Talk:Murder of Adam Walsh

OR/PoV

 * Speculative/Original Research - Provide a reliable source which explains this POV. Also, Wikipedia talk pages are NOT forums for discussion; no one appreciates unhelpful chatter. Bullercruz1 (talk) 01:32, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

New suspect
according to ABC news a suspect is going to be announced this afternoon...Robert Beck (talk) 18:45, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

Plagiarism
Currently the article reads:

Hollywood police said Tuesday that a man long considered the lead suspect in 6-year-old Adam Walsh's death has finally been named as the man responsible for the crime. But he won't be tried: Serial killer Ottis Toole (AH'-tis TOOL) died in prison more than a decade ago.

Toole had confessed to the killing, but later recanted. He claimed hundreds of murders, but police determined most of the confessions were lies. Toole's niece told the boy's father, John Walsh, her uncle gave a deathbed confession.

John Walsh has said he believed Toole killed his son. He says not knowing was torture, but "that journey's over."

This is word for word the AP article put out today: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081216/ap_on_re_us/adam_walsh

Ignoring the obvious problems like "said Tuesday" instead of a date, is wholesale uncited copying like that acceptable? I'm not too familiar with Wikipedia rules, but I imagine not —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thesangreal (talk • contribs) 20:16, 16 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I've reworded this paragraph to fix this possible problem.--MurderWatcher1 (talk) 17:27, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

Schizophrenia? Toole's niece? Credibility?
The page briefly mentions a diagnosis of schizophrenia, but there is no citation for this. I also was not able to find in the sources any detail on the deathbed confession reported by Toole's niece.

People with schizophrenia often have false/delusional memories. And by the time Toole claimed responsibility for the murder, the details of Adam Walsh's story must have already been repeated many times in the media, and especially by John Walsh on his America's Most Wanted program. What weakens Toole's credibility further is that, when he brought investigators to the site where he allegedly buried Adam's body, there was nothing to be found. And then he again changed the story and said he froze the body and burned it. Does not sound like a very credible confession. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.237.41.202 (talk) 11:10, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

I think that section should probably be removed if there isn't any citation for the allegation, especially if no other proof of Toole having this diagnosis can be found anywhere.

Or perhaps it just needs that little "citation needed" disclaimer with it, assuming that isn't already there. Either way, it could always be put back in (if it was removed) or a citation could be added if a reliable source is ever found.

Just my opinion of course. RMD NAAK SAK (talk) 04:35, 17 May 2016 (UTC)

Incomplete Aftermath section
Author did not mention prior to SORNA that all 50 states passed Sex Offender Registration that widely differ. Some are administrative in nature, while others are punitive. Fuque2 (talk) 18:46, 1 April 2010 (UTC)

Picture
IS that picture given with the consent of the parents of the deceased? Is it even necessary/appropriate? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.97.11.149 (talk) 13:52, 1 August 2010 (UTC) I don't know. Yes/yes. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.253.85.58 (talk) 10:29, 28 March 2011 (UTC)


 * I believe that we at wikipedia do not classify permission for photographs based on the subject of a photo. Just because a photo is of Osama Bin Laden, we do not ask al-Qaueda for permission, do we? I trust the photo is one released to the public by the police during a search for Adam Walsh, and therefore I am satisfied use of the photo is fair use.--NascentZone (talk) 01:51, 3 June 2011 (UTC)

2012 Holiday Baby commercial
On October 29 Sears' official YouTube channel released this commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arO-k6Af1DE

It involved a father losing his baby in a store, with the positive outcome of the baby finding a gift for the mother.

I am wondering if mentioning this commercial would be relevant for this article, as there has been some criticism of it trivializing the Adam Walsh incident. Ranze (talk) 07:03, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

The Hunt With John Walsh
I think that show, which John Walsh hosts, should also be included in the section talking about the things which John did after the case was closed. RMD NAAK SAK (talk) 04:23, 17 May 2016 (UTC)
 * John Walsh has his own biography page, that type info should go on this page: John Walsh (television host). Klaun (talk) 20:37, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

John Walsh as suspect
I removed the first sentence in the Investigation section as it was unsourced and I could not find a reference for it. Per WP:BLP, this info need to be immediately deleted given it was unsourced. Klaun (talk) 20:42, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

date of death
Why do the infobox and lede both state a date of death of "July 27, 1981" when the article says "the coroner ruled that the cause of Adam Walsh's death was asphyxiation and that the decapitation had occurred after death, […] The state of the remains suggested that Adam's death had occurred several days before the discovery of his head [on August 10, 1981]." —  fourthords  &#124; =Λ= &#124;  04:44, 15 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Hmm, good point. I'd say unless a specific date (or range of dates) can be referenced (in RS of course) then that information should be modified/removed. Primefac (talk) 14:26, 15 April 2017 (UTC)

Sexual assault?
This article is in the categories Child sexual abuse in the United States, Rapes in the United States, and Sexual assaults in the United States, but the article text doesn't mention any sexual assault. Does someone who knows more about this murder know whether that should added to the article text or if the categories should be removed? Furius (talk) 18:59, 18 January 2021 (UTC)

The security guard
Convicting the Innocent has a different take on who killed Adam and the security guard:

"When security guard Shaffer observed the incident in the toy department at 12:45 p.m., Adam had already been missing for around twenty-five minutes. Dahmer was already in his blue van with Adam, and the evidence I found implied that he was most likely on his way back to the meter room behind Sunshine Subs where he worked." Is it considered reliable?--174.99.238.22 (talk) 12:04, 24 April 2022 (UTC)