HENDERSON COUNTY, NC - Prosecutors will not pursue the death penalty against a woman who is accused of poisoning the drinks of at least four people and killing two of them, including her daughter.
The woman accused of such heinous crimes is Gudrun Linda Casper-Leinenkugel. During a court hearing in Henderson County on Thursday, February 26, Assistant District Attorney John Douglas Mundy said Casper-Leinenkugel's trial would proceed as noncapital, PEOPLE reported.
The hearing, a Rule 24 hearing, is required for all cases involving charges that are eligible for the death penalty. Casper-Leinenkugel has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder and three counts of distribution of certain food or beverage in the death of her 32-year-old daughter, Leela Jean Livis, and the attempted poisonings of her other adult daughter and that daughter's boyfriend.
The alleged poisonings occurred during a November 30, 2025, Thanksgiving gathering, when three attendees — Livis, Richard Pegg and Mia Lacey — drank from the same wine bottle before falling ill, court records stated.
Court documents alleged that the wine was laced with acetonitrile, a chemical used in manufacturing that manufacturing that metabolizes into cyanide and leads to delayed toxicity. Livis died on December 1, 2025.
The case also led detectives to evidence allegedly linking Casper-Leinenkugel to the 2007 death of Michael Schmidt in Henderson County, according to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI). Schmidt's death certificate shows cause of death as "acute acetonitrile toxicity, probably huffing."
Casper-Leinenkugel was an entrepreneur, and she previously operated a restaurant in Asheville. She helped to run Haywood Road's Bean Werks Coffee and Tea and Patton Public House, also known as Bryish Haus and Pub, in Asheville.
Livis' father, Travis Peterson, recounted the moment he learned of his daughter's death. "My firstborn kid," he said of Livis. "When I first found out that Leela had died, it was a gut punch."
Several of the Casper-Leinenkugel's family members were present in the courtroom when she learned that she would not face the death penalty, including Lacey, one of her alleged victims. Her next hearing is set for April 30.
Her attorney, Paul Bidwell, previously told the outlet that she "firmly denies the criminal allegations against her and intends to defend herself vigorously."
The woman accused of such heinous crimes is Gudrun Linda Casper-Leinenkugel. During a court hearing in Henderson County on Thursday, February 26, Assistant District Attorney John Douglas Mundy said Casper-Leinenkugel's trial would proceed as noncapital, PEOPLE reported.
The hearing, a Rule 24 hearing, is required for all cases involving charges that are eligible for the death penalty. Casper-Leinenkugel has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder and three counts of distribution of certain food or beverage in the death of her 32-year-old daughter, Leela Jean Livis, and the attempted poisonings of her other adult daughter and that daughter's boyfriend.
The alleged poisonings occurred during a November 30, 2025, Thanksgiving gathering, when three attendees — Livis, Richard Pegg and Mia Lacey — drank from the same wine bottle before falling ill, court records stated.
Court documents alleged that the wine was laced with acetonitrile, a chemical used in manufacturing that manufacturing that metabolizes into cyanide and leads to delayed toxicity. Livis died on December 1, 2025.
The case also led detectives to evidence allegedly linking Casper-Leinenkugel to the 2007 death of Michael Schmidt in Henderson County, according to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI). Schmidt's death certificate shows cause of death as "acute acetonitrile toxicity, probably huffing."
Casper-Leinenkugel was an entrepreneur, and she previously operated a restaurant in Asheville. She helped to run Haywood Road's Bean Werks Coffee and Tea and Patton Public House, also known as Bryish Haus and Pub, in Asheville.
Livis' father, Travis Peterson, recounted the moment he learned of his daughter's death. "My firstborn kid," he said of Livis. "When I first found out that Leela had died, it was a gut punch."
Several of the Casper-Leinenkugel's family members were present in the courtroom when she learned that she would not face the death penalty, including Lacey, one of her alleged victims. Her next hearing is set for April 30.
Her attorney, Paul Bidwell, previously told the outlet that she "firmly denies the criminal allegations against her and intends to defend herself vigorously."
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