In North Carolina, a woman faces accusations of spiking drinks with a lethal substance, leading to the deaths of one person and putting others at risk. Authorities reveal this isn’t her first encounter with murder charges.

Gudrun Casper-Leinenkugel, aged 52, has been charged with first-degree murder following the 2025 death of 32-year-old Leela Livis. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation made this announcement through a public statement.

The investigation has also brought to light new evidence regarding an older crime, resulting in an additional murder charge against Casper-Leinenkugel.

According to the NCSBI, detectives uncovered evidence connecting Casper-Leinenkugel to the 2007 murder of Michael Schmidt in Henderson County during their inquiries.

In addition to the murder charges, the woman, who previously operated a restaurant in Asheville, is accused of two counts of attempted murder and three counts of distributing banned food or beverages, as reported by state officials.

“[T]he defendant unlawfully, willfully, and feloniously did knowingly distributed or otherwise caused to be placed in a position of human accessibility or ingestion a beverage which contained a poisonous chemical, acetonitrile, which might cause death or serious physical injury,” an arrest warrant reviewed by Law&Crime said. Acetonitrile is a chemical solvent used for a variety of purposes, including pharmaceuticals, pesticides and batteries.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, acetonitrile “forms cyanide in the body” and can result in “delayed toxicity.”

The defendant was the subject of a 2016 story on local news website Mountain Xpress about the opening of her restaurant, Patton Public House, in nearby Asheville.

According to that story, Casper-Leinenkugel had opened “six restaurants and bars across the country.”

Court records show that a judge denied Casper-Leinenkugel’s request for release, and that she is currently being held at the Henderson County Detention Facility. No future court date was indicated.