Zach Panther, 17, went to work at Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen's family hog farm. By lunch he was dead.
Two investigations. No answers.
This series tells the true story of Zach Panther's death at Governor Jim Pillen's family farm. The reporting, documents, and archival audio are drawn from published news reports and the public record. The voice guiding you through this story, however, is generated.
The events are real. The reporting is real. The questions are real.
The reporter is not.
Based on reporting by Yanqi Xu, Flatwater Free Press and The New York Times.
Zach Panther died on a Nebraska hog farm in April 2024. The news said an autopsy would determine how.
It never did.
The answer wasn't lost to science. It was lost to decisions.
And something may still be left to test.
The unresolved cause of death of Zach Panther at Beaver Valley Pork, a Pillen Family Farms hog farm in Nebraska, and what can still be tested. A true crime investigation.
Sources: The New York Times and Flatwater Free Press (reporting by Yanqi Xu); KETV NewsWatch 7; 1011 Now; KLKN Channel 8; American Journal of Industrial Medicine; Nature Genetics; The Dan Parsons Show.
www.deathatthegovernorsfarm.com
--------------------
This series tells the true story of Zach Panther's death at Governor Jim Pillen's family farm. The reporting, documents, and archival audio are drawn from published news reports and the public record. The voice guiding you through this story, however, is generated.
The events are real. The reporting is real. The questions are real.
The reporter is not.
Based on reporting by Yanqi Xu, Flatwater Free Press and The New York Times.
26 Oct 2026
8: A Mother Versus the System | Zach Panther's Mother
Nebraska law gave Zach Panther's mother two years to bring a wrongful death claim.
She asked for the investigative reports, the photographs, and what remained of her son.
The answer was no. No reason given.
Then a new prosecutor said yes. With less than three months left on the clock.
Justy Riggs-Panther's search for answers about the death of her son Zach Panther at a Pillen Family Farms hog farm in St. Edward, Boone County, Nebraska.
Sources: Flatwater Free Press and Nebraska Examiner (reporting by Andrew Wegley and Yanqi Xu); The New York Times; 1011 Now; The Dan Parsons Show.
www.deathatthegovernorsfarm.com
-----------------
This series tells the true story of Zach Panther's death at Governor Jim Pillen's family farm. The reporting, documents, and archival audio are drawn from published news reports and the public record. The voice guiding you through this story, however, is generated.
The events are real. The reporting is real. The questions are real.
The reporter is not.
Based on reporting by Yanqi Xu, Flatwater Free Press and The New York Times.
19 Oct 2026
The Governor's State | Farm Safety Laws in Nebraska
Same boy. Same foam. In a factory, OSHA would have required Zach Panther to wear a respirator. On Jim Pillen's hog farm in Nebraska, it didn't.
No one had to break a rule.
That's the problem.
Farm safety law, OSHA's agricultural exemptions, and the death of Zach Panther at Beaver Valley Pork, a Pillen Family Farms hog farm in Nebraska. A true crime investigation.
Sources: The New York Times and Flatwater Free Press (reporting by Yanqi Xu); "Pigs and Power," Flatwater Free Press and Investigate Midwest; American Journal of Industrial Medicine; The Dan Parsons Show.
www.deathatthegovernorsfarm.com/
-----------
This series tells the true story of Zach Panther's death at Governor Jim Pillen's family farm. The reporting, documents, and archival audio are drawn from published news reports and the public record. The voice guiding you through this story, however, is generated.
The events are real. The reporting is real. The questions are real.
The reporter is not.
Based on reporting by Yanqi Xu, Flatwater Free Press and The New York Times.
19 Oct 2026
The Last Sample | The Boone County Prosecutor
A Nebraska prosecutor asked the lab to save everything from Zach Panther's autopsy, so his family could test it.
Eighteen months later, he refused.
He never gave a reason.
A month later, he died.
The Boone County Attorney, the autopsy samples, and the unanswered questions in the death of Zach Panther at a Pillen Family Farms hog farm in St. Edward, Nebraska.
Sources: Flatwater Free Press and Nebraska Examiner (reporting by Andrew Wegley and Yanqi Xu); 1011 Now; The New York Times; The Dan Parsons Show.
This series tells the true story of Zach Panther's death at Governor Jim Pillen's family farm. The reporting, documents, and archival audio are drawn from published news reports and the public record. The voice guiding you through this story, however, is generated.
The events are real. The reporting is real. The questions are real.
The reporter is not.
Based on reporting by Yanqi Xu, Flatwater Free Press and The New York Times.
www.deathatthegovernorsfarm.com
12 Oct 2026
The Investigation | OSHA at the Hog Farm
Two days after Zach Panther died, an OSHA inspector arrived at Pillen Family Farms in Nebraska to test the air….Two. Days. After.
He wasn't allowed to bring his equipment inside.
He wasn't allowed to bring a pen.
Inside the OSHA investigation into the death of Zach Panther at Beaver Valley Pork, a Pillen Family Farms hog farm in St. Edward, Boone County, Nebraska.
Sources: The New York Times and Flatwater Free Press (reporting by Yanqi Xu); OSHA inspection 1738595.015; 1011 Now; KETV NewsWatch 7; The Dan Parsons Show.
---------
This series tells the true story of Zach Panther's death at Governor Jim Pillen's family farm. The reporting, documents, and archival audio are drawn from published news reports and the public record. The voice guiding you through this story, however, is generated.
The events are real. The reporting is real. The questions are real.
The reporter is not.
Based on reporting by Yanqi Xu, Flatwater Free Press and The New York Times.
www.deathatthegovernorsfarm.com
5 Oct 2026
What Was in the Air? | The Autopsy and the Spray Foam
Spray foam. Eight dollars at any hardware store. It may have killed Zach Panther on a Nebraska hog farm owned by Gov. Jim Pillen.
Or it may not have.
The federal report says he'd used it once before. His mother says she watched him peel it off his arms on at least three different days.
Both can't be true.
The autopsy findings, the spray foam, and isocyanate exposure in the death of Zach Panther at Beaver Valley Pork, a Pillen Family Farms hog farm in Nebraska. A true crime podcast.
Sources: The New York Times and Flatwater Free Press (reporting by Yanqi Xu); 1011 Now; KLKN Channel 8; The Dan Parsons Show; peer-reviewed occupational medicine research.
----------
This series tells the true story of Zach Panther's death at Governor Jim Pillen's family farm. The reporting, documents, and archival audio are drawn from published news reports and the public record. The voice guiding you through this story, however, is generated.
The events are real. The reporting is real. The questions are real.
The reporter is not.
Based on reporting by Yanqi Xu, Flatwater Free Press and The New York Times.
www.deathatthegovernorsfarm.com
29 Sept 2026
The Governor | Jim Pillen and Pillen Family Farms
Long before Zach Panther died on one of its farms, Jim Pillen turned sixty sows into Pillen Family Farms, Nebraska's biggest hog operation.
Then he became governor.
In 2000, eighteen of his neighbors in Boone County took him to court.
They won.
The award: only $42,500. Split eighteen ways.
This is the story of how Jim Pillen built Pillen Family Farms, the hog farm company behind Beaver Valley Pork in St. Edward, Nebraska, and its long history in Boone County.
Sources: "Pigs and Power" by Yanqi Xu (Flatwater Free Press) and Sky Chadde (Investigate Midwest); The Dan Parsons Show.
---------
This series tells the true story of Zach Panther's death at Governor Jim Pillen's family farm. The reporting, documents, and archival audio are drawn from published news reports and the public record. The voice guiding you through this story, however, is generated.
The events are real. The reporting is real. The questions are real.
The reporter is not.
Based on reporting by Yanqi Xu, Flatwater Free Press and The New York Times.
www.deathatthegovernorsfarm.com
28 Sept 2026
Zach | Who Zach Panther Was
Before he was a case file, Zach Panther was a 17-year-old in St. Edward, Nebraska.
He drew constantly. He was smarter than his grades. He hadn't decided what came next.
His mother still has the sketchbooks.
She cries at the empty pages.
Who Zach Panther was before he died at Beaver Valley Pork, a Pillen Family Farms hog farm near St. Edward in Boone County, Nebraska.
Sources: The New York Times and Flatwater Free Press (reporting by Yanqi Xu); 1011 News; photography by Rebecca S. Gratz for The New York Times.
-----------------
This series tells the true story of Zach Panther's death at Governor Jim Pillen's family farm. The reporting, documents, and archival audio are drawn from published news reports and the public record. The voice guiding you through this story, however, is generated.
The events are real. The reporting is real. The questions are real.
The reporter is not.
Based on reporting by Yanqi Xu, Flatwater Free Press and The New York Times.
www.deathatthegovernorsfarm.com
21 Sept 2026
He Went to Work | The Death of Zach Panther
Zach Panther, 17, went to work at Gov. Jim Pillen's family hog farm in Nebraska on April 1, 2024. By 11:55 he was dead.
Seven hours later, someone called the federal government to report it.
Two years and two investigations later, nobody can say what happened to him.
A true crime investigation into the death of Zach Panther at Beaver Valley Pork, a Pillen Family Farms hog farm in St. Edward, Boone County, Nebraska.
Sources: The New York Times and Flatwater Free Press (reporting by Yanqi Xu); KETV NewsWatch 7; 1011 Now; OSHA inspection 1738595.015.
--------
This series tells the true story of Zach Panther's death at Governor Jim Pillen's family farm. The reporting, documents, and archival audio are drawn from published news reports and the public record. The voice guiding you through this story, however, is generated.
The events are real. The reporting is real. The questions are real.
The reporter is not.
Based on reporting by Yanqi Xu, Flatwater Free Press and The New York Times.
www.deathatthegovernorsfarm.com
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
2.6 / 5
11 ratings
Spotify
4.1 / 5
15 ratings
Contact Death at the Governor's Farm
Guest appearances
Does not typically book guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
