5 Reasons This Mom Could Be A Serial Killer: Forensic Psychologist episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 2, 2026 · 29 MIN

5 Reasons This Mom Could Be A Serial Killer: Forensic Psychologist

from Criminally Obsessed · host Criminally Obsessed

Did this mom poison her family at Thanksgiving dinner? And even worse, could she be a serial killer? North Carolina investigators are asking if Gudrun Casper-Leinenkugel could be the rare female serial killer. Authorities say Gudrun poisoned wine served at a Thanksgiving gathering, killing her daughter Leela Livis and sickening two others. But as investigators dug into her past, they uncovered another death from 2007 involving the same chemical and began examining additional suspicious deaths of people connected to her. In this episode of Criminally Obsessed, investigative journalist Anne Emerson sits down with forensic psychologist Dr. Joni Johnston to do a deep dive into the psychology behind the allegations and explain why female serial killers often look very different from the serial killers most people imagine. Why do female serial killers often target people closest to them? Why is poison such a common weapon? And does Gudrun fit the profile investigators are now considering? Subscribe to Criminally Obsessed for exclusive true crime interviews, expert analysis on the true crime stories you're following, and the latest developments in the shocking Thanksgiving poisoning case.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jun 2, 2026

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5 Reasons This Mom Could Be A Serial Killer: Forensic Psychologist

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