The image shows Deise Moura with her now seriously ill mother-in-law Zeli Dos Anjos, with their husbands and a child, in front of a Christmas cake identical to the one made for this year
An innocent-looking family photo has emerged days after the shocking Christmas cake poisonings which have lead to the death of three people.
The image shows Deise Moura with her now seriously ill mother-in-law Zeli Dos Anjos, with their husbands and a child, in front of a Christmas cake identical to the one made for this year. Deise has now been arrested after detectives in Brazil found her computer was used to research the deadly effects of arsenic.
Zeli, 61, baked two cakes for a Christmas party on December 23, which she shared with the six other guests. However, only four of them survived after the family chose to cut the cake that contained the lethal poison rather than the safe one. Two cakes were prepared for the party, one of them was safe while the other would cause the tragedy that unfolded.
Detectives think Deise sneaked into Zeli’s home and lacing her flour with the deadly toxin, knowing she would be using it to bake a centrepiece cake as she did every Christmas.
Maida Bernice Flores da Silva, 58, Neuza Denize Silva Dos Anjos, 65, and Neuza’s daughter Tatiana Silvia Dos Santos, 43, were killed just hours after tucking in to the cake. It wasn’t until later that authorities detected traces of arsenic in their bodies.
Zeli and Tatiana’s son Mateus, were rushed to hospital. Family member Isabel Moraes told the Daily Mail: “Every year Zeli baked the cake and every year everyone meets up for a family get together to celebrate Christmas and be with each other, we are all extremely close. That day two cakes were made. One by Zeli and one by Maida, but it was only Zeli’s which was eaten. If they had eaten the other one then perhaps this wouldn’t have happened.
“Jefferson told me that within a few minutes they were all saying it had a bitter sour taste and by this time Zeli had eaten two slices but as soon as everyone started to complain she said ‘Stop, no one eat any more.’ It didn’t take long for the arsenic to take effect, with everyone who had eaten the cake vomiting and writhing in pain.
The only person who escaped the grim fate was Joao, Neuza’s husband, because he doesn’t eat cake. Jefferson was taken to hospital but doctors discharged him after a few hours. On Christmas Eve, Maida became the first fatal victim, with Neuza dying a few hours later. Her daughter Tatiana died last. Their funeral were held together the next day and on Boxing Day.
