Forensic tests carried out on the body of a man exhumed after his daughter-in-law was arrested for a Christmas cake triple murder have confirmed he had traces of arsenic in his body.
Retired bus driver Paulo Luiz, 68, died last September after eating contaminated bananas and his wife Zeli Dos Anjos, 61, also fell ill but survived.
His daughter-in-law Deise Moura, 42, is currently in custody after police arrested her in connection with three murders and three attempted murders last month involving members of her family.
Forensic experts exhumed Paulo’s body from the Sao Vicente cemetery, near Porto Alegre, in southern Brazil, as part of an investigation they believe was prompted by Moura’s long-running dispute with his in-laws.
Confirmation that arsenic was found in his body was leaked to Brazilian media overnight, but more details are expected to be revealed at a news conference later on Friday.
Sources from the IGP, Brazilian Institute of Forensic Studies, said traces of arsenic were found in his “heart, stomach and intestines.”
Paolo died in September after eating mashed bananas at his home in Arroio Do Sal, near Porto Alegre. He died after vomiting, diarrhea and stomach bleeding, interpreted at the time as symptoms of food poisoning.
Relatives suspected poisoning at the time, but Zeli refused to believe it, insisting that the banana from which the fruit came must have been “contaminated” following the floods that hit the area last year.
Retired bus driver Paulo Luiz (pictured) died mysteriously in September from food poisoning after eating what police and his family fear was a “poisoned banana”.
Forensic experts exhumed Paulo’s body at the Sao Vicente cemetery near Porto Alegre in southern Brazil as part of an investigation they believe was prompted by Moura’s long-running dispute with his in-laws.
Zeli Anjos (pictured) baked the cake with its deadly ingredient as a festive treat for a party on December 23.
Deise Moura was initially transferred to a police station in Canoas, then to the police station in Torres and is now in the city’s women’s prison.
But following the death of three members of the same family last month after eating a Christmas cake poisoned with arsenic, police decided to exhume Paolo’s body as part of the murder investigation.
IGP officials later confirmed that the amount of arsenic in the cake was 350 times the amount needed to kill someone and traces of the lethal chemical were found in the blood and urine of the victims and survivors.
Zeli, Paulo’s wife. She baked the fruitcake with arsenic flour as a holiday treat for a party on December 23rd. Within minutes of eating the cake, Zeli, who ate two slices, became ill and began to vomit. He spent the next week in the hospital fighting for his life.
Zeli’s sisters, Neuza Dos Anjos, 65, and Maida da Silva, 58, died after eating it along with Neuza’s daughter, Tatiana Dos Santos, 43. Zeli’s 10-year-old great-nephew also fell ill.
Detectives are investigating the relationship between Zeli and her daughter-in-law amid claims from relatives that the feuding pair had fallen out many years ago.
Police statements released in Brazil suggest that the women never got along when Moura told police during interviews that he referred to Zeli as “naja,” which is Portuguese for cobra.
But despite their troubled relationship, Moura has insisted she is “shocked” to be a suspect in the murders and insists she is innocent, according to her lawyer.
In the photo: the Christmas cake that the guests consumed on December 23.
The mother of one of them had been arrested at her home in Nova Santa Rita late on Sunday.
Neuza Denize Silva dos Anjo, 65, was rushed to hospital in critical condition before dying the next day.
Several family members died after eating the cake.
MailOnline revealed how Paulo died early last year when he and Zeli were rushed to hospital after eating mashed bananas.
Paulo died without leaving a will and ‘with assets’ according to his death certificate.
In prosecutorial documents released to Brazilian media, it is now alleged that Moura had brought the bananas to the couple’s home as a “peace offering” after not speaking to his in-laws for three and a half years in an “attempt to build bridges’.
A source told MailOnline: ‘After the banana incident, Zeli’s sister Maida became suspicious and urged her to take the fruit to a laboratory for analysis, but Zeli refused.
Police told MailOnline that Moura’s dispute with his mother-in-law began in 2004 after Zeli withdrew money from his son Diego’s account without telling him and angering his wife.
A source said: “The money was eventually returned but things, despite attempts to try and fix them over the years, haven’t really improved.”
‘Deise and her husband boycotted family gatherings and her side of the family did not attend Deise’s graduation ceremony.
“They spent Christmas apart and blocked each other on the phone. The last time they saw each other was four years ago when they tried to give it a try but it didn’t work out.”
Matheus Marques da Silva, 10, survived by eating the poisoned cake with Father Leonir Alves in the hospital in Torres, Brazil.
The woman was arrested for triple homicide and attempted homicide
Deise Moura (pictured) was detained by police at the home she shares with her husband.
The Brazilian police in Torres offer a press conference today to explain the arrest of Deise Moura
The Christmas cake poisoning made headlines around the world after details emerged, but took a dramatic turn with Moura’s arrest last Sunday.
At a press conference, police confirmed that forensic tests had revealed the presence of arsenic in the cake and that it was traced to flour in Zeli’s kitchen at his seaside home in Arroio do Sal, near Torres.
Further investigation revealed how Moura had repeatedly searched his phone and laptop for the word “arsenic” since November.
Moura appeared before a judge this week, who confirmed that he will remain in custody for at least 30 days during the investigation.
His lawyer highlighted what he said were “inconsistencies” in the case and said there was “nothing to explain why the poisoned flour was linked to the suspect.”
He added: ‘All the findings are very preliminary, there are still questions to be answered: what is the link between the poison and Deise?
‘There is no explanation as to how the flour ended up in Zeli’s house, nor where or how it was acquired. These are minimal questions that need answering.
‘However, all we have are reports from family members and an alleged data extraction from his mobile phone.
“Deise has made no secret of the fact that she did not get along with her mother-in-law and has told the police, but until now I have not had full access to the investigation files.”
Police are also investigating whether Moura was behind the September poisoning so she and Diego could inherit the family assets.
The district’s public security secretary told local media: ‘Paulo’s body will be exhumed no later than the end of the week. Tests will then be carried out and we will have the results within ten days.’