Thanksgiving Poisoning Mom Chose The “Perfect Cover,” Says Victim's Father

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Thanksgiving Poisoning Mom Chose The 'Perfect Cover,' Says Victim's Father"

Podcast: Criminally Obsessed
Host: Ann Emerson
Date: June 2, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, investigative journalist Ann Emerson delves into the chilling North Carolina case of Gudrun Linda Casper Leinenkugel, a mother accused of poisoning her family during Thanksgiving dinner, resulting in the death of her daughter, Leila Leviss. The episode features a deeply personal interview with Leila's father, Travis Peterson, who shares his grief, shock, and perspectives on the unfolding investigation, as well as new revelations about suspicious deaths connected to Leinenkugel’s past. The episode explores family dynamics, potential motives, and the emotional toll of the crime.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Crime and Charges

• Setting: Thanksgiving dinner hosted by Gudrun Leinenkugel (00:00)
• Alleged Act: Police say Gudrun laced the wine with acetonitrol (which metabolizes into cyanide) (00:17)
• Victim: 32-year-old daughter, Leila Leviss, died after the meal
• Attempted Murders: Charges for attempting to murder her other daughter, Mia Lacey, and Mia’s boyfriend (00:57)
• Gudrun’s Plea: Not guilty to all charges (02:09)

2. Family Responses

• Travis Peterson’s Grief and Disbelief
  • Shares memories of Leila: "She was creative, she was intelligent. The only way I can describe her truthfully is she was the best part of me." (02:46)
  • Describes the moment of learning about Leila’s death and the subsequent shock of Gudrun’s arrest (07:32, 10:21)
• Mia Lacey’s Denial
  • Publicly defends her mother: "We just want our mom out. I don't think it's right that she's in there...they've put a lot of stuff out there that's just twisted words and not what's actually been said." (01:10)
  • Continues to believe in her mother’s innocence despite evidence (13:10)

3. Investigation Unfolds

• Prior Suspicious Deaths Connected to Leinenkugel
  • 2007: Landlord Michael Schmidt died, found with "isotonitrile" (possibly a misstatement for acetonitrol) in his system; now deemed a homicide linked to Gudrun (01:29)
  • 2017: Death of then-husband Elroy Lund, new investigation launched (01:29, 13:54)
  • Blood evidence from Lund disregarded and destroyed, angering Travis Peterson (14:17)
• Unique Aspects of the Crime
  • Travis: "If you want me to put my military hat on. Perfect ambush. Who's going to suspect you're planning to do anything bad at a family gathering..." (03:46)

4. Police Evidence and Motive

• Disturbing Details from Interrogation
  • Gudrun allegedly told police: "The two year old put the poison in the wine." (05:37)
  • Claimed Leila’s biological father (Travis) died before she was born, which is disproven by his testimony (05:46)
  • Travis: “If it wasn't for the two things the cops told me, I would be defending her. After what the police told me two things during the interrogation, I'm 100% convinced she did it.” (05:13, 05:24)
• Possible Motive
  • Police discovered Leila’s life insurance paperwork during a search; motive remains unclear (11:37)

5. Psychological, Personal, and Legal Angles

• Emotional Fallout
  • Travis shares the trauma of grief: "Leila's death was a gut punch. This was a sledgehammer to the nuts." (10:28)
  • Wrestling with forgiveness: "Right now, I can't [forgive]." (21:50)
• Serial Killer Possibility
  • Forensic psychologist questions if Gudrun is a female serial killer (17:19)
  • Travis: "Not with the woman that I was with. Not with the woman who bore me Leila." (17:44)
• Changing Identity
  • Gudrun changed her name in 2004; meaning has Norse roots related to suffering and revenge, which unsettles those involved (14:47, 15:09)

6. Search for Justice

• Justice System Frustrations
  • Travis laments loss of the death penalty as an option: "Justice would be her murderer being in the same position [as Leila]...I am saying this about a woman that I still love to this day, but...that would be justice." (21:55)
  • Fears Gudrun could eventually be released despite the severity of the crime (11:48)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Planning the Crime:
  "Perfect ambush. Who's going to suspect you're planning to do anything bad at a family gathering..."
  — Travis Peterson (03:46)

• On Police Evidence:
  "She said that the two year old put the poison in the wine."
  — Travis Peterson quoting police (05:37)

• On Grief:
  "Leila's death was a gut punch. This was a sledgehammer to the nuts. That's the only way I can describe it."
  — Travis Peterson (10:28)

• On Justice:
  "Justice would be her murderer being in the same position...her actions, that would be justice for her to be in the same spot Leila's in."
  — Travis Peterson (21:55)

• On Identity Change:
  "Gudrun is Old Norse for immense suffering, vengeful actions against her family, ultimate revenge...someone who had killed her children. It's bizarre."
  — Ann Emerson (15:09)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:00: Introduction to the case and summary of the crime
• 00:49: Travis Peterson’s first reactions, wish for it to be a “bad dream”
• 01:10: Mia Lacey defends her mother despite charges
• 01:29: Discovery of prior suspicious deaths (Michael Schmidt, Elroy Lund)
• 03:46: “Perfect ambush”—Travis explains why Thanksgiving dinner was chosen
• 05:37: Travis recounts disturbing explanations from police interrogation
• 10:21: Travis learns about Gudrun’s arrest via Internet search
• 13:54: Reinvestigation of the 2017 death of Elroy Lund
• 15:09: Discussion of Gudrun's name origin
• 21:55: Travis states his view of justice for Leila

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Tone & Reflections

The episode balances Ann Emerson’s empathetic, investigative style with the raw, emotional testimony of a grieving father. The tone is compassionate but unflinching, aiming to clarify facts amid shock, pain, and ongoing legal ambiguity. Listeners are left pondering motive, the complexities of family loyalty, and the failings and frustrations inherent to seeking justice in such tragic crimes.

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Closing Thought

This episode underscores the lasting devastation wrought by familial violence and the painful search for answers. It calls attention to both overlooked investigative details and the excruciating human cost of these crimes, resonating with anyone touched by tragedy or fascinated by the complexities of true crime.

Transcript

[Ann Emerson]

Hey, everyone, I'm Ann Emerson and this is criminally obsessed. When we think of Thanksgiving overeating and awkward family, small talk comes to mind. But not for this mom out of North Carolina. Police say that she turned the Thanksgiving dinner table into a crime scene by poisoning her own family and killing her daughter. A judge denied bond for Gudrun Linda Casper Leinenkugel last week. Yes, that's her name. And it has a dark backstory that you're going to hear all about. But first, let's listen to this. Leinenkugle not so graciously hosted Thanksgiving at her house last fall. And police say she laced the wine with poison called acetonitrol, a chemical that turns into cyanide when it's ingested. Her 32 year old daughter, Lela Leviss, died.

[Travis Peterson]

I want this to be a bad dream that, you know, I'm just going through and one day I'm going to wake up and Leela's going to call me again.

[Ann Emerson]

Leinenkugel is charged with first degree murder. And she's also charged with attempting to murder two others that were at that therapy Thanksgiving table. Her daughter, Mia Lacey, and her boyfriend. But wait, Lacey is still defending her mom.

[Mia Lacey]

We just want our mom out. I don't think it's right that she's in there. 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.

[Ann Emerson]

And it doesn't end there. Investigators looked into Leining Kugel's past, run ins with law enforce, and guess what? They found another mysterious death. In 2007, Leinenkugel's landlord, Michael Schmidt died with, you guessed it, isotonitrile in his system. Police have now charged her with his murder and they've opened up an investigation into the 2017 death of her then husband, Elroy Lund.

[Travis Peterson]

Just reading about Michael and Mr. Lund, the similarities are just. They're too. They just can't be a coincidence. It's just too clean.

[Ann Emerson]

Leinenkugel has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Lela's father, Travis Peterson, told me police told him two things that convinced him of her guilt. Be sure to like and subscribe so you don't miss any of these cases that you are obsessed with. Let's get into it. We're talking because you've had a major tragedy in your life. And I really want to say thank you so much for taking the time to explain what's Going on a little bit to us. Travis, can you tell me about your daughter Leela?

[Travis Peterson]

Trying to describe her is hard. I mean, there were so many facets about her. She was creative, she was intelligent. The only way I can describe her truthfully is she was the best part of me.

[Ann Emerson]

Yeah, just a beautiful person.

[Travis Peterson]

The. The woman that she showed me was exceptional beyond anything that I've ever met. The exception would probably have been her mother when I first met her. But she outshone both of us with her personality, her zest for life, and just her creativity.

[Ann Emerson]

This happened at a Thanksgiving dinner, November 30th?

[Travis Peterson]

Yes.

[Ann Emerson]

Why Thanksgiving? Why wine?

[Travis Peterson]

If you want me to put my military hat on. Perfect ambush. Who's going to suspect you're planning to do anything bad at a family gathering that is supposed to be about Thanksgiving and having the entire family come together.

[Ann Emerson]

Right.

[Travis Peterson]

Perfect cover. If you want me to shut down everything about emotions, thoughts, feelings, That would be the perfect opportunity. And the fact that this stuff is going to take a couple of hours to work its way into your system gives you an out, gives you an alibi, gives you whatever you want so that you can get away. And apparently she's done it twice before.

[Ann Emerson]

Did you ever think that Linda or Gudrun could possibly be a murderer? I mean, did you ever see any side of her that. That was violent in any way?

[Travis Peterson]

Only if you pissed her off. Oh, and that's just like everybody else. If I pissed off my ex wife a few times, yeah, I've had frying pants bounced off my head.

[Mia Lacey]

Murder.

[Travis Peterson]

If it wasn't for the two things the cops told me, I would be defending her.

[Ann Emerson]

And so you're convinced that. That she is responsible for what happened?

[Travis Peterson]

After what the police told me two things during the interrogation, I'm 100% convinced she did it.

[Ann Emerson]

Can you tell me what they told you?

[Travis Peterson]

Number one, she said that the two year old put the poison in the wine.

[Ann Emerson]

How did she. How would a 2 year old be able to put poison in a wine?

[Travis Peterson]

That's my question. Because if you've ever watched a two year old put one or contents from one container into another, you know the mess they create. And if it's a liquid or something that's sweet or gets on their hands, they're trying to lick it off their hands. And this is something that turns to cyanide after you ingest it. The second thing they told me, she told the police. And also somebody else under interrogation told the police this same story. She told them that Leila's biological father Died before Lela was born, Was test driving a car, got into a big accident and was paralyzed from the neck down. Didn't want Linda to go through this tragedy, and so he committed suicide.

[Ann Emerson]

You're. You're Leila's biological father?

[Travis Peterson]

Yes, I am. I was there at her birthday.

[Ann Emerson]

It's so hard for me to even fathom how this woman that you were married to is the mother of your daughter, is now being held responsible for this heinous, heinous murder, an attempted murder of two other people. Have you been able to in any way, wrap your head around what happened?

[Travis Peterson]

Negative.

[Ann Emerson]

When you got the call that something had happened to Leela. What? Let's go back to that. What happened when you got that call?

[Travis Peterson]

December 2nd last year, basically at work, my phone starts ringing and I see it's a North Carolina number. I don't know it. Normally I just ignore them. But I picked it up. And as soon as I heard her voice, I knew who it was. I knew it was Lynn. Told her I was at work. Work till about 3:30. She wanted me to give her a call when I was done with work. I'm like, no, you don't call me. What's up? She kept wanting me to call her after work. And this went by know like three, four minutes. And finally I just said, no, you do not call me. You. Ever since you threw me out, you don't call me. What's up? And I'm thinking, leela's been in an accident going over the mountain, right? And she finally said, leela's dead. I dropped my phone and I lost it. And even now I'm about to lose it.

[Ann Emerson]

Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

[Travis Peterson]

That was a gut punch. That was a gut punch. She asked if I could make it down for the funeral. And I just told her, tell me when and where. And then we got talking about what had happened. And she told me about the Thanksgiving meal, that Leila had gone home and called back saying that she was feeling sick, flu like symptoms. And then Lynn said she couldn't get hold of Leila texting or calling the next day. So she got the mom feeling and called the cops for a wellness check. And they found her dead. Nobody ever contacted me that they had arrested Lynn. I found out at Men of no Regrets when I was pulling security for my church fellow member there that was helping me with security, asked if I had heard anything on the autopsy. Told him no. So he starts looking up Leela's name after he asked me how to Spell it. And within about five to 10 minutes, he's sliding his phone over, and I'm reading about Lynn getting arrested for murdering our daughter.

[Ann Emerson]

What did you think when you saw that?

[Travis Peterson]

I lost it again.

[Ann Emerson]

Yeah.

[Travis Peterson]

Leila's death was a gut punch. This was a sledgehammer to the nuts. That's the only way I can describe it. I pulled out my pistol and ejected the magazine, Racked the slide to clear the chamber, locked the slide open, slid the pistol across to my other guy, Started walking out the church, just losing it. Punched both doors. As I go out into early February, Wisconsin weather and crash on the sidewalk. And I don't know how long I was out there. After I pulled myself together and I come in, my pastor and my fellow security guard took me back home. And then I started digging onto the Internet and trying to find out what the heck is going on,

[Ann Emerson]

Just to understand.

[Travis Peterson]

There is no understanding.

[Ann Emerson]

No understanding.

[Travis Peterson]

You can pump her full of truth serum. You can put her on a lie detector. Everybody will tell me she's telling a truth if you ask her a question, and I can't believe her.

[Ann Emerson]

Do you have any idea. Was there money that was involved, an insurance policy on your daughter, Anything that would have created a motive here?

[Travis Peterson]

Some of the articles online indicate that the cops, in their search warrant, secured Lela's life insurance paperwork. There. I have no clue why she did this. We can speculate all day long, and if the court gave me that shot at her, I wouldn't miss. But nothing's going to bring Leela back. And with the d. A taking the light, the death penalty off the table, there is no justice in our justice system. Some democrat down the road is going to say, ah, she suffered enough. Let her out of jail. Leela's still in the ground.

[Ann Emerson]

It doesn't make any sense. And it wasn't. You know, as far as what the. The police are trying to tell us, it wasn't just one. She was there. They're alleging that she tried to kill. It was. It was three people. You know, two of them survived, including

[Travis Peterson]

her other daughter, Leila, her half sister Maya, and Maya's boyfriend. Maya's got to live with the fact that her mom tried to poison her. Yeah, but the last I heard from the police, Maya's defending her mom.

[Mia Lacey]

We're all there having fun. I mean, it's like she cooked everything she. Like she always does. I mean, it was nothing different than any other holiday get together, because what kind of.

[Travis Peterson]

What kid wants to go through life believing that their mom tried to Kill them?

[Ann Emerson]

No one. No one. Travis.

[Travis Peterson]

I don't even want to believe what they're saying about her.

[Ann Emerson]

And did you know that there. Have you heard that there was another. There's a concern that. That someone else. I mean they pulled the records of the. Where she was living and someone else, Michael Schmidt, had also died 2007, and

[Travis Peterson]

a possible one up here in Exland, Wisconsin, 2017. Mr. Lund, the similarities are just. They just can't be a coincidence. It's just too clean.

[Ann Emerson]

Same same. Same weapon, same murder weapon.

[Travis Peterson]

Well, if I'm remembering some of the articles, Michael Schmidt had a 300 acetonitrile in his system. What pisses me off is in 2017 when Mr. Lund died, his daughters told the cops Linda poisoned him. They drew blood. They never tested the blood. And then the blood was destroyed, according to news articles.

[Ann Emerson]

Did she ever say why she changed her name to Gudrun?

[Travis Peterson]

Never said. And I never asked.

[Ann Emerson]

Do you know what Gudrun means?

[Travis Peterson]

I heard some article saying it's some. Either German or Norse mythology goddess or something.

[Ann Emerson]

I've got. It's very strange, I'll be honest. We looked it up and Gudrun is Old Norse for immense suffering, vengeful actions against her family, ultimate revenge. Representing a powerful stoic figure who navigates high stakes betrayals and was known as someone who had killed her children. It's bizarre. And I don't know when she had chosen to change her name to that.

[Travis Peterson]

I believe that was back in 2004 that she changed her name.

[Ann Emerson]

So 20 years ago, 22 years ago. Oh my goodness. Well, it's just bizarre. I mean, I read that and I mean it's a. I googled it like I didn't even. I just wanted to know where Gudrun came from. And then it comes up with this very scary name. And I didn't know if you were aware of that, but it is. It's very strange.

[Travis Peterson]

I don't understand it. The police told ME she had 20 other aliases, which, I mean, I'm into role playing, I'm into gaming. I don't even have 20 characters. And then I've got a sheet I can reference back to. I have no clue. Linda Jean Casper, as I knew her and as I still refer to her as Lynn or Linda. I still love that woman. The woman that I was with. The woman who bore me my child. But the person they've got down there, she deserves to die.

[Ann Emerson]

Is that really how you're feeling at this point?

[Travis Peterson]

As I told the DA when they asked me about the death penalty. And I didn't fully explain myself to them. I just told them, number one, put her against a wall. I won't miss, really. Or number two, give her the same poison she gave my daughter. One thing about the funeral, when I'd give her a hug or go up to talk to her, she seemed wouldn't.

[Ann Emerson]

I am speaking to a psychologist, a forensic psychologist who works on cases like this for the criminal justice system. And one of the questions she has is, are we looking at a female serial killer? Is that what this is? Can you even imagine that that could be what we're dealing with?

[Travis Peterson]

Not with the woman that I was with. Not with the woman who bore me. Leila.

[Ann Emerson]

When you stopped living with Linda, who we now know as Gudrun, when do you get your next opportunity to be with Leila?

[Travis Peterson]

The next contact I had was Leela's high school graduation. All of a sudden, I got an invitation to go down there. And at the time, my wife and I, we basically moved heaven and earth so that I could get down there for legalist high school graduation. So I got up to Hendersonville early in the morning when I should have been getting up there in the afternoon, texted or Linda and let her know I was in the area. And I was figuring I'd just do something to pass the day away. And she was surprised, but she told me to meet her, so I did. We spent the day together, buried the hatchet, repaired the bridge as best we could and agreed. Okay, you've got your life, I've got my life, but Leila's. Our daughter picked Lela up from school. She looked around after a mom indicated towards the back. I waved at her from my car. She got excited. We got to their place, and the biggest hug. Oh, God. Oh, that was a good hug.

[Ann Emerson]

Oh, my gosh.

[Travis Peterson]

And then after that, Leila and I were in constant communications, talking and texting over the phone. Talked about once or twice a month, the last couple of months. Every time she was driving over the mountains from her place to her mom's or her mom's place back to hers, she was calling me. And we would talk as she's driving through the mountains.

[Ann Emerson]

When you started to reconnect with Lila, what. What was it like? What was it like for you to reconnect with Lila?

[Travis Peterson]

Evan. Cheers. I cannot describe to you the fact that I was able to reconnect with my daughter, learn what her life was about, all the things that she had done, the people that she's met, the places that she had Gone. Then the conversations about almost anything and everything. And if you made a mistake, she'd let you know it.

[Ann Emerson]

Yeah. And it was like she. It. It's amazing when. When you get to know somebody as an. As a grown up, when you hadn't known them as. As, you know, during those years. Was it. Was it wonderful reconnecting that time?

[Travis Peterson]

Oh, it was a godsend. I want this to be a bad dream that, you know, I'm just going through, and one day I'm going to wake up and Leela's going to call me again. I mean, you see the scruffiness on here. Normally, I'm clean shaven, the beard, this. I just don't care anymore because I got nothing to care for. People tell me to grieve. People tell me to go out and do things. It's like, why? Yeah, but if it wasn't for God, this would be a whole lot worse. Because every time I break a crutch, God gives me a new one. And he lifts me up and he sustains me. And the hardest thing I'm having to do is I'm praying, God, give me the strength and give me the willingness to forgive, because right now, I can't.

[Ann Emerson]

Travis, what does justice look like for Leila right now?

[Travis Peterson]

They took that off the table. Leila's in a box, six feet under. Justice would be her murderer being in the same position. And I am saying this about a woman that I still love to this day, but her actions, that would be justice for her to be in the same spot Leila's in.

[Ann Emerson]

Well, just know that we're all thinking about you, and I'm going to stay in touch as this. We have a lot more to find out, so we will stay in touch as this goes through. Prosecutors say they have evidence to prove that Leinenkugel murdered her daughter when she gave her that Thanksgiving wine. Her defense attorney is calling the state's evidence weak. What do you think? Drop a comment below and tell me what you think about this case. It is extraordinary. Like. Subscribe and turn on your notifications here at Criminally Obsessed so we can keep you updated on this story. Sam,