"Prosecuting the killers is complicated enough by itself - there's a reason Harra walked all the way to Vorkosigan Surleau from Silvy Vale to demand the Count's attention on her case. To prosecute the killers you need someone within reach who's willing to prosecute the killers, and someone who's willing to ask them to, and you don't often get both. Not in some of those little villages. Getting the trappings of modern civilization out there - transportation, education, computation - helps too, but not everyone can be convinced to accept them."