New details have emerged on how three members of the same family died after eating a poisoned Christmas cake – detectives say one ingredient was found to have been laced with arsenic
Police have issued a major new update after three members of the same family were killed in a horror Christmas cake poisoning.
Maida Bernice Flores da Silva, 58, Neuza Denize Silva Dos Anjos, 65 and Neuza’s daughter Tatiana Silvia Dos Santos, 43, died within hours of eating the cake late on December 23. In a new update today, detectives said they believe they were killed with arsenic-laced flour used in the festive cake. They said they had “robust evidence” against the sole suspect, identified locally as the daughter-in-law of Zeli dos Anjos, who baked the cake and is still in hospital.
Deise Moura has reportedly been remanded in prison in the southern Brazilian city of Torres on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. Tatiana’s 10-year-old son Matheus, Zeli’s great nephew, was also taken into intensive care and only released from hospital last Friday.
Maida’s husband Jefferson was hospitalised along with Zeli, who ate two slices of cake and is said to have been exposed to more of the arsenic it contained. Local police chief Marcus Vinicius Muniz Veloso refused to formally confirm the identity of the woman in custody, but described her today at a press conference as having upset a “harmonious” family relationship prior to the poisoning.
Margaret Mittman, Director of the Rio Grande do Sul General Forensic Institute which covers Torres, revealed tests on nearly 90 food samples had shown the source of the arsenic was flour. She said: “We analysed 89 samples and of those 89 samples we found one sample of flour contained extremely high levels of arsenic. The level of arsenic in that flour reached the level of 65 grams per kilogramme of flour, which is around 2,700 times more than the concentration found in the cake.
“The flour was found during a search in the house where the cake was prepared. The forensic analysis that has been carried out shows the cause of death of the victims was arsenic poisoning and the source of that arsenic poisoning was the cake eaten by the victims and the source of the contamination of the cake was the flour found in Zeli’s house in Arroio do Sol.”
Tests on the victims’ urine and blood samples as well as the contents of their stomachs had revealed “fatal levels” of arsenic up to 350 times higher than those which would be regarded as naturally occurring, she said, adding: “They were such high levels they were considered toxic and lethal.”
Although Zeli dos Anjos remains in hospital in Torres, medics confirmed this morning she was out of intensive care and is now “stable”. Police are expected to begin questioning her in the next 24 hours.
It also emerged Zeli Dos Anjos’s husband, Paulo Luis, 68, died from ‘food poisoning’ caused by eating a contaminated banana several months prior. Investigators plan to exhume his body on Thursday, with further analysis due to take place.
