In Brazil, three women died after eating a traditional Christmas cake. Now, the daughter-in-law of the woman who baked the cake has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
The party was by her mother-in-law
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The daughter-in-law, Deise Moura, was arrested by police at her home on January 4th on suspicion of murder and attempted murder after three people died eating her mother-in-law’s Christmas cake.
Her mother-in-law, Zeli Dos Anjos, had made the cake for the Christmas party she hosted at Torres near Porto Alegre in southern Brazil.
Zeli is still in the hospital
The baker is still in the hospital following the food poisoning, while Maida da Silva, 58, and Neuza Dos Anjos, 65, both her sisters, died after eating the cake along with her niece, Tatiana Dos Santos, who was 43 years old.
Zeli’s husband had also passed away
Soon after the incident, The Daily Mail reported that the baker’s husband had also passed away a few months earlier from food poisoning after eating a contaminated banana.
This prompted further investigations by the police, who shared this information via the Torres police chief.
Police also shared Deise Moura’s arrest
The police chief, Marcus Vinicius Veloso, also shared that Deise Moura, Zeli’s daughter-in-law, had been arrested at her home in Nova Santa Rita, where she lives with her husband.
He said, “The woman was arrested for triple homicide and a triple attempted homicide.”
Police haven’t revealed any more information
“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,” the police chief added.
Police have yet to reveal what connections she might have had with the cake and the deaths.
Police hadn’t been aware of family disputes
Soon after the incident had occurred, police stated that they were “not aware of any disputes within the family” but that they would investigate further.
The first to die after having the cake was Maida, a retired teacher, followed by her sister Neuza, and then Neuza’s daughter Tatiana.
Initially, it was suspected that the cake was expired
During the initial investigations following the death of the two sisters and the niece, it was thought that the traditional Bolo de Natal cake was made of expired ingredients after police found various expired foods at Zeli’s house.
This suspicion was especially amplified as her husband had passed from food poisoning, but it seems the cause of death on Christmas Eve could be different.
Arsenic was found in lab tests
Following the release of results from the run lab tests, provisional reports shared that arsenic was found in the blood of the victims.
The family members had complained that the cake tasted “bitter and peppery” before being carried to the hospital.
One relative had a suspicion
According to The Daily Mail, one relative, Isabel Moraes, had had a suspicion that someone with a “grudge” was behind the killing of the three family members.
She also described the tragic incident as a “strange” one.
She revealed she was shocked by the arrest
The news outlet then contacted the 54-year-old woman, asking about her reaction to Deise Moura’s arrest.
To this, she replied, “The whole family is shocked. We just don’t know what to say, someone who is so close to us, we never imagined it.”
