Talk:Used to Love Her

Use In Murder section

another editor keeps removing the section, claiming it to be trivial. However, I beleive this not to be the case, it's notable similar to the way karaoke murders are notable to the My Way article. RF23 (talk) 21:03, 19 July 2018 (UTC)

• Hmmm. Since someone requested a third opinion, I think the section should be removed. I sympathize with the desire to collect this information, but two anecdotes about murders featuring this song doesn't add up to a significant fact about this song's cultural impact. What would establish such a fact is a reliable source identifying not just an isolated example but noting a trend, so I suggest searching for one. Hope that helps!—Neil P. Quinn (talk) 22:08, 19 July 2018 (UTC)

Additionally there's notable coverage from a music site and people magazine about the song being used that focus on the song's lyrics in relation to the murders. RF23 (talk) 23:04, 19 July 2018 (UTC)

@Ringerfan23 and Datsgni: Thanks for bringing this to the talk page. It looks like the material has been added and removed about 10 times, and discussing the matter has a better chance for resolution than leaving the same little notes in edit summaries.

It took me a while to read through the source on Justin Barber. (In future, please link the URL which supports the edit, i.e. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/secrets-in-the-sand/7/, not the first page in the series.) So he downloaded it hours before he killed her, and it was the only song deleted from his computer before he turned it in. It speaks to something, but this was a premeditated crime he'd been contemplating for months, and it seems he would have done it with or without the song; that the song was an incidental afterthought.

The murder of Christine Murray by Thomas Wilhelm may be a little closer to being relevant. He was reported (in a text from the victim minutes before she died) to be singing along to the song. Unlike Barber, his doesn't seem to be a planned crime. Did it inspire him or set him off? I don't know. The cited story puts more emphasis on a personal and business relationship, alcohol and mental-health issues, and inadequately secured firearms. The two new sources say that the perpetrator texted about the song rather than the victim, so the facts may be in question. But by and large, the song doesn't seem especially relevant.

Also, there might be a better case for inclusion of the material if the crimes themselves were notable. They had some media coverage but were there any notable effects as a consequence of the crimes? Was there significant public debate about the song and the crimes?

I've written a small number of crime articles and I think it's interesting, but I don't feel that it's notable enough for inclusion in this article. (P.S.: I took a quick look at Lists of songs but there doesn't seem to be anything like a list of songs that inspired murders.) – Reidgreg (talk) 00:14, 20 July 2018 (UTC)