:remains to be accomplished.
36:must be removed immediately
1105:
1069:WikiProject Texas articles
1034:C-Class biography articles
645:: CS1 maint: url-status (
500:project's importance scale
375:project's importance scale
873:minutesbeforesix.blogspot
712:, in addition to being a
528:Tag: references removed .
493:
446:
390:
368:
305:WikiProject United States
274:
201:
106:
88:
897:regarding relevant dates
804:Mitchell, Corey (2010).
776:Further important issues
310:United States of America
613:Whitaker, Kent (2008).
1059:C-Class Texas articles
881:clearly provided what
862:
480:Crime-related articles
387:
355:United States articles
70:This article is rated
858:
653:this archived version
386:
137:WikiProject Biography
74:on Knowledge (XXG)'s
887:WP:Original research
704:This is the website
692:Minutesbeforesix.com
297:United States portal
323:Articles Requested!
215:WikiProject Houston
936:and state of mind.
574:WP:RELIABLESOURCES
388:
164:biography articles
76:content assessment
889:in their efforts;
514:
513:
510:
509:
506:
505:
425:
424:
421:
420:
410:WikiProject Texas
247:
246:
243:
242:
176:
175:
172:
171:
56:
55:
1096:
917:Murder by Family
827:
825:
823:
787:That is to say,
702:
700:
699:
678:
676:
674:
650:
644:
636:
634:
632:
482:
481:
478:
475:
472:
455:
448:
447:
442:
434:
427:
404:
399:
398:
397:
357:
356:
353:
350:
347:
299:
294:
293:
292:
283:
276:
275:
270:
267:
256:
249:
237:
236:
235:Houston articles
233:
230:
227:
210:
203:
202:
197:
185:
178:
166:
165:
162:
159:
156:
142:join the project
131:
129:Biography portal
126:
125:
124:
115:
108:
107:
97:
90:
73:
67:
66:
58:
44:this noticeboard
16:
1104:
1103:
1099:
1098:
1097:
1095:
1094:
1093:
1019:
1018:
879:this one source
821:
819:
817:
803:
778:
747:
735:earlier version
697:
695:
686:
672:
670:
661:
637:
630:
628:
626:
612:
595:
519:
479:
476:
473:
470:
469:
440:
400:
395:
393:
354:
351:
348:
345:
344:
343:
329:Become a Member
295:
290:
288:
268:
262:
234:
231:
228:
225:
224:
191:
163:
160:
157:
154:
153:
127:
122:
120:
71:
12:
11:
5:
1102:
1100:
1092:
1091:
1086:
1081:
1076:
1071:
1066:
1061:
1056:
1051:
1046:
1041:
1036:
1031:
1021:
1020:
993:
992:
980:
979:; and finally,
973:
960:
921:
920:
906:
900:
890:
876:
829:
828:
815:
777:
774:
773:
772:
766:
759:
746:
743:
724:
723:
683:
668:ABCNews.go.com
659:
624:
594:
591:
547:
546:
543:
540:
530:
529:
526:
518:
515:
512:
511:
508:
507:
504:
503:
496:Low-importance
492:
486:
485:
483:
466:the discussion
456:
444:
443:
441:Low‑importance
435:
423:
422:
419:
418:
415:Low-importance
406:
405:
389:
379:
378:
371:Low-importance
367:
361:
360:
358:
342:
341:
336:
331:
326:
319:
317:Template Usage
313:
301:
300:
284:
272:
271:
269:Low‑importance
257:
245:
244:
241:
240:
238:
211:
199:
198:
186:
174:
173:
170:
169:
167:
133:
132:
116:
104:
103:
98:
86:
85:
79:
68:
54:
53:
49:this help page
33:poorly sourced
19:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1101:
1090:
1087:
1085:
1082:
1080:
1077:
1075:
1072:
1070:
1067:
1065:
1062:
1060:
1057:
1055:
1052:
1050:
1047:
1045:
1042:
1040:
1037:
1035:
1032:
1030:
1027:
1026:
1024:
1017:
1016:
1012:
1008:
1004:
999:
998:
989:
985:
981:
978:
974:
971:
966:
961:
958:
954:
950:
946:
945:
944:
941:
938:
937:
932:
929:
924:
918:
914:
910:
907:
904:
901:
898:
894:
891:
888:
884:
880:
877:
874:
870:
867:
866:
865:
861:
857:
855:
851:
847:
846:
842:
838:
833:
818:
816:9780786020133
813:
809:
808:
802:
801:
800:
798:
794:
791:
786:
785:
775:
771:
767:
763:
760:
758:appropriate).
756:
752:
749:
748:
745:Actions taken
744:
742:
741:
736:
731:
729:
721:
719:
715:
711:
707:
693:
689:
684:
682:
679:</ref: -->
669:
665:
660:
658:
654:
648:
642:
627:
625:9781439139981
622:
618:
617:
611:
610:
609:
605:
604:
599:
592:
590:
589:
585:
581:
577:
575:
571:
565:
564:
563:
555:
554:
553:
544:
541:
538:
537:
536:
534:
527:
524:
523:
522:
516:
501:
497:
491:
488:
487:
484:
467:
463:
462:
457:
454:
450:
449:
445:
439:
436:
433:
429:
416:
413:(assessed as
412:
411:
403:
392:
385:
381:
380:
376:
372:
366:
363:
362:
359:
346:United States
340:
337:
335:
332:
330:
327:
325:
324:
320:
318:
315:
314:
311:
307:
306:
298:
287:
285:
282:
278:
277:
273:
266:
261:
260:United States
258:
255:
251:
239:
222:
221:
216:
212:
209:
205:
204:
200:
195:
190:
187:
184:
180:
168:
151:
150:documentation
147:
143:
139:
138:
130:
119:
117:
114:
110:
109:
105:
102:
99:
96:
92:
87:
83:
77:
69:
65:
60:
59:
51:
50:
45:
41:
37:
34:
30:
26:
25:
20:
18:
17:
1002:
1001:Cheers, and
1000:
995:
994:
983:
976:
968:
963:
956:
952:
948:
942:
939:
934:
933:
926:
925:
922:
916:
912:
908:
902:
896:
892:
882:
878:
872:
868:
863:
859:
853:
849:
848:
844:
840:
835:
831:
830:
820:. Retrieved
806:
796:
795:
788:
783:
781:
779:
768:
761:
754:
750:
738:
732:
727:
725:
703:
696:. Retrieved
694:. 2017-04-25
691:
680:
671:. Retrieved
667:
656:
629:. Retrieved
615:
606:
602:
600:
596:
578:
566:
561:
558:
556:
551:
549:
548:
532:
531:
520:
495:
459:
408:
402:Texas portal
370:
334:Project Talk
322:
303:
218:
135:
82:WikiProjects
47:
35:
28:
22:
1023:Categories
953:Savage Son
913:Savage Son
822:January 4,
807:Savage Son
698:2017-04-25
673:January 4,
631:January 6,
790:provided.
770:replaced.
651:See also
641:cite book
570:WP:VERIFY
155:Biography
101:Biography
40:libellous
220:inactive
194:inactive
997:expert.
970:content
965:sources
714:founder
498:on the
373:on the
226:Houston
189:Houston
72:C-class
991:cited.
940:—————
928:notes.
871:, the
850:SECOND
339:Alerts
78:scale.
988:WP:OR
982:that
975:that
962:that
947:that
797:FIRST
265:Texas
1011:talk
837:book
824:2020
812:ISBN
740:KW).
675:2022
647:link
633:2022
621:ISBN
584:talk
572:and
144:and
1003:HNY
955:),
490:Low
365:Low
29:BLP
1025::
1013:)
737:.
690:.
666:.
643:}}
639:{{
586:)
576:.
417:).
263::
1009:(
972:;
959:;
875:;
826:.
720:.
701:.
677:.
649:)
635:.
582:(
502:.
377:.
223:.
196:)
192:(
152:.
84::
52:.
27:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
