Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Patrick Knight (3rd nomination)


 * 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. Spartaz Humbug! 16:33, 14 May 2011 (UTC)

Patrick Knight
AfDs for this article: 
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The subject of this article is a convicted murderer who was executed by the state of Texas for his crimes in 2007. This article has been nominated for deletion twice in the past, once in 2007 and once in 2008. No consensus was reached in either discussion. In the 2008 AfD, I was a vocal proponent of keeping the article; of course, that was before I was well-acquainted with Wikipedia policies (and that's an understatement). Anyway, I'm returning this article to AfD for a simple reason: Wikipedia's guidelines for inclusion of biographical articles have changed considerably in the past few years. Back in November 2008, the WP:CRIMINAL section of WP:BIO didn't even exist; today, it says that "the criminal...in question should be the subject of a Wikipedia article only if" one of two criteria are met. The first of these is plainly inapplicable. The second is as follows: "The motivation for the crime or the execution of the crime is unusual—or has otherwise been considered noteworthy—such that it is a well-documented historic event. Generally, historic significance is indicated by sustained coverage of the event in reliable secondary sources which persists beyond contemporaneous news coverage and devotes significant attention to the individual's role." I can find no evidence that Knight is notable under this criterion, and so I think the article should be deleted. A Stop at Willoughby (talk) 13:44, 6 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Delete Per WP:NOTNEWS. Fails WP:BIO and specifically WP:CRIMINAL.He was not a notable person before the crime, and the motivation and method of the crime were not unusual. A murderer got convicted and executed. The life and death of the man, and the unfunny "joke" he delivered before execution have been largely forgotten. This is not a landmark case, and no evidence shows effects on society or culture or the legal system, or which were noted by commentators, playrights, sociologists, beyond simple routine news coverage. Newsworthy but not encyclopedic. Wikipedia is not a tabloid newspaper or a crime blog, and things that are newsworthy are often not encyclopedic. Edison (talk) 14:50, 6 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Delete Per Edison; working on List of United States death row inmates has been educational, but I see none of the indicators of lasting notability in the criminal, competency, or conviction; none of his legal motions resulted in a change of case law. Dru of Id (talk) 16:38, 6 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Crime-related deletion discussions.  -- • Gene93k (talk) 19:41, 6 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions.  -- • Gene93k (talk) 19:42, 6 May 2011 (UTC)

 Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks,  Sandstein   09:01, 14 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Keep - I decided on keep. for this one. crimes in itselfs and criminals can be notable on there own. even if no groundbreaking law change or other event has occured. numerous evidence of that on Wikipedia. WP:NOTNEWS hmmm.. wikipedia is filled with news.. so that doesnt really count in here. does infact pass WP:BIO .--BabbaQ (talk) 20:37, 6 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached.


 * Delete as he doesn't pass WP:CRIME. Also, I think we should remove Articles for deletion/Patrick Knight (police officer) from the box up there. Unless these are the same person (which I doubt), it is not useful to the discussion... not to mention comparing a (unpopular, admittedly) police officer with a convicted murderer. Crisco 1492 (talk) 14:47, 14 May 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.