A North Carolina mother accused of slipping a cyanide-forming chemical into her daughter’s drink now faces a widening murder case that investigators say reaches back nearly two decades.
Gudrun Linda Jean Casper Leinenkugel, 52, stands charged with killing her 32-year-old daughter, Leela Jean Livis, during a Thanksgiving gathering late last year, while detectives also allege she tried to poison two other guests the same night.
Authorities allege the fatal exposure unfolded in November 2025 at a 12-person dinner hosted by Casper-Leinenkugel in Hendersonville, where multiple attendees drank from the same bottle of wine.
Livis collapsed and later died on Dec. 1, according to local reports, triggering a criminal probe that rapidly expanded beyond a single death.
“After an extensive and comprehensive investigation, the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office Violent Crime Unit has charged Gudrun Casper-Leinenkugel of Hendersonville in connection with the 2025 murder of Leela Livis and the attempted murder of Richard Pegg and Mia Lacey,” a North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation statement declared.
Investigators believe the poisoning occurred shortly before Livis’ death, with officials confirming the victim was the suspect’s daughter.
“It is believed the poisoning took place last November just before the death of the female victim,” North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation spokesperson Chad Flowers noted in a statement to NBC News on Wednesday. “The female victim is the daughter.”
Casper-Leinenkugel also faces charges tied to alleged attempts on the lives of Maija Lacey, 28, and Richard Pegg, who prosecutors say consumed the same wine at the gathering.
Court records list three additional counts accusing her of distributing prohibited food or beverages connected to the alleged poisoning.
As detectives dug deeper into the case, officials say evidence surfaced linking Casper-Leinenkugel to a 2007 homicide, abruptly transforming the inquiry into a double-murder investigation.
That earlier killing involved Michael Schmidt, though authorities have declined to outline how the new evidence ties the suspect to the death, citing the need to protect an active probe.
With the additional allegations, Casper-Leinenkugel now faces two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder, alongside the distribution charges.
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A judge denied her release, keeping the former restaurant owner locked in the Henderson County Detention Center as the case moves forward.
An arrest warrant reviewed by Law & Crime alleges Casper-Leinenkugel introduced acetonitrile into beverages accessible to the victims.
Acetonitrile is a solvent commonly used in pharmaceutical production and battery manufacturing that can form cyanide when metabolized.
Prosecutors told the court that blood testing revealed Livis carried five times the legal dose of the substance in her system, with traces also detected in the bloodwork of Lacey and Pegg.
Investigators also reported locating acetonitrile inside the suspect’s home during the search phase of the case.
Digital evidence introduced at a recent bond hearing included alleged internet searches attributed to Casper-Leinenkugel, such as “What happens if I accidentally ingest acetonitrile?” and “Does wine turn into cyanide?”
Before her arrest, Casper-Leinenkugel was known locally as the founder of Patton Public House, a European-style pub in Asheville that was featured in a 2016 Mountain Xpress profile.
The investigation has drawn in multiple agencies, including the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the North Carolina Department of Insurance, and the District Attorney’s Office.
Officials stressed there is no ongoing danger to the public and urged anyone with information connected to the case to contact law enforcement.
Casper-Leinenkugel is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 10 for a probable cause hearing.
While the North Carolina case centers on a family gathering that turned deadly, authorities in Florida are grappling with a separate string of alleged drink-spiking crimes that highlight a broader public safety concern.
In Miami, police accuse 39-year-old Sarah Tavano of drugging men she met at bars and stripping them of tens of thousands of dollars in cash, jewelry, and luxury goods while they were unconscious.
Tavano faces 10 criminal charges across four cases, according to Local10 News, stemming from what investigators describe as a calculated burglary scheme.
Police allege Tavano gained victims’ trust “under the pretense of consensual activity,” language used in an arrest report obtained by the outlet.
Officers arrested Tavano on Sunday at Sugar, a rooftop bar in downtown Miami, where they reported finding a baggie of white powder, a plastic cup holding four pills, and a bottle of Jägermeister containing powder.
She allegedly told officers the “liquid inside the green bottle contained MDMA,” according to a detective’s account.
Miami prosecutors filed four cases against Tavano on Monday, with three including surveillance footage, fingerprint evidence, and a confession, police incident reports indicate.
The earliest reported incident dates to Oct. 26, when a man told police he could not recall inviting a woman he met at a bar into his apartment the night before.
“He does not remember inviting her into his apartment,” an officer wrote in an arrest report.
After waking up, the man reported that more than $50,000 in designer jewelry, suitcases, handbags, and wallets belonging to his fiancé were gone.
A fingerprint recovered from a brown watch case allegedly matched Tavano, who later confessed that “the clothes she changed into were stolen … she stole the suitcases … filled with 20+ luxury bags,” according to court documents.
In another case on Dec. 11, a man reported losing more than $34,000 through unauthorized bank and cryptocurrency transactions after his phone and wallet vanished following a bar encounter.
“The victim reported experiencing a severe blackout, falling unconscious,” officers documented.
Just two days later, a third man told police he fell ill after drinking with a woman he later allowed into his hotel room.
“He consumed a drink … began to feel ill, experiencing sudden nausea, weakness, and dizziness, before losing consciousness,” an officer recorded, adding that the man “reported blacking out.”
When he regained consciousness, the woman and his $38,000 Rolex were gone, along with $1,500 in cash.
The victim later suspected he had been drugged, reporting nausea, extreme weakness, dizziness, and vomiting that lingered for about a week.
Reviewing surveillance footage, a detective wrote that he “immediately recognized whom I suspected from two prior investigations.”
Tavano now faces a mix of burglary, organized fraud, grand theft, strong-armed robbery, food or water poisoning, cocaine possession, and controlled substance charges, with a judge setting her total bond at $55,000.
Miami authorities have also flagged similar allegations involving 25-year-old Angelina Chenel Esty, accused in an August incident of stealing high-value items after an alleged drugging.
Police say a man later woke to find his $20,000 Rolex, $4,000 in cash, and a friend’s $1,000 replica watch missing from an apartment on Brickell Bay Drive.
Investigators described Esty as a known offender with prior arrests for similar “bad date” thefts, hihglighting how drink-spiking crimes continue to challenge law enforcement across major cities.
