Editor’s note: This story has been updated.
Days after a 17-year-old died while working at a hog farm owned by Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen’s family, Boone County’s attorney knew Zach Panther’s mother would seek independent lab tests to determine what had killed her son — an effort the prosecutor seemed supportive of.
John Morgan wrote an email on the family’s behalf to the medical lab performing Zach’s autopsy a week after the teen was found collapsed at the farm outside his hometown of St. Edward on April 1, 2024. Morgan told the lab Zach’s mother “would like all medical samples from the autopsy to be preserved for independent analysis.”
But when Zach’s mother sought to have a blood sample tested in October 2025, Morgan made a different decision. The county attorney, without explanation, denied her request to release the sample for independent testing, even though lengthy investigations, including one by his own office, had failed to determine why Zach died.
Zach’s death remains a mystery following federal and state investigations that were hampered by missteps, The New York Times and the Flatwater Free Press found.
And Morgan’s denial left Justy Riggs-Panther without access to her son’s remains for medical testing that could potentially solve that mystery.
Until earlier this month, when Boone County’s new county attorney — again without explanation — reversed her predecessor’s decision and signaled a willingness to send Zach’s samples off for independent testing.
In a letter to Riggs-Panther dated Jan. 6, Boone County Attorney Abbey DeBoyes asked which medical samples she needed and what lab to send them to.
In September 2024, a medical officer helping to investigate Zach’s death for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration wrote that she suspected the 17-year-old had died from an immune response to a chemical in a spray foam. On the day he died, Zach had been using the foam without a respirator to seal up cracks in a barn at Beaver Valley Pork, one of the nearly 100 farms owned by Pillen Family Farms.
When the pathologist who performed Zach’s autopsy emailed the prosecutor asking for the release of the samples, Morgan never responded, according to emails reviewed by the Flatwater Free Press.
“My son is dead,” Riggs-Panther told the New York Times in December. “There ought to be answers.”
Photo by Rebecca S. Gratz for The New York Times
Then, in November, another unexpected death complicated the Boone County case: Morgan’s own.
The one-time Creighton basketball player, girls’ basketball coach and longtime prosecutor died on Nov. 11, according to his obituary. He was 76.
After Boone County tabbed a new prosecutor, Riggs-Panther tried again. She sent DeBoyes an email on Jan. 5 seeking records from her son’s death investigation – a request that had earlier been denied – as well as the release of the tissue samples Morgan had declined to approve.
The county’s response came days later in the mail: more than two dozen pages of notes that Riggs-Panther had never seen from Boone County Sheriff’s Office and Nebraska State Patrol investigators, as well as the letter from DeBoyes inquiring about where to send Zach’s samples.
It’s unclear why Morgan had denied the test in the first place. None of the emails his office sent Riggs-Panther denying her request for investigative reports, photos or the medical samples include a rationale.
DeBoyes declined to answer questions, saying, “I have nothing to add beyond my letter.”
Five attorneys, including two prosecutors elsewhere in Nebraska and two lawyers who have litigated wrongful death cases, said it seemed unusual for a prosecutor to withhold tissue samples, especially with no criminal charges pending.
In Lancaster County, Pat Condon, the top prosecutor since 2017, said such a request had never come across his desk. Colfax County Attorney Bruce Prenda said his office “would work with families” who sought independent autopsies or other tests at their own expense.
“I don’t know what the motivation would be for denying something like that,” said Terry Salerno, a personal injury attorney in Omaha. “It seems like a very reasonable request.”
In Zach’s case, the test could help determine whether he had an immune response to the polyurethane foam he had sprayed before he died. The foam contains a hazardous chemical compound called isocyanate that people can become sensitized to after they inhale it.
Eight experts — toxicologists, pulmonologists and other specialists — who independently reviewed the OSHA and autopsy reports also told The New York Times the most likely explanation for Zach’s death was a reaction to the foam.
An independent analysis could confirm their suspicions — or not.
This story includes previous reporting from Yanqi Xu, a Flatwater Free Press senior reporter and current New York Times local investigations fellow.
13 Comments
“Zach’s death remains a mystery following federal and state investigations that were hampered by missteps, The New York Times and the Flatwater Free Press found. ”
Huh? What exactly qualifies FFP or the NYT to make determinations whether an investigation by law enforcement was “hampered by missteps”?
Experts have determined that that FFP’s reporting on all things Pillen is improperly influenced by bias. See how easy that is?
Based on an earlier story, there were concerns about the delaying of access to OSHA investigators. I think the findings were unsatisfying. As a parent, I think I might want to have an independent review. Morgan’s denial of an independent autopsy does leave doubt. Given Pillen’s latest misuse of tax payer money to funnel a $2.5 million no bid contract to a woman he sees socially, has brought his ethics into question. Mike Foley has been pretty outspoken about this, and he isn’t exactly a guy who craves the spotlight. Pillen’s ethics are in question due to his own “misteps.”
“Morgan’s denial of an independent autopsy does leave doubt.”
#1. The autopsy performed at the request of Morgan was an INDEPENDENT autopsy. Are you alleging that the pathologist completed and signed an inaccurate, incomplete, fraudulent, or otherwise improper pathology report and conclusion as to the cause of death–any of which could result in the suspension or termination of her doctor’s license?
#2. The boy’s body was released to Justy the mom. She could have sought her own (second) autopsy at that point. She chose not to.
You should read the article that is linked in that quote.
“The sheriff, his deputies and a Nebraska state trooper examined the room where Zach had died, but looked at little else on the property. The farm, which would raise concerns about a potential air quality issue, blocked OSHA from conducting timely tests. An agency medical officer suspected that Zach had died from an immune response to a chemical in a spray foam, and recommended a test, but the lab contracted by the coroner’s office accidentally destroyed the only suitable blood sample.”
Those sound like missteps to me.
Please keep his story alive until the truth is finally uncovered. Boo Pillans.
Thank you Andrew Wegley for your continued coverage of this matter.
I’m so happy for Zach’s Mom!
It certainly looks suspicious why the prosecutor would deny a Mother’s request. I’m sorry she had to wait. Seems cruel. The important thing is, MOMMA GOT WHAT SHE NEEDED!
I wonder if they’re supposed to use masks now when working with that caustic foam
It seems to me that governor Pillen is covering up the truthful reason for this young man who mysteriously died on one of his family farms. And this is one of the reasons, I asked congressman Bacon to challenge governor Pillen, in this year’s Nebraska primary election!
I appreciate your in depth analysis of this tragic incident.
I’m experiencing symptoms of what might be Manganese poisoning and an article in your publication is responsible for my efforts to find out if I am entitled to any compensation.
If you are interested in learning more, please feel free to contact me.
Thank you for following up on this. We have always wondered what really happened. The family of Zach Panther deserves answers and closure.
I highly suggest that you stay on this one! Pillen is as crooked as they come. I’d look further into the Pillen’s background, could be interesting what people might be saying about them now?! If it smells fishy…it ain’t a rose! I don’t care what he says!
Just sayin
“And Morgan’s denial left Justy Riggs-Panther without access to her son’s remains for medical testing that could potentially solve that mystery.”
That makes it sounds like Justy did not have her son’s remains to bury. That would be wrong.
Her son’s body was released to her–she could have sought her own autopsy. She chose not to. She could have had her own representative obtain fluids and tissue to be examined at a lab of her choice. Remember, she had the body. She chose not to.
What she wanted, and was initially denied, were the samples that the coroner obtained.
I’m not sure what “secrets” the FFP is alleging were kept from Justy.