The Brazilian woman accused of killing three relatives with a poisoned Christmas cake has been found dead in her jail cell.
42-year-old Deise Moura dos Anjos was discovered dead in her prison cell at a women’s facility in Guaiba near Porto Alegre in the south this morning.
Authorities are investigating the incident as a suicide following reports from a local emergency service suggesting that she had taken her own life.
Deise was remanded in prison on January 6 on suspicion of three murders and three attempted murders.
Zeli dos Anjos, her mother-in-law, had prepared a cake that was shared among family members on the night of December 23, only to realize later that the flour used in the cake was tainted with arsenic.
The victims, including Zeli, took several bites and found that it had a ‘spicy’ flavor, as the family gathered for coffee, Police Chief Marcos Veloso told RBS TV at the time.
Zeli, 61, was hospitalised but survived.
Her teacher sister Maida Bernice Flores da Silva, 58, another sibling called Neuza Denize Silva Dos Anjos, 65 and Neuza’s daughter Tatiana Silvia Dos Santos, 43, died within hours of eating the cake.
Tatiana’s 10-year-old son Matheus, Zeli’s great nephew, was also taken into intensive care and spent several days in hospital. Maida’s husband Jefferson needed hospital treatment too.
Deise was protesting her innocence but police branded her an alleged ‘serial killer’ after her arrest.
Deise Moura was found lifeless in her cell at a women’s prison in Guaiba on the outskirts of the southern city of Porto Alegre
Pictured: The Christmas cake that was consumed by guests on December 23
Neuza Denize Silva dos Anjo, 65, pictured left, was rushed to hospital in critical condition before dying the following day. Maida Berenice Flores da Silva, 58, pictured right, also died
Neuza’s daughter Tatiana Silvia Dos Santos, 43, died within hours of eating the cake
Police in Torres in southern Brazil where the three poison victims died said at a press conference after her detention the evidence they had against her was ‘robust.’
Forensic experts confirmed after Deise’s arrest early last month the cause of the deaths of victims was arsenic poisoning.
Margaret Mittman, Director of the Rio Grande do Sul General Forensic Institute which covers Torres, said: ‘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.’
She revealed 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.’
She added: ‘Extremely high levels of arsenic were found in the tests done on the three people who died.
‘They were such high levels they were considered toxic and lethal.’
Police were also probing whether Deise killed her father-in-law Paulo Luis dos Anjos, who died last September after eating bananas mixed with powdered milk she had taken him.
Zeli dos Anjos (pictured) prepared the traditional ‘Bolo de Natal’ festive treat for a family afternoon coffee on December 23 before she and six relatives, including her two sisters, fell ill
Moura was arrested for triple homicide and attempted homicide
10 year old Matheus Marques da Silva who survived eating the poisoned cake with Father Leonir Alves at the hospital in Torres, Brazil
Local police chief Marcus Vinicius Muniz Veloso spoke after her arrest to describe Deise as the only person who had upset the ‘harmonious’ family relationship that existed between the poison victims.
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 and prison authorities will now carry out separate investigations into Deise’s jail cell death.
She was alone in the cell where she was found dead.
