...(locally) re-defining/resetting the die handler using $SIG{__DIE__} does not solve the issue... : nor would it - consider tst.pl and Foo.pm defined as:

#! /usr/bin/env perl
use warnings;
use strict;

use Foo;

die "Died here";
[download]

package Foo;

local $SIG{__DIE__} = sub { print "Caught in " . __PACKAGE };

sub _die { die };


1;
[download]

When run, tst.pl produces

$> perl tst.pl
Died here at tst.pl line 7.
[download]

As expected ... by me anyway, since the handler has only been locally re-defined at the lower-level i.e. in the scope of Foo, leaving the handler unchanged at the upper/calling level.

As to your latter question, sadly, I have no experience with mod_perl, so I'm afraid, have nothing to contribute :-((