cat fatals.pl
#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings FATAL => 'all';

my $cmd = shift || '_bad_exe_ a b c';
print "I'm parent with id $$\n";

eval {
    my $pid = open CMD, "-|";
    if ($pid) {
        print "I'm forking a child with id $pid\n";
        print while <CMD>;
    }
    else {
        #no warnings; # get rid of warnings on "Can't exec:..."
        print "[$$] I'm child, about to exec [$cmd]\n";
        exec $cmd;
    }
};

die "[$$] ERROR: $@" if $@;
print "[$$]HOW DID I GET HERE?\n";