The daughter-in-law of a mum whose Bolo de Natal cake killed three people in Torres, southern Brazil, just days before Christmas has been arrested for triple homicide
Police have arrested the daughter-in-law of a woman whose Christmas cake killed three relatives on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
Zeli Dos Anjos, 61, prepared a traditional “Bolo de Natal” for a family afternoon coffee gathering in Torres, a town near southern Brazilian town Porto Alegre, a couple of days before Christmas on December 23. Just a few hours after tucking into the sweet treat, Maida Bernice Flores da Silva, 58, Neuza Denize Silva Dos Anjos, 65 and Neuza’s 43-year-old daughter, Tatiana Silvia Dos Santos, were all dead.
Ms Dos Anjos is still fighting for her life in hospital nearly two weeks after the incident, while her great nephew Matheus, 10, has been treated and released from hospital. Police have since revealed they found traces of deadly poison arsenic in the family’s bodies, and have arrested her daughter-in-law, Deise Moura.
Ms Moura, a mum-of-one, was arrested at the home in Nova Santa Rita she shares with her husband Diego, 39, Ms Dos Anjos’ son, the Mail Online reports, for triple homicide and “a triple attempted homicide”. Marcus Vincius Veloso, the Torres police chief, revealed the twist arrest, saying she is now being kept in a women’s jail.
He said: “The woman was arrested for triple homicide and a triple attempted homicide. 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.” Ms Moura’s mother-in-law had made the deadly cake at their home on December 23, police have previously said, before bringing it to Maida’s apartment for their party.
Officers have seized ingredients, including dried fruit and flour, and pesticides from the seaside property, but revealed few details about the shock deaths, with provisional reports having revealed arsenic in the poisoning victims’ blood. They have said they are “not aware of any disputes within the family” as they await results from lab tests.
While they have revealed little about the case, investigative sources told the Mail that police planned to exhume the body of Paulo Luis, the 68-year-old first husband of Ms Dos Anjos who died after eating a contaminated banana. The exhumation will reportedly take place on Thursday, with further analysis due to take place.
Doctors who examined him at a Torres hospital initially ruled that he had died from food poisoning, with MS Dos Anjos having also fallen ill after eating the mashed bananas, which were grown at their property and may have become contaminated after flood waters swept through the area.