Authorities in southern Brazil investigating the deaths of three family members due to food poisoning during Christmas are expected to announce a significant development today.
Detectives are now linking the tragic deaths to a long-standing family feud involving the woman accused of baking the arsenic-laced cake.
Deise Moura, the 39-year-old daughter-in-law of Zeli dos Anjos, was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of triple murder and attempted murder.
It is alleged that Moura prepared the fatal Christmas dessert at Zeli’s house before bringing it to a family event in Torres, located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, on December 23.
The case has taken a darker turn with reports of a history of disputes between Zeli and Deise.
Investigators now believe the poisoning may have been the result of a simmering family conflict.
Details of the alleged feud are expected to be disclosed during a press conference today in Capão da Canoa.
What was supposed to be a joyous gathering quickly turned tragic as Zeli’s two sisters, Maida (58) and Neuza (65), along with Neuza’s daughter Tatiana (43), fell sick and passed away within a short period of time.
Zeli, 61, and her 10-year-old great-nephew Matheus were also hospitalised, with Zeli still fighting for her life after eating two slices of the poisoned cake.
Initial lab tests confirmed high levels of arsenic in the blood of those who ate the deadly dessert, which was described as having an odd “spicy” and “peppery” flavour.
Whilst arsenic is a highly toxic substance without any smell or taste, the spiciness found is not common for sweet cakes.
Police have since recovered ingredients, including dried fruits and flour, along with pesticide, from Zeli’s home, fuelling suspicions of deliberate contamination.
Moura has been remanded in custody at a women’s prison in Torres as the investigation continues.
In the wake of the Christmas horror, it emerged Zeli’s husband had died from suspected food poisoning in September.
Police did not deem his death as suspicious at the time, but detectives have confirmed Paulo Luiz’s body will be exhumed so a proper post-mortem can take place.
Paulo reportedly died after eating mashed bananas grown in the family’s garden.
At the time, his death was ruled non-suspicious, but new revelations have prompted authorities to exhume his body on Thursday for further testing.
Relatives have suggested the bananas may have been contaminated, but police now suspect foul play.
The poisoning at the Christmas gathering has reignited speculation about whether Zeli and her late husband were targets of a sinister plot.
Police initially treated the tragedy as a possible accident, but Moura’s arrest has cast doubt on that theory.
The three victims of the Christmas poisoning—Maida, Neuza, and Tatiana—died of cardiac arrest shortly after eating the dessert.
Matheus, Tatiana’s 10-year-old son, was treated in intensive care and only released last week.
Zeli, who is still in critical condition, reportedly had more of the tainted cake than the others.
Zeli reportedly said a haunting six words after her family first tucked into the poisoned cake and complained that it tasted “spicy”.
The woman – who was initially upset by the comments around her cooking – reportedly put her hand over the cake and said: “No one will eat it anymore.”
Torres-based police chief Marcos Vinicius Veloso said detectives are now probing whether bacteria-ridden currants and other spoiled foods used as a topping after a power-cut could be linked to the fatal poisonings.
It echoes the poisoned mushroom case in Australia that killed three last year.
Mum Erin Patterson served up a beef wellington that left her former parents-in-law Don, 70, and Gail Patterson, 70, as well as Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, dead.
The 49-year-old is set to face a murder trial after pleading not guilty to all charges.
The Saga of ‘The Mushroom Cook’
By Henry Holloway
THE KILLER cake mystery in Brazil has chilling echoes of a similar case in Australia where a family meal turned deadly.
But while cops continue to probe the cake deaths – the so-called “Mushroom Cook” is set to stand trial in April 2025.
Erin Patterson has pleaded not guilty after being accused of serving up a deadly meal to her former in-laws.
She has been charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.
It is suspected she served them a meal laced with death cap mushrooms.
She fed the beef wellington to her ex-husband’s parents Don and Gail Patterson, Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian.
All four people fell ill – and only Ian survived, sparking a mystery that gripped the world.
Erin was dubbed “The Mushroom Cook” – and police eventually charged her with murder and attempted murder.
It was revealed she allegedly had attempted to poison her ex-husband, Simon, on three separate occasions between 2021 and 2022.
And it emerged she was an experienced forager who regularly picked her own mushrooms.
Erin has long denied any wrongdoing over the case.
