Deise Moura stands accused of using arsenic to kill the three women and leave three others sick, including her own mother-in-law Zeli dos Anjos — the woman who baked the cake.
The family gathered for holiday celebrations on December 23 when they fell ill after consuming a Brazilian Christmas cake “Bolo de Natal” made by 61-year-old dos Anjos, media reported.
Dos Anjos is still fighting for her life in hospital after eating two slices of the cake.
Zeli Terezinha Silva dos Anjos and her sisters who both died from the cake. Photo / Facebook
Her sister Maida Berenice Flores da Silva, 58, and niece Tatiana Denize Silva dos Anjos, 43, both died on Christmas Day after suffering cardiac arrest, while her other sister Neuza Denize Silva dos Anjos, 65, was reported dead a day later.
The hospital said the cause of her death was “shock after poisoning”.
Zeli dos Anjos' great nephew Terezinha Silva dos Anjos, 10, was released from hospital late last week and Maida da Silva’s husband was also treated.
Brazilian television channel Globo initially reported blood tests showed the presence of arsenic and that has now been confirmed by officials.
They said the toxic heavy metal was found in “extremely high concentrations”, enough to cause death and far beyond what might naturally occur.
“To give you an idea, 35 micrograms are enough to cause death. In one of the victims, there was a concentration 350 times higher,” Marguet Mittman, director of the General Institute of Expertise (IGP), told reporters.
Deise Moura, the woman arrested over the poisonings.
Police chief Marcus Vinicius Veloso told media Deise Moura was believed to have gone into her mother-in-law’s home and poisoned the flour.
He also said their investigation had found “disagreements” between the two women going back almost 20 years.
“We knew there had been minor disagreements between the suspect and elements of the family for several years,” Veloso said.
“On the face of it, all those at the party were close and harmonious but when we extended our investigations we found motives that were probably behind this poisoning.”
Zeli Terezinha Silva dos Anjos' husband Paulo also died of food poisoning in September. Photo / Facebook
The incident has also sparked an investigation into the death of Zeli’s husband, Paulo Luiz, who died from eating a suspected poisoned banana in September.
Police have now requested to exhume his body as part of an investigation.
The sister-in-law of deceased woman Maida Berenice Flores da Silva expressed shock about the arrest of Deise Moura over the cake poisoning, telling the Daily Mail: “We just don’t know what to say, someone who is so close to us, we never imagined it.”
