Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/George Cavanaugh


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   delete.   A rbitrarily 0   ( talk ) 00:12, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

George Cavanaugh

 * – ( View AfD View log )

I found the following articles about members of a Chicago's mafia clan nominated in the CAT:CSD as hoaxes. I have to admit that I agree with the objections raised at the talk pages of the articles, but I think that proper discussion is more appropriate than speedy deletion. Vejvančický (talk | contribs) 14:29, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

I am also nominating the following related pages:

--Vejvančický (talk | contribs) 14:39, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Delete. Moderately well-crafted and very long-standing, but hoaxes.  Two of the books cited in these articles are real.  Chicago's Most Wanted: The Top Ten Book of Murderous Mobsters, Midway Monsters, and Windy City Oddities exists.  It does not, however, contain anything resembling the content claimed to be sourced to it.  The name "Cavanaugh" appears no where in the book and the content at the page numbers cited in no way resembles what is claimed to be there.  The Gold Coast and the Slum: Sociological Study of Chicago's Near North Side is also a real book, and also does not include the claimed material (again, no mention of "Cavanaugh" whatsoever).  The remaining books (A Day in my Life, Life at War: The Cavanaugh Family, and Criminal Minds) are entirely fabrications, complete with false ISBN numbers for the latter two.  I considered the possibility that the ISBN numbers may have been miscopied.  Searches for any of these titles by name or by author is nevertheless fruitless.  In the case of Life at War, the most-cited supposed source, the purported publisher has a comprehensive list of their works available online, with the claimed work conspicuously absent.  Google news searches for Cavanaugh produce nothing remotely applicable.  And, historically, Moran was the last head of the North Side Gang; it ceased to exist as an entity following his exit from the Chicago underworld (as our article on the gang correctly states).  It is unfortunate that these articles have survived as long as they have (since 2008); additionally, this editor was at times a fairly prolific contributor to other underworld and sports articles.  The depth and complexity of this hoax mean that anything added by Hdxstunts1 should be carefully evaluated. Squeamish Ossifrage (talk) 15:36, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
 * The articles created by Hdxstunts1 look OK (or at least they don't seem to be hoaxes). The only strange thing is this Cavanaugh intermezzo (creations from December 2007‎ to January 2008). --Vejvančický (talk | contribs) 15:55, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
 * In fact, we've been here before. See the first AFD, in 2007.  After a pleading on the talk page of the deleting admin (currently archived here), they were restored, sourced with fraudulent citations, and have lived happily in the encyclopedia ever since.  I'm boldly starting the process of cleaning up the breadcrumbs left in other articles to connect this material with legitimate content. Squeamish Ossifrage (talk) 16:14, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Well, I'd agree with restoring the db-hoax tags. Thanks for your careful and competent investigation, Squeamish Ossifrage. Vejvančický (talk | contribs) 16:23, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Sounds like a Delete is clearly in order based on the findings above.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 21:38, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
 * I'm always happy to help chase this sort of thing down. I believe I got all the Cavanaugh stuff that had been inserted into legitimate articles.  His college sports contributions are fine as best as I can tell, and his music articles are at least not fraudulent.  I haven't had the time to go through them for potential copyright issues (which he has apparently also engaged in, cf. James Litherland).  Squeamish Ossifrage (talk) 22:11, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Fictional elements-related deletion discussions.  • Gene93k (talk) 20:08, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Crime-related deletion discussions.  • Gene93k (talk) 20:10, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions.  • Gene93k (talk) 20:10, 1 December 2011 (UTC)


 * Delete as Hoax, with appropriate sanctions against the perpetrator. There was a film 'Criminal Minds', while actors Ben JOHNSON; TERRY O'Quinn played in Stranger on My Land ... supporting the complete fabrication theory with a means of fabrication, I guess. As usual, Squeamish Ossifrage is far ahead of me. The ISBNs are indeed fakes, and the last 2 books also. Chiswick Chap (talk) 22:28, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Delete. Obvious hoax as demonstrated by the careful research of Squeamish Ossifrage. - DonCalo (talk) 17:10, 5 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Delete the article is a hoax. --Vic49 (talk)  16:44, 7 December 2011 (UTC)
 *  Strong Delete - This is clearly a hoax. Vincelord (talk) 17:05, 7 December 2011 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.