Zeli Dos Anjos baked a traditional Christmas cake for her family on December 23. The whole family became ill and three members subsequently died of what appeared to be food poisoning. Following local police investigations, Zeli's daughter-in-law, Deise Moura, was arrested on January 5, with police believing she had committed triple homicide.
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Brazil's Ministry of Justice confirmed Moura's arrest to the Daily Mail. According to them, local police arrested Moura "on suspicion of committing triple homicide, with a futile motive and using poison, and three attempted homicides, with a double aggravation."
Zeli's sisters, Maida da Silva, 58, and Neuza Dos Anjos, 65, died after eating the cake. Neuza's daughter, 43-year-old Tatiana Dos Santos also passed away. Matheus, Zeli's great-nephew, also ate the cake and became ill, but he was released afterward. Madia's husband, Jefferson, was also treated at a local hospital. Zeli continues to battle for her life at the hospital at the moment.
Following the tragic deaths of Maida, Neuza, and Tatiana, police found traces of arsenic in their blood, and then found expired ingredients on Zeli's house. Police theorized that power outages could have contributed to some of the cake's ingredients going bad. Furthermore, authorities will exhume Zeli's late husband's body as he too died of food poisoning after eating a banana, according to the Daily Mail.
Moura Arrested
Marcus Vinicius Veloso, Torres police chief, talked with the outlet and confirmed Moura's arrest. "The woman was arrested for triple homicide and a triple attempted homicide," Veloso said. "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."
It appeared that a heated argument between family members and Deise Moura at the women's funeral after Moura paid tribute to Maida and Tatiana. "Why are you here? You didn't like any of them. Everyone knows," one family member shouted at Moura, according to the Daily Mail.
"Diego and Deise kept themselves apart from the rest of the family the last few months. They didn't really participate much. There was tension," a source told the outlet. Authorities are investigating the underlying issues between Zeli and Moura. This strained relationship could have led to the tragic passing of Maida, Neuza, and Tatiana.
