Death at the Governor's Farm

NAH Productions
  • 3.4 (7)
  • True Crime
  • Updated Weekly

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.

Episodes

  1. 10h ago

    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

  2. Oct 5

    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

  3. Sep 29

    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

  4. Sep 28

    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

  5. Sep 21

    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

  • 5 Episodes

3.4
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

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.

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