Leela Livis called her mother, Gudrun Casper-Leinenkugel, almost every day. They'd talk about Leela's day, or things that went wrong. She called so frequently that her family laughed about it, her sister, Maija Lacey, told the Citizen Times Aug. 14.
"She was a huge mama's girl. Anything mom said was correct," Lacey said. "We jokingly said that she would call (Gudrun) to tell her that she farted. They were the closest out of everyone."
A complicated murder case
Livis, 32, was found dead Dec. 1 in her Jackson County home after consuming wine allegedly laced with acetonitrile, a toxic chemical that converts to cyanide in the human body. The wine was served at her family's Thanksgiving dinner at Casper-Leinenkugel's Henderson County home on Nov. 30, 2025. Gudrun Casper-Leinenkugel,
53,is charged with first-degree murder in her daughter's death, and attempted first-degree murder in connection with the alleged attempted poisonings of Lacey and her boyfriend, Evan Pegg, who also drank the tainted wine. Lacey did not drink much of the wine and did not fall sick, but Pegg was hospitalized for six days. He survived.
Casper-Leinenkugel is also charged with three counts of distributing prohibited food or beverages.
In addition to the charges connected to that Thanksgiving dinner, Casper-Leinenkugelis chargedwith first-degree murder in the 2007 death of 42-year-old Mischa Schmidt, also known as Michael Schmidt, who died on the same property from acetonitrile toxicity.
According to an affidavit filed Jan. 13 by Henderson County Sheriff's Office Detective Joseph Tulloch, Tulloch began his investigation into Livis' death by checking the call history at Casper-Leinenkugel's residence. One call that stood out was from 2007. Gudrun Casper-Leinenkugel had found Schmidt dead, and she told investigators she had last seen him two days before, when the two drank alcohol together, Tulloch wrote. Tulloch further alleged that Casper-Leinenkugel was the last person to see Schmidt alive, an assertion an attorney for Casper-Leinenkugel has publicly denied. Schmidt's wife, Nicolle Schmidt, was the beneficiary of a $25,000 life insurance policy after his death, Tulloch wrote.
Through her attorneys, Casper-Leinenkugel has denied the allegations against her and continues to maintain her innocence.
Does Casper-Leinenkugel have an alleged motive?
Little has been said publicly about why Casper-Leinenkugel would have poisoned Schmidt, her two daughters, and Evan Pegg. Henderson County Sheriff Lowell Griffin told the Hendersonville Lightning in January that her motive might have been greed. Griffin said that his detectives have worked with the N.C. Department of Insurance to investigate the case, but that investigators did not have proof that Casper-Leinenkugel was the beneficiary of a life insurance policy on any of the alleged victims. A spokesperson for the N.C. Department of Insurance told the Citizen Times Aug. 19 that they have no cases related to Casper-Leinenkugel.
Among the items seized by law enforcement from Casper-Leinenkugel's home was life insurance paperwork for Leela Livis, according to the search warrant executed by Tulloch. The search warrant did not include any details about the paperwork that was seized.
In Schmidt's case, property records show Casper-Leinenkugel received a Henderson County property from Schmidt before he died.
As of press time, the Henderson County Sheriff's Office did not answer questions sent Aug. 18 from the Citizen Times that asked about Griffin's comments.
One of Casper-Leinenkugel's attorneys, Dustin Dow, said in a Henderson County Superior Court hearing in May that Casper-Leinenkugel has no credible motive for wanting to kill the alleged victims in the case.
Dow also said in court that prosecutors have little evidence that Casper-Leinenkugel killed Schmidt, and that his death was ruled an accident after an autopsy in 2007. Schmidt was thought to have died from "huffing" a chemical, and that he had a history of drug use, depression, and suicide attempts, Dow said.
"To say that this case is weak I think would be an understatement, your honor," Dow said, addressing Superior Court Judge Athena Brooks. "There's a substantial lack of evidence."
Additionally, Lacey and Pegg have publicly defended Casper-Leinenkugel. Lacey said in May that the 2025 Thanksgiving dinner "was nothing different than any other holiday get-together."
"We just want our mom out. I don't think it's right that she's in there," Lacey said at the time.
Lacey agreed with her mother's defense attorneys, who say there's little evidence to support Casper-Leinenkugel's guilt.
"I don't feel like there's any evidence that they have, especially the 2007 case," she said. "The newer case, there's a lot of factors in it that just doesn't make sense, and they've put a lot of stuff out there that's just twisted words and not what's actually been said."
When asked about those comments Aug. 14, Lacey said her stance remains the same.
"It just seems ridiculous," she said in August. "All she ever did was work really hard so that we could have whatever we wanted to have."
Who was Leela Livis?
Livis was an artist who spoke German and Japanese, and according to those who knew her, kept her circle small. She was highly selective about who she befriended, according to Joey Lupton, a longtime friend who met Livis his freshman year at West Henderson High School.
"She didn't care for the general public too much. The people she did like, she liked, and then to hell with everybody else, basically," Lupton said.
Lacey agreed, saying Livis was quick to cut people off if they offended her.
"If anything made her mad or upset her … it was like, 'Nope, you're done,'" Lacey said. "Not many friends growing up. I know she got bullied a lot. I got bullied a lot for just being her sister."
Livis was academically gifted, Lacey said. Her GPA at both Western Carolina University, where she obtained both her bachelor's degree and her Master of Business Administration, and West Henderson High School was above 4.0, and she was a member of the Honors College at Western Carolina, Lacey said.
She studied the German and Japanese languages at Western, and she spent time in both countries, Lacey said.
College and studying abroad "was about as far away from mom as she had ever been," Lacey said.
She initially intended to major in art at Western, but changed it to a minor.
"After a couple months of the classes, she, in her words, said the art classes are for people who don't know how to draw," Lacey said. "And so she switched her major."
Western Carolina University Professor Brian Railsback told the Citizen Times Aug. 18 that Livis was an exceptional student, and that in addition to being part of the Honors College, she served on the university's Honors College Board of Directors, student-led organization that helps the university shape its policies.
"She had a really great, very dry sense of humor. … She always seemed really calm, and she never seemed to be worried about anything. She was very laid back in that way," Railsback said. "I would say, quiet, but confident, and as I mentioned before, (she had a) really kind of dry sense of humor that sometimes would kind of catch you by surprise."
Livis loved anime, and learned Japanese so that she could understand what she was watching, Lacey said. She at one point tried to create her own manga, a kind of Japanese graphic novel. She also was immersed in nerd culture, recently attending a Lord of the Rings-themed live action roleplay event dressed as a hobbit, in clothes she made.
"She spent the money, handmade her whole outfit, and went to it," Lacey said. "It wasn't exactly what she was expecting it to be, but she still had a lot of fun."
Livis' life and relationships
Livis had two fathers: her biological father, Travis Peterson, and Stacey Shelton, who later adopted her. Peterson told the Citizen Times Aug. 11 that he lost Livis twice: first, after Casper-Leinenkugel moved with Livis and Shelton to Western North Carolina, leaving Peterson behind in Wisconsin, and the second time when she died. Peterson said that he had no contact with Livis from the time Casper-Leinenkugel moved with her to North Carolina, when she was a young child, until her high school graduation, to which he was invited. She later visited him in Wisconsin.
Peterson described Livis as witty and sarcastic.
"If she liked you, she would definitely find out what you liked, and then if any occasion came up, she would either draw you a card, (or) make something, … and give it to you as a gift," he said. "She was very, very observant about things that went on around her. But if you pissed her off, she had a sharp wit."
Livis worked at Western Carolina as a human resources payroll specialist, and she liked it there, Lacey said. At other places she worked at, she'd often complain about her job.
Livis dated sparingly, and in high school had a long distance relationship with a boy in California, Lacey said. She attended his prom in California, but the two eventually broke up.
"She had a few boyfriends and girlfriends growing up, but not too many," Lacey said. "Most of them didn't really last very long."
A happy childhood: 'We're the Addams family'
Casper-Leinenkugel was a permissive mother when they were children, but she also taught them responsibility at a young age, Lacey said. As children, they were responsible for taking care of a variety of animals — chickens, goats, rabbits and cats. Livis always took care of the cats, Lacey said.
"Mom never really said no to us doing anything," she said.
Their childhood was unusual ― at least for Western North Carolina — in part because Casper-Leinenkugel was polyamorous, as were her parents, Lacey said.
"Mom was very open with us about how everything was," Lacey said. "We didn't really want to fit in. We jokingly said we're the Addams family."
But that kind of childhood also kept them "more closed off," Lacey said, as they knew that if they talked about their home life, they would likely attract even more schoolyard bullies.
"I feel like we had a good childhood," Lacey said. "We didn't have much. We weren't rich, … but we had what we needed, and so it seemed like enough to us."
A Thanksgiving poisoning
Lupton said that he kept contact with Livis after high school, and the two last spent time together last summer. He texted Livis on Thanksgiving, wishing her a happy Thanksgiving, and she responded. When he texted her again on Christmas, he received no response.
"I didn't really think of it at the time, until I had heard about Leela's murder, or what could have been her murder," Lupton said.
Peterson said that he learned of Livis' death from Casper-Leinenkugel, and he attended her funeral. He didn't know Casper-Leinenkugel had been arrested until a church friend showed him a news article. He said he later learned from law enforcement that Casper-Leinenkugel had told the authorities that he, after becoming paralyzed in a car accident, died by suicide.
Since then, he said he's wondered what might have happened if he had retained custody of Livis instead of signing away his parental rights.
"She never would have been down in North Carolina. She never would have been to Japan. She never would have been to Germany. … She would have been somebody completely different," he said. "I don't know what's better or worse. The life that she had, ... or the life that she could still be living today."
Editor's note: The writer of this article attended West Henderson High School while Livis was also a student there.
Kara Fohner is the Public Safety Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email her at kfohner@usatodayco.com or call her at 980-241-8671.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Leela Livis was a mama's girl. Now she's at center of alleged poisoning case | Exclusive
