A mother is accused of causing her daughter’s death by poisoning her with contaminated wine during a holiday meal, prompting authorities to investigate potential connections to other unexplained deaths.
Gudrun Casper-Leinenkugel, 52, allegedly administered the lethal substance that not only killed her daughter, Leela Levis, but also made her sister and sister’s partner ill after they all consumed the tainted wine at a Thanksgiving gathering involving 12 family members.
While Casper-Leinenkugel and the other attendees avoided the wine, the trio fell ill shortly after consuming it, resulting in Leela’s death on December 1. The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina, in collaboration with the state’s bureau of investigation, initiated an inquiry into the incident, revealing that the wine had been spiked with acetonitrile, a colorless liquid commonly found in batteries that can convert into cyanide over time.
Authorities uncovered that Casper-Leinenkugel had reportedly researched the effects of ingesting acetonitrile, leading to suspicions of her involvement in the cold case of Michael Schmidt’s death in a 2007 house fire. Additionally, North Carolina prosecutors indicated a potential link between the mother and other undisclosed deaths currently undergoing investigation.
Casper-Leinenkugel, who previously operated a restaurant inspired by her upbringing in Germany, faces charges of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder, and three counts of distributing prohibited food and beverages. She has been denied bail and could be subject to the death penalty under North Carolina’s “Iryna’s Law,” which seeks to broaden the execution methods to include death by firing squad and the electric chair, beyond the current option of lethal injection.
