Talk:Inglewood, New Zealand

Murder Capital?

'Murder Capital of New Zealand" ? I've heard it called that a few times. - SimonLyall 06:03, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

Really? Loopy 02:12, September 10, 2005 (UTC)

Yes, I remember it being called that back in the early 1990s and I've talked to others who remember similar, there was another murder there last year. A population of 2800 should only have around a murder every 10 years or so to match the National rate. SimonLyall 11:07, 10 September 2005 (UTC)

Blimey, and to think it looks so sleepy and dull... Loopy 22:00, September 10, 2005 (UTC)

Dull Oh Yeah! but it's fucken Vegas compared to Ngaruawahia. Bigkev

FLASE - I am the sister of the boy murdered at that party you went to. The boy who knifed my brother to death was the son of the maths teacher there and not teh principle.- (It was the principle if u went to the school you would notice theres a photo line of all the previous principle and the who was murdered was the principle not the maths teacher) You are also inaccurate in how you describe what happened and why. Many of your other 'reclections' of other murders are also wrong. refrain from gossip......it is hurtful. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.167.145.44 (talk) 08:49, 11 April 2013 (UTC) You also have the Paul Julian murders a bit skewed mate. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.59.167.235 (talk) 06:05, 1 July 2013 (UTC) OMG I just stumbled across this none of these stories are accurate!!!! This needs to be removed! You forget some of these families are still living in the area and don't need to relive these tragidies!! A women that you mentioned has young children one only 9ish. All though u didn't mention names its not cool!!!

LETS CLEAR SOMETHING UP I have done extensive research on the double homicide (1981) you mentioned and the earlier murder committed by the same person in 1969 in New Plymouth. 99% of the recollections of the details are always wrong and the case has wrongly become a legend rather than a horrendous double homicide. I have studied the court notes, scene examinations, pathologists reports, witness statements and even the statements by the accused and believe me, its not easy to digest. A couple of things I can clear up though: the “house across the road from the pub” is not the location. The legend/rumour about “excised genitalia” is just that – legend. These murders were, however, horrific and not really something that needs to be described on the internet.

^whatever woman wrote this needs to get a grip on herself^ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 103.11.178.253 (talk) 00:59, 16 September 2015 (UTC)

GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT - Don't know who has put all this information on this site but I lived in Inglewood when a lot of these murders happened and you have got so much information wrong. If you can't put accurate facts about these murders then don't even comment. Don't act like you know these people or were there when it happened when your accounts are soooo inaccurate. And yes you do have to remember that families of those involved read crap posts like yours!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 222.154.238.242 (talk) 21:57, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

Notorious?

I'd like some feedback on recent edits to the article, which attempt to make the case that it's notorious for murders. The discussion above is relevant, but not very clear. I've reverted the edits once, and they've been restored with some changes. I've now removed the most extreme references: one which is to a reliable source which is quoting a humour site "Shit towns of New Zealand", and the other which is usually considered a reliable source but is raving about the likelihood of vampires in the town. For the fullest list of references, see the version of 18:37, 23 August 2019. Some of the current references have links to online sources in that earlier version.-gadfium 23:50, 24 August 2019 (UTC)

For the record, I removed the earlier mention about this being the murder capital of NZ back in 2006.-gadfium 23:54, 24 August 2019 (UTC)

Thanks for engaging on this point.

I think that two references you have removed are relevant inasmuch as that they both refer to the notoriety I have sought to establish. The (admittedly farcical) Vampire article does so in an offhand way, as if to suggest that Inglewood’s reputation is common knowledge.

The ‘Shit Towns of New Zealand’ article contains a quote from the mayor of Taranaki which suggests that to call Inglewood the murder capital “is so dated as to be laughable”. That quote alone establishes that the town did have this reputation at some point.

Indeed, the fact that you have reverted these edits before (some ten years ago!) plus the commentary on this very Talk page does go some way to establishing the very notoriety that I’m referring to.

I’m not keen to make the case that Inglewood is, in any way, a ‘murder capital’. Rather, I think it is important to convey the fact that Inglewood has played host to a significant number of unusual murders given it’s small size and, accordingly, the town has developed some notoriety.

There is no paucity of well regarded sources which substantiate this claim.

To that end, my question to you is: why should this point be absent on Inglewood’s Wikipedia entry? The tenor of the discussion above seems to be Inglewood locals attempting to suppress any mention of grizzly historic events in an effort to protect the reputation of their town.

I propose that a Wikipedia article needs to be factual and representative rather than censorious.

-Ollee 03:14, 25 August 2019 (UTC)

I looked at reference 12 (Taranaki Daily News) used to confirm a murder in Inglewood as being 'barbaric'. That news article, about a trial, does not confirm a murder (although the accused was later found guilty). It also does not use the word barbaric, meaning that that description of the murder is your personal opinion. It confirms the death did not occur in Inglewood but on an out of town main road. The only mention of Inglewood is that the dead man was in an Inglewood bar shortly before his death. That reference reports a murder trial, nothing else. It does not corroborate the claim that Inglewood is the murder capital of NZ, nor that it is notable for being the site of many unusually grotesque murders, nor notorious, nor anything similar. I have not removed that reference due to the discussion being started here, but I cannot help but wonder if the other references are equally questionable. Ollee, can you please supply better references, but first check here and here. Roger 8 Roger (talk) 07:52, 25 August 2019 (UTC)

Just mentioning notoriety and a variety of adjectives (gruesome, barbaric, unusual) is pretty weak. A description of each homicide (the court decided the Gibson case was not murder) would provide some substance. Does anyone plan to do that? Nurg (talk) 09:22, 25 August 2019 (UTC)

Thanks guys, this is great feedback.

I have adjusted the references accordingly so that the words used are found in each of the articles referenced to avoid inferring personal opinion.

I don't think a description of each homicide is useful to the reader. More than anything else, there are a LOT of them. The purpose of this article is not to describe crimes in significant detail (if the crime was important enough, it would have its own entry) but rather to impart something about the history of the town.

To that end, I've added a verbatim quote from the anthropologist Michael D. Jackson which discusses the 'murder capital' idea and references some relative statistics, in addition to talking about the nature of the crimes themselves.ollee (talk) 01:34, 26 August 2019 (UTC)

Ollie, are you related to Michael Jackson? You seem to have an unusually keen interest in promoting him and this somewhat fringe theory of Inglewood being a hive of satanic murdering freaks? I have removed source 7 which is a blog site and not a reliable source. There is a lot more still wrong with your edits, mainly that you have not established this "murder centre of NZ" idea as being particularly notable. Roger 8 Roger (talk) 08:16, 26 August 2019 (UTC)

For the record, I am not trying to promote the idea that Inglewood is a ‘murder capital’, so to speak.

Rather, in an entry such as this I think it’s important to acknowledge that Inglewood has played host to an unusually large number of sensational crimes which have given it a certain notoriety.

The fact that a renowned anthropologist has commented at length on this matter in a book published by a reputable university press does, unequivocally, rate a mention here.

As for the Quote Unquote citation: it was originally from an article in a print magazine that is kept in the National Library of New Zealand archives. The fact that it has been reposted on a blog should in no way serve to diminish the credibility of the original article. ollee (talk) 10:34, 26 August 2019 (UTC)