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1-Page Summary of Missoula

Missoula starts with the story of a young woman from Missoula who is raped by someone she knows. The author goes on to describe the town, and how important football is there. He also describes why people in Missoula are hesitant to report rape cases.

Missoula begins with Allison Huguet, a girl from Montana who was raped by Beau Donaldson, a member of the UM football team. In telling Allison’s story, Krakauer gives background information about UM and its importance in local culture. He also discusses how UM athletes have privileges that other students don’t have because they’re so popular among locals for their sports achievements; you can tell he doesn’t like this situation much because it seems unfair to him as an outsider (he’s not from Missoula).

In September 2010, after a night of heavy drinking at Beau’s house where they were partying together alone (no one else was home), Allison wakes up to find Beau raping her. She goes to the hospital for medical attention and then sees Beau again that day when she attends his game at school; he plays football at University of Montana (UM). Her friend Keely Williams supports her through all this trauma, which makes her feel even worse than before. After fifteen months, she decides reporting Beau is best way forward since nothing else has worked well enough.

Allison is close with Detective Guy Baker, who works hard to collect evidence for Allison’s case. The detective gets Beau to confess his crime over the phone by getting a warrant that allows him to record Beau without his knowledge. There are other cases involving rape in Missoula, Montana, but law enforcement officials dismiss those claims and do little to gather evidence or prosecute them in court.

Despite having her claim dismissed by the city of Missoula, Kaitlyn Kelly reports her rape to the University of Montana. The school uses a new standard of evidence in which it must only prove that it is “more likely than not” that a rape was committed. The university expels Calvin Smith after he is found guilty at his University Court hearing. Public prosecutor Kirsten Pabst testifies on Smith’s behalf and explains why she dismissed the charges against him. Kelly is shocked because Pabst, who prosecutes rapes for Missoula County, testified on behalf of her rapist. Articles begin to appear in local newspapers questioning how police and prosecutors are handling sexual assaults on campus. Then news breaks that Jordan Johnson (the star quarterback) raped Cecilia Washburn (Kelly’s pseudonym). After an investigation, Johnson is found guilty by the student conduct board at UM and appeals four times with help from his lawyer David Paoli until finally getting his charge dropped altogether.

The author continues the story of Beau and Allison. The author also writes about how public prosecutor Shaun Donovan handles Allison’s case against Beau. He is worried that he won’t argue convincingly for the maximum sentence, thirty years in the state prison with twenty years suspended. But after pressure from media and an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into rape cases handled in Missoula, county attorney Fred Van Valkenberg agrees to argue Allison’s case at court hearing where judge gives Beau a maximum sentence: thirty years in state prison with twenty years suspended; however, he has to serve two and a half years before parole eligibility.

After Kirsten Pabst retires from the Missoula County Attorney’s Office, she joins David Paoli to defend Jordan Johnson in court. In the wake of Beau’s conviction, they argue that it will be impossible for Johnson to get a fair trial. Their motions are rejected and Johnson is tried in February 2013. During his trial, Paoli and Pabst use theatrics to create a stage performance of their client’s defense. They smear Cecilia Washburn’s reputation while defending Johnson as best they can. The jury finds him not guilty.