Mother With a History of Multiple Murders Accused of Poisoning Daughters at Thanksgiving

A North Carolina woman is charged with murder after she allegedly poisoned her daughter, leading to the latter’s death. The incident took place during the family’s Thanksgiving dinner last year (2025) when Gudrun Casper-Leinenkugel served wine to her family members. The drinks were spiked with acetonitrile.

Later, the police confirmed that Casper-Leinenkugel’s 32-year-old daughters died after having the wine, while two other people got sick after the dinner.

As per Law & Crime, the incident took place in 2025 in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Now, as per the warrants, Casper-Leinenkugel served the poisoned drinks to her two daughters. She also served it to one of her daughter’s partners. After dinner, all three of them started feeling sick and developed flu-like symptoms.

Meanwhile, the 32-year-old daughter, Livis, died the very next day. The second daughter reportedly only consumed a few sips of the wine. However, her boyfriend was rushed to the hospital and was admitted for six days. Additionally, doctors found high cyanide levels in his blood, which were far above the lethal limit.

Later, the police confirmed that Casper-Leinenkugel tried to shift all the blame onto her kids during the investigation. Apparently, she told the doctor that her daughters could have gotten the poison into the wine bottle.

She also tried to shirk responsibility by suggesting that something from her barn area could have caused the wine to turn. Plus, she claimed that someone else may have gotten the poison to her house when the police found a bottle of acetonitrile inside.

The chemical at the center of the case is what makes the story even more troubling. Acetonitrile is a dangerous solvent, and police say it can turn into cyanide after it enters the body. That helps explain why the victims became sick several hours after drinking the wine instead of right away.

In the warrant, investigators said the drink had been handled in a way that made it accessible for someone to ingest, and they accused Casper-Leinenkugel of knowingly placing a poisonous substance into a beverage.

The case did not stop there. As detectives dug deeper, they linked Casper-Leinenkugel to an older death from 2007. Police say she is also accused of killing Michael Schmidt, a man who lived in a camper on her property. Authorities now believe acetonitrile was the substance used in that death as well.

At the time, Schmidt’s death had been treated as an accidental and blamed on acute acetonitrile toxicity, but investigators later reopened the case after more emergency calls and new evidence came to light.

As per Law & Crime, that means Casper-Leinenkugel is now accused of two deaths, two attempted murders, along with other charges tied to giving out a dangerous food or drink. Law enforcement says the investigation is still active, and the local district attorney has said there may be even more deaths connected to her that are still under review. Her next court date is scheduled for April 30.