Lester Nygaard

Template:Character Lester Nygaard is a life insurance salesman from Bemidji, Minnesota who is “henpecked by his wife.” His life is changed when a mysterious con artist named Lorne Malvo comes to town.

Early life

Lester went to high school with Sam Hess and Bill Oswalt. He was frequently bullied by Sam. He and his wife got married around 1988.

Season 1

"The Crocodile's Dilemma"

Lester is first seen talking with his wife about the loud washing machine in the basement, and in reply is given a long rant from Pearl about how Lester's brother Chaz always has better utilities than they do. Lester stops paying attention as he watches the washing machine shake and whir in the basement. At work, he tries to pitch life insurance to an expecting couple, and fails horribly to the point where they leave the building terrified. He is later confronted by his old school bully Sam Hess and his two sons. The two of them "reminisce" about the times Lester had been tortured by Sam. Sam pretends to punch Lester to get him to freak out again, resulting in Lester flinching and throwing his face into the window of a building. He goes to the hospital to get his nose checked, where he meets Lorne Malvo, who is there due to a head injury. Lester opens up to Lorne about how Sam has always harassed him, to which Lorne replies that he would have killed a man like that. Lester inadvertently asks Lorne to kill Sam, but before he can take back his mistake, he is called to the nurse's office. Lester and Pearl later visit Chaz and his family for dinner, where Chaz shows him his private gun collection. Chaz lets him hold a machine gun, but quickly drops it due to it being too heavy for him. He tries to apologize, but is instead ridiculed for being a weak older brother. It is later implied by Pearl that Lester hit Chaz offscreen. Lester goes to work the next day to find out that Sam has been killed. He confronts Lorne about this, but Lorne tells him he was the one that called for it. Lorne tells him he needs to learn to stand up for himself. Lester takes this advice and applies it to fix the washing machine. The machine breaks, and Pearl nags him for always being a failure. Lester tells her to take it back, but she continued to taunt him. In retaliation, he hits her on the head with a hammer. Realizing what he has just done, he freaks out and continues bashing her head in. He calls Lorne to tell him to come help clean up the crime scene, planning to kill Lorne when he arrives. He instead gets a visit from Vern, who quickly puts together what happened. Before Vern can arrest him, Lorne shows up and shoots Vern. Lester follows Lorne into the basement, only to see that Lorne is no longer there and the police have arrived. Lester rams his head into the wall to knock himself out and make it look like he (along with his wife) were victims of a home invasion. He wakes up in the hospital the next morning and notices he has a hand wound from the shotgun shell that ricoheted when it hit Vern.

"The Rooster Prince"

Lester is seen at Chaz's house attending a service for Pearl. Chaz offers him a spare room to stay in for a few days, which he agrees to. He returns to his house and starts having flashbacks of the night Pearl and Vern died. He then gets a visit from Molly and Bill, who ask him a few questions about what happened. He gives them a very half-hearted story which Bill is satisfied with, and they leave. He packs a few days worth of things and moves into Gordo's bedroom, while Gordo sleeps on the couch in the living room. He finds a jar of urine in Gordo's cloest. Later at dinner, Lester tells Chaz he plans to sell the house like he recommended, much to Chaz's suprise. He also decides to join him on the hunting trip this weekend. Later that night, Lester goes to the pharmacy to pick up antibiotics to treat his hand wound. He is approached by Molly, who continues to question him as he tries to leave without picking up his medication. He is followed out to the parking lot, and Lester tells Molly to stop harrassing him as he drives away.

"A Muddy Road"

To be added.

"Eating the Blame

To be added.

"The Six Ungraspables

To be added.

"Buridan's Ass

To be added.

"Who Shaves the Barber?

To be added.

"The Heap

To be added.

Crimes committed by Lester

This is a list of crimes Lester has committed:

• Ordered the murder of Sam Hess. (The Crocodile's Dilemma)
• Murdered Pearl Nygaard. (The Crocodile's Dilemma)
• Assaulted Deputy Knutzen. (Eating the Blame)
• Stole Mr. Creech's car. (Buridan's Ass)
• Framed Chaz Nygaard for the murders of Pearl and Vern. (Buridan's Ass)

Episode appearances

Season 1

• 101 - The Crocodile's Dilemma
• 102 - The Rooster Prince
• 103 - A Muddy Road
• 104 - Eating the Blame
• 105 - The Six Ungraspables
• 106 - Buridan's Ass
• 107 - Who Shaves the Barber?
• 108 - The Heap
• 109 - A Fox, A Rabbit, and A Cabbage

Trivia

• Lester bears similarities Jerry Lundegaard, a character from the film of the same name.
  • Both are salesman.
  • Both get criminal assitance to "take care of" someone.
  • Both have a last name ending with "gaard".
• Lester is the second main character to die.