SERGEANT HING: It’s a good place to live. Good people, lots of space. Now, when the incident happened with that boy, a lot of press people came here. And one time some of them followed me out to the crime scene. And uh, well, it was a beautiful day, absolutely gorgeous day, real clear and crisp and the sky was that blue that, uh … you know, you’ll never be able to paint, it’s just sky blue—it’s just gorgeous. And the mountains in the background and a little snow on ’em, and this one reporter, uh, lady … person, that was out there, she said …

REPORTER: Well, who found the boy, who was out here anyway?

SERGEANT HING: And I said, “Well, this is a really popular area for people to run, and mountain biking’s really big out here, horseback riding, it’s just, well, it’s close to town.” And she looked at me and she said:

REPORTER: Who in the hell would want to run out here?

SERGEANT HING: And I’m thinking, “Lady, you’re just missing the point.” You know, all you got to do is turn around, see the mountains, smell the air, listen to the birds, just take in what’s around you. And they were just—nothing but the story. I didn’t feel judged, I felt that they were stupid. They’re, they’re missing the point—they’re just missing the whole point.

JEDADIAH SCHULTZ: It’s hard to talk about Laramie now, to tell you what Laramie is, for us.

NARRATOR: Jedadiah Schultz:

JEDADIAH SCHULTZ: If you would have asked me before, I would have told you Laramie is a beautiful town, secluded enough that you can have your own identity.… A town with a strong sense of community—everyone knows everyone.… A town with a personality that most larger cities are stripped of. Now, after Matthew, I would say that Laramie is a town defined by an accident, a crime. We’ve become Waco, we’ve become Jasper. We’re a noun, a definition, a sign. We may be able to get rid of that … but it will sure take a while.

MOMENT: JOURNAL ENTRIES

NARRATOR: Journal entries—members of the company. Andy Paris:

ANDY PARIS: Moisés called saying he had an idea for his next theater project. But there was a somberness to his voice, so I asked what it was all about and he told me he wanted to do a piece about what’s happening in Wyoming.

NARRATOR: Stephen Belber:

STEPHEN BELBER: Leigh told me the company was thinking of going out to Laramie to conduct interviews and that they wanted me to come. But I’m hesitant. I have no real interest in prying into a town’s unraveling.

NARRATOR: Amanda Gronich:

AMANDA GRONICH: I’ve never done anything like this in my life. How do you get people to talk to you? What do you ask?