Talk:Murder of Samantha Runnion

Early discussions
This page was voted on for deletion at Votes for deletion/Samantha Runnion. dbenbenn | talk 18:53, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Page dedicated to Samantha and all the children who like Samantha, have been victims of kidnappers, sexual abusers and/or killers AntonioMartin

Samantha was not born in Stanton, CA. Laggard


 * It never says she was. It only says she lived there at the time of her death.  TripleH1976 05:17, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

I quote directly:

"Born July 26, 1996 Stanton, California, USA"

Sounds to me like it says she was born in Stanton. Laggard


 * Well, it wasn't I who put that in. I did contribute to some of the article.  Someone else placed that box information.  Do you know where she was born?  TripleH1976 02:52, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

According to other sources (e.g., http://www.geocities.com/mantharunnion/1.html), Samantha Runnion was indeed born on July 26, 1996, but in Massachusetts (where her parents were living at the time), not Stanton, California. Her parents later split up, after which she moved to Stanton, CA with her mother.

Spelling of name
This is an unresolved issue. Google has far more entries for "Samantha Runnion" than for "Samantha Runyon". This does is just a hint. One would have to find some kind of an official document such as a court decision. If Runyon should be correct, then the article will have to moved, as it is now, it is inconsistent. A n d r e a s   (T) 14:19, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

It's "Runnion." Laggard 19:30, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Samantha Runnion vs. Samantha Runnion murder
Before we get into a page move war or start calling people names, shouldn't we discuss this first? It is what the talk page is for. Personally, I'm looking at the entry currently titled Samantha Runnion and it really isn't about her, per se. It's about her murder. The only things in the article that are not about her rape and murder are her birth date and her name. Unless we can get some encyclopedic biographical information, I think the page should be moved to Samantha Runnion murder. AniMate 22:37, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

Requested Move
I've put in a request that this page be moved to Murder of Samantha Runnion as this seems to be the preferred format on Wikipedia, if you look at articles like Murder of Kelsey Smith, Murder of James Bulger, and Murder of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom. I'd think this move wouldn't be controversial, though there was a minor move/revert war between two editors over this proposal. AniMate 00:37, 30 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Strong support and one that we should do, IMO, with every siongle murder victim in the project, SqueakBox 00:56, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Date of Birth
This is my first time editing so I'm probably doing it wrong (help with annotations would be great), but her birthday as shown is inaccurate and she was not 14 years old at her time of death, but 5. Her birthday should show as July 26, 1996. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.149.73.145 (talk) 05:48, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

Nevermind I was able to edit it directly to show her real date of birth. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.149.73.145 (talk) 05:52, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

Place of Death
The article previously stated she died in Riverside County, but no source was given. This has now been changed to Stanton, but again without a source. Was the actual place ever established? And if not, what is Wikipedia’s policy on this? Name both possible places? Be vague and just say “Southern California”? Or leave it out altogether?TheTruth-2009 (talk) 08:27, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

Place of Death
She was abducted in Stanton. The guy who did it was from Riverside.

The above was added by 63.91.129.6 on 18 April 2014.
 * I see that it has now been changed back to Riverside County, but still without a source being given.TheTruth-2009 (talk) 12:54, 19 July 2014 (UTC)

Danielle van Dam case
Most of the information about the van Dam case has been removed, with the reason given as “remove argumentative material”. If it’s considered argumentative, this could have been addressed in a less drastic way. It’s just not true that the two cases were not similar in any way, so rather remove that incorrect statement and just give the similarities, then the information won’t be argumentative. And the bit about Samantha’s mother blaming Avila’s previous jury for failing to convict him in his previous sexual abuse case, can be moved to earlier in the article so that it’s not directly related to the Danielle case.TheTruth-2009 (talk) 14:01, 17 July 2014 (UTC)
 * "Not similar" is what the judge told the jury. Whether you or I consider it to be true is irrelevant; that's what the judge said to the van Dam jury. To make that clearer, we could use the judge's exact words - "The fact is the case is not similar in any way, shape or form" - if you prefer. Detailing what we believe to be similarities would be Original Research as well as argumentative. --MelanieN (talk) 14:45, 17 July 2014 (UTC)
 * P.S. Please see my comments at your talk page. --MelanieN (talk) 14:53, 17 July 2014 (UTC)


 * I am aware that the judge told the jury that the two cases were “not similar”, but it’s not true, as can be seen from the similarities listed (but now deleted). And that was not “original research”, it was a quote from the given references, specifically Kristen Green’s July 21 article in the Union-Tribune: “The Samantha Runnion and van Dam cases are similar in several ways. Both victims were pre-pubescent girls who lived in Southern California. Both were kidnapped from traditionally safe places – Danielle from her bed, and Samantha from near her home, at play with a friend. Both are believed to be victims of sexual assault. Both bodies were found nude in deserted areas. And both cases fueled parents' fears about their children's safety and prompted debates on appropriate parenting.” If that really is considered argumentative by Wikipedia, then which is worse: being argumentative or including in Wikipedia a statement which is clearly not true?  I would also point out that you changed “inescapable” to “heavy”, yet the former was also Green’s choice: “Media coverage of Samantha's abduction and killing has been inescapable.”TheTruth-2009 (talk) 05:07, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
 * OK, I have added "similar in several ways", a direct quote from the UT article. --MelanieN (talk) 16:37, 6 August 2014 (UTC)


 * A step in the right direction; thank you.TheTruth-2009 (talk) 06:18, 7 August 2014 (UTC)

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