On Jan. 5, a Brazilian woman was taken into custody on suspicion of lacing a Christmas cake with poison, a decision that devastated her husband’s extended family, resulting in three deaths and three people severely hurt.
The accused, Deise Moura, is said to have had frequent altercations with her mother-in-law, Zeli Dos Anjos, a dynamic that local reports suggest could have fueled the shocking yuletide tragedy.
Authorities believe Zeli prepared a Bolo de Natal, a customary Brazilian Christmas cake, at her coastal residence in the country’s south. The dessert was later shared at a Christmas gathering held at her sister’s apartment in Torres, close to Porto Alegre, on December 23. During the inquiry, investigators seized the cake’s components, including flour, fruit, and arsenic. It was confirmed that the arsenic had been blended into the flour employed in the batter.
Relatives immediately noticed a bitter, peppery aftertaste, and within minutes the six people who consumed the cake began vomiting. Numerous ambulances arrived to transport the affected family members to hospitals, according to the outlet.
Regrettably, the damage was done. Within hours after ingesting the poisoned dessert, three individuals had died: Madia da Silva, 58, and Neuza dos Anjoys, 65—two of Zeli’s sisters—and Neuza’s adult daughter, Tatiana Dos Santos, 43. Zeli remains in critical condition in the intensive care unit. A 10-year-old grand-nephew and another relative who had only a small portion were treated and discharged from medical care.
The only person present in the room who escaped harm was Neuza’s husband, who avoided eating any of the dessert.
Investigators discovered arsenic at extraordinarily elevated levels in the urine and stomach contents of the deceased and have dismissed accidental contamination as a cause. Tests showed arsenic concentrations in the flour about 2,700 times above the legal limit, according to reports.
“The arsenic levels detected in these samples are so elevated that they are deemed toxic and fatal, which accounts for the deaths,” stated Marguet Mittmann, the director of forensic police in Rio Grande do Sul, at a press conference cited by CNN. “These concentrations are far beyond what could be explained by natural contamination,” she added.
Deise has been charged with three counts of homicide and three counts of attempted homicide, and she was apprehended at the residence she shares with her spouse, Diego.
The family was taken by surprise by the arrest, said Isabel Moraes, 54, a relative, who spoke to the Daily Mail and said they suspected an individual with a vendetta against the clan had targeted them.
“The entire family is stunned. We’re at a loss for words; someone so close to us, we never expected this.”
Nevertheless, one person was aware of the rift between Deise and her in-laws. During the funeral, Deise and Diego were allegedly confronted by a furious relative after Deise laid rosary beads and a rose in the hands of the victims Maida and Tatiana as they rested in their coffins.
“Why are you here? You didn’t care for any of them. Everyone knows that,” shouted the enraged relative, a source told the Daily Mail.
The source added that Diego and Deise had kept themselves apart from the rest of the family in recent months, did not participate much, and that tensions had been present.
In an odd turn, authorities learned that Zeli’s first husband, Paulo Luis, died suddenly in 2024 after consuming a banana. Doctors initially attributed the death to food poisoning, noting the fruit came from a tree on their property that had been flooded in May, raising the chance of contamination. The chilling cake-poisoning case has prompted investigators to reopen the prior death, with plans to exhume his remains to assess whether foul play was involved.
Deise remains in custody at a women’s correctional facility in Brazil as the investigation proceeds.
