A family Thanksgiving in Hendersonville has turned into a homicide case, with investigators alleging that a bottle of wine at the holiday table was deliberately poisoned. Authorities say several guests became sick after sharing the wine, and 32-year-old Leela Livis later died. Investigators contend the wine was tainted with acetonitrile, a chemical that converts to cyanide inside the body, and have charged 53-year-old Gudrun Casper-Leinenkugel with murder and related offenses. The fallout has stretched from hospital toxicology testing to a string of new warrants and has even revived an 18-year-old cold case tied to the same property.
According to unsealed court documents and local reporting, deputies searching Casper-Leinenkugel’s home located a bottle of solvent that investigators believe was used to adulterate the wine, and lab work on one victim reportedly showed cyanide levels far above the lethal range. FOX Carolina reports that the surviving victim spent six days in the hospital, and court records say the surviving daughter told police the wine bottle "appeared to have a small amount missing" before it was opened at dinner.
Search warrants describe interviews and device searches that investigators say pointed them toward acetonitrile and related purchases. Those filings also summarize comments the defendant allegedly made to hospital staff about chemicals stored near the wine. After reviewing the newly unsealed material, CourtTV reports that the case has leaned heavily on digital traces and statements gathered during medical evaluations.
Cold case connection
As detectives followed the Thanksgiving poisoning trail, they revisited a 2007 death on the same Schmidt Terrace property and later said evidence suggested the earlier case might involve the same toxic compound. Local reporting, as rounded up by national outlets, highlights property records and a death certificate that has since been amended to list acute acetonitrile toxicity in that older death. That history is laid out in contemporaneous coverage collected by Yahoo.
Charges and what’s next
According to state and county filings, Casper-Leinenkugel faces multiple charges, including first-degree murder or murders, attempted first-degree murder, and felony counts involving the distribution of a prohibited food or beverage. She remains in custody. National outlets summarizing the court record report that prosecutors told a judge they will not seek the death penalty, and that Casper-Leinenkugel is scheduled to appear again in Henderson County Superior Court on April 30, 2026. For details on the hearings and timeline, see coverage from NBC News.
Legal context
Under North Carolina law, a conviction for first-degree murder is a Class A felony that can result in life imprisonment without parole or, in capital cases, the death penalty. By declaring this a noncapital prosecution, the district attorney has taken a death sentence off the table in this case. The statutory framework for first-degree murder and its potential penalties appears in the North Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 14. The full text is available via the N.C. General Statutes.
How acetonitrile acts
Acetonitrile is an industrial nitrile solvent commonly used in manufacturing and laboratory work. Once absorbed, the body can metabolize it into cyanide, which toxicologists say can cause a delayed-onset poisoning picture that initially looks a bit like the flu, then can suddenly deteriorate. The federal NIOSH pocket guide notes that acetonitrile "forms cyanide in the body," a detail that lines up with reports that guests developed flu-like symptoms hours after the Thanksgiving meal. Clinical and exposure guidance is outlined by NIOSH.
Local background
Before the criminal allegations, Casper-Leinenkugel had a visible role in the Asheville restaurant scene. Past profiles cite her involvement with Patton Public House and Bean Werks, among other ventures she helped operate. Local business coverage from that period chronicles the opening of Patton Public House along with later staffing disputes, and that history has reemerged as reporters trace her ties to the region. An earlier look at her restaurant work appears in Mountain Xpress.
The investigation remains active, with multiple agencies, including the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, working the case. Authorities have asked anyone with information about the Thanksgiving gathering or related events to contact the Sheriff’s Violent Crime Unit. Casper-Leinenkugel is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law, and the case is expected to return to Henderson County Superior Court on April 30, 2026.
