ℙ𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝔸 𝔻𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝔾𝕚𝕣𝕝 - 𝕂𝕒𝕪𝕔𝕖 𝔻𝕦𝕥𝕥𝕠𝕟

𝔼𝕏. 3

THE FOLLOWING IS EXCERPT 3 of 10 FROM THE INTERVIEWS THAT TOOK PLACE DEC. 18, 2020, BETWEEN THE DUTTON FAMILY RANCH AND ATTORN. J. DUTTON IN REGARD TO THE COWEN MASSACRE: THIS EXCERPT CONTAINS A PIECE OF THE DISCUSSION BETWEEN AN ANONYMOUS RANCHER AND THE LISTED ATTORNEY.

J. DUTTON: The witness I am with here today works as a ranch hand on the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, he has requested to keep his identity anonymous for his own safety. This does not waive the validity of his statements as he was present with the defendant before, during, and after the massacre. How are you doing today sir?

RANCH HAND: How the hell do you think I'm doing, Jamie?

J. DUTTON: That's a fair response considering circumstances. I suppose we will get right to the point. I'm here to ask you about the defendant. While her legal name is undisclosed. You all referred to her as 'Jane Doe.'

RANCH HAND: That's who she was. She couldn't tell us any differently.

J. DUTTON: Outside of her lack of social abilities, how did she perform on the ranch?

RANCH HAND: She didn't lack nothin', she was plenty social. Like anyone else who finds their way on that ranch, she was defensive and quiet, scared to her wits end and probably wondering what the hell she stumbled into. But she didn't need to talk for us to know she loved it there. That little beast could do a weeks' worth of work in one day. She was free from means of survival and damn sure worked her ass off to start a new life.

J. DUTTON: You say she was social, yet she couldn't speak?

RANCH HAND: It took a while to see it, but she talks with her eyes. She has a way of showing you what she wants to say just by lookin' at you. You just have to pay attention to see it. That's why I think she did so well with the livestock, she could just show them she was the boss without making herself bigger than them.

J. DUTTON: You play a big hand in the operations of the ranch. Did you trust her to get the work done?

RANCH HAND: Fuck no. I thought she'd just be the new cattle dog. (Chuckling) And I fuckin' hate dogs. But she jumped right in and started helping in her own way. When I finally trusted her enough, I let her start riding with the rest of us.

J. DUTTON: And what about now?

RANCH HAND: Pardon?

J. DUTTON: How much do you trust her now?

RANCH HAND: What kind of fucking question is that? That ain't got shit to do with what went down.

J. DUTTON: Quite the opposite actually. I'm wondering how you could possibly trust her when you started seeing the signs that there was something much more serious going on than any of you could've guessed.

RANCH HAND: Because it wasn't her fault. Jane is a perfect example of being the product of your environment. Just like the rest of us cowboys, we are given a second chance working there. You know the policy. You work the past out of you. Make a true and honest living for yourself. We wanted to give her the same opportunity. So wherever, or whoever, she came from. It didn't matter. She was one of us and we'd ride for her.

J. DUTTON: Until it did matter.

RANCH HAND:(Pause) Until it did.

J. DUTTON: Listen, (redacted.). My goal here is not to make her out to be a criminal. Not even close to that. My goal is to help tell her story in a better limelight. You will remain anonymous, what you say right now cannot be prosecuted against you. And we need your perspective.

RANCH HAND: I'm not a saint by no means. I am the last person on this earth to weigh in on the judgment scale. As I said before, Jane's a product of her environment. All she knows is where she's at on the food chain, and the most brutal ways to survive. When you look at the whole picture, what she did on that mountain was fully justified. If things were handled how the state would've handled it, those families would still be on the devil's highway. The only difference would be the way they got there. And if you ask any of us that were on that mountain. . . They got what was coming to them.