Three family members died after consuming the cake with three more admitted to hospital including a 10-year-old boy. Police in Brazil have now released more details, including the name of the suspect
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Carrington Walker and Gerard Couzens News Correspondent
16:59, 06 Jan 2025Updated 17:00, 06 Jan 2025
Sisters Zeli (left), Maida (centre), and Neuza (right), all ate the Christmas cake(Image: Facebook/Zeli Dos Anjos)
Police in Brazil say they have ‘robust evidence’ against a sole suspect following the death of three family members who ate ‘arsenic-laced’ Christmas cake.
Maida Bernice Flores da Silva, 58, Neuza Denize Dos Anjos and her daughter Tatiana Silvia Dos Santos, 43, all died within hours of consuming the poisoned dessert on December 23.The trio were rushed to hospital in the southern city of Torres suffering from severe vomiting and breathlessness alongside Tatiana’s 10-year-old son, Matheus Marques da Silva, his great aunt, Zeli Dos Anjos, 61 and Maida’s husband, Jefferson.
Matheus, Zeli and Jefferson all survived the suspected poisoning, with the boy moved out of intensive care on New Year’s Day. Zeli is also in ‘stable’ condition and is expected to be questioned within the coming days.
Sisters Zeli (left), Maida (centre), and Neuza (right), all ate the Christmas cake(Image: Facebook/Zeli Dos Anjos)
It is believed she had baked the cake and local media have now identified her daughter-in-law, Deise Moura, as being the suspect remanded in prison, accused of murder and attempted murder.
Local police chief Marcus Vinicius Muniz Veloso refused to confirm the identity of the woman in custody but described her today at a press conference as the only person who had upset the “harmonious” family relationship that existed between the poison victims.
Mr Veloso said the evidence against the woman in custody was “robust” but declined to go into detail about a possible motive. However, he did refer to minor family disputes, dating back 20 years, which he said were totally at odds with such a serious crime.
He said: “The family relationship was harmonious but there were disagreements caused by only one person and that person was investigated and we were able to build up evidence pointing to her committing three murders and three attempted murders.
“I can tell you those differences I’m talking about date back 20 years. They were very minor. The family told us about those disagreements.”
Police are now preparing to dig up the body of Zeli Terezinha Silva dos Anjos late husband, Paulo Luiz, who died from a suspected bout of food poisoning in September.
Police are now preparing to dig up the body of Zeli Terezinha Silva dos Anjos’ late husband, Paulo Luiz, who died months earlier from a suspected bout of food poisoning in September(Image: Facebook/Zeli Dos Anjos)
Director of the Rio Grande do Sul General Forensic Institute which covers Torres, Margaret Mittman, revealed tests on nearly 90 food samples had revealed the source of the arsenic to be 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 kilogram 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.”
Zeli Terezinha Silva dos Anjos, 61, is the baker of the arsenic-laced cake (Image: Facebook)
Mittman confirmed 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.’
The permitted level of arsenic in urine which could be considered an occupational contamination is around 35 micrograms per litre. Meanwhile, out of the three family members who died, the lowest recorded figure was 80 times this amount while the highest concentration was around 350 times higher.
READ MORE: Long-standing family feud behind Christmas cake poisoning that left three dead, cops sayREAD MORE: ‘Poisoned’ Christmas cake deaths huge update as daughter-in-law now arrested in murder probe
“In other words it’s impossible that this amount of arsenic was what we could describe as occupational contamination. Very high levels of arsenic were also found in the cake consumed by the victims.”
State security minister Sandro Caron, was also present at the press conference, stating: “We have very strong indications that the person who has been arrested is the perpetrator.
“Some details cannot yet be disclosed so as not to hinder the continuity of the investigation, but we have obtained very good information pointing to the person who was arrested yesterday being the perpetrator and acting maliciously.”