The daughter-in-law of a woman who baked a poisonous Christmas cake that killed three of her relatives dead has been arrested by police on suspicion of murder.
Zeli Dos Anjos, 61, is in hospital fighting for her life after baking and consuming a poison-laced cake which also claimed the lives of her two sisters and niece.
Traces of Arsenic Found in Victims' System
The family tucked into the food during a festive gathering at Zeli's home in Torres near Porto Alegre in southern Brazil on December 23, with the first casualties reported a short time later.
Maida Bernice Flores da Silva, 58, and Neuza Denize Silva Dos Anjos, 65 and Neuza's daughter Tatiana Silvia Dos Santos, 43, died within hours of eating the deadly cake, with traces of the deadly poison arsenic later found in their system. Tatiana's 10-year-old son Matheus fighting for his life after eating the deadly cake.
Zeli's Husband Also Died of 'Food Poisoning' Months Ago
Deise Moura, the wife of Zeli's son Diego Dos Anjos, was later arrested in connection with the killing. Police revealed they would be exhuming the body of Zeli's late husband Paulo Luis as part of their probe after he died from "food poisoning" caused by eating a contaminated banana several months prior.
Investigative sources confirmed Paulo's body would be exhumed next Thursday for further analysis after he and Zeli suddenly fell ill after eating some mashed bananas they had grown from a plant in their garden, and which may have been contaminated after floods swept through the region last May.
At the time Zeli was also taken to hospital but recovered while Paulo died within hours of being admitted. Torres police chief Marcus Vinicius Veloso yesterday confirmed that Deise Moura had been arrested at her home in Nova Santa Rita late on Sunday.
"The woman was arrested for triple homicide and a triple attempted homicide," Veloso told Mail Online. "She was taken initially to a police station at Canoas, then to Torres police station and is now in the women's jail in the city, at this moment we cannot say anything else."
Police said they were "not aware of any disputes within the family" but are keeping an open mind while waiting for results from lab tests.
Victims Complained of Cake Tasting 'Bitter and Peppery,' Before Vomiting and Collapsing
During the fateful meal, the group of seven family members complained the Christmas cake tasted "bitter and peppery," before vomiting violently and being rushed to the hospital. Maida was the first to succumb to the poisonous meal on Christmas Eve. Neuza passed away a few hours later, followed by her daughter Tatiana.
Zeli's ten-year-old great nephew Matheus, Tatiana's son, was also taken ill and spent a week in intensive care before being moved onto a paediatric unit on Friday night from the Senhora dos Navegantes hospital in Torres.
A family member told the Mail they believe someone with a "grudge had been responsible for targeting the family, describing the tragedy as "strange." "The whole family is shocked. We just don't know what to say, someone who is so close to us, we never imagined it," they added.
