This extraordinary photo shows a woman smiling next to the mother-in-law she is accused of attempting to murder by putting arsenic in the flour used to bake a Christmas cake.
Deise Moura appears next to her mother-in-law Zeli Dos Anjos, now seriously ill, and in front of a Christmas cake identical to the one that killed three family members.
Detectives in Brazil believe Deise used her computer to research the deadly effects of arsenic before sneaking into Zeli’s home and mixing her flour with the deadly toxin, knowing she would use it to bake a centerpiece cake as she did every Christmas.
Zeli, 61, then unknowingly used the poisoned flour to bake the fruit cake topped with icing and sugar which he then served to his family at the December 23 holiday gathering at a property in Torres, southern Brazil, police believe.
Shortly after eating the cake, Zeli’s sisters, Maida Flores da Silva, 58, and Neuza Dos Anjos, 65, fell ill and soon died along with Neuza’s daughter, Tatiana Dos Santos, 43.
Zeli herself, who is believed to have eaten two slices, also became seriously ill and was rushed to hospital, where she spent two weeks in intensive care.
Zeli’s great-nephew Matheus, 10, Tatiana’s son Matheus, was also taken to the hospital and was not released until Friday, while Maida’s husband Jefferson also received medical treatment.
Joao, Neuza’s husband, did not eat any cake and was not affected.
Accountant Moura is being held on suspicion of triple murder and triple attempted murder after tests revealed that the flour used to make the cake had been laced with lethal arsenic by the mother of one of them.
The 2021 image shows Deise Moura (second from left) and her husband Diego (left) with their son and Diego’s mother, Zeli, and her late husband Paolo Luis (right), who died in September.
The remarkable 2021 image obtained by MailOnline shows Moura and her husband Diego with their son and Diego’s mother, Zeli, and her late husband Paolo Luis, who died in September of suspected food poisoning, but whose death is now being re-examined as part of the investigation. investigation.
Clearly visible on the table in front of the group is a seasonal white frosted cake that enthusiastic baker Zeli made every Christmas.
Police arrested Moura on Sunday night after receiving information that there had been simmering tension between her and her in-laws for 20 years.
Investigators said searches on her phone and computer allegedly revealed that she had Googled the word “arsenic” countless times since November, and they had evidence that she purchased the poison.
Zeli, who was released from intensive care on Monday, baked the cake for a pre-Christmas party on December 23 that Moura knew would be held at a relative’s home in Torres, near Porte Alegre, in the southern Brazil.
But within a few hours of going to bed, Maida, Neuza and Tatiana Silvia Dos Santos were all dead.
Just a few days ago, MailOnline exclusively revealed that Zeli’s late husband Paulo, 68, died after eating a banana, and authorities are set to exhume his body on Thursday as part of their investigation.
It was on Paulo and Zeli’s coastal property in Arroio do Sal, 40 kilometers from Torres, where Zeli made the cake.
Police arrested Moura on Sunday night after receiving information that there had been simmering tension between her and her in-laws for 20 years.
Zeli dos Anjos (pictured) prepared the traditional ‘Bolo de Natal’ for an afternoon coffee with the family
Zeli then took him to Maida’s apartment for the party, and during a subsequent search of his beach house, police allegedly confiscated ingredients, including contaminated flour.
Investigators said the cake was laced with “extremely high concentrations” of the chemical, which were too high to be natural and lethal.
Sources close to the case told MailOnline that police began searching for Moura after a fight at the victims’ funerals last month.
Deise is said to have placed a “set of rosaries and a rose” in the hands of Maida and Tatiana as they lay in the cemetery in their coffins.
This sparked an extraordinary outburst from a furious relative who, a source told MailOnline, shouted: “Why are you here?” You didn’t like any of them. Everyone knows it.
The source added: ‘Diego and Deise have been staying away from the rest of the family for the past few months. They didn’t really participate much. “There was tension.”
Maida Berenice Flores da Silva, 58, and her sister Tatiana Denize Silva dos Anjos, 43, died after eating the cake on December 23.
Neuza Denize Silva dos Anjo, 65, was rushed to hospital in critical condition before dying the next day.
Police said “disagreements” between the suspect and Zeli dated back almost 20 years, but refused to explain exactly what Janthey was other than to say that “further elements would be released in due course.”
They also confirmed that they planned to exhume the body of Zeli’s husband, Paulo, who died last September from “food poisoning,” to determine if there were traces of arsenic in his body.
Investigator Marcus Vinicius Veloso said: “We have evidence, very strong and solid evidence that he was here behind this crime, and we have the reasons, but we cannot go into the details yet.”
According to Marguet Mittman, director of the General Institute of Experts (IGP), the source of the contamination was the flour used to make the cake consumed by the victims.
She told the press conference: ‘Very high concentrations of arsenic were identified in all three victims. So high that they are toxic and lethal.
Matheus Marques da Silva, 10, survived by eating the poisoned cake with Father Leonir Alves in the hospital in Torres, Brazil.
«To give you an idea, 35 micrograms are enough to cause death. In one of the victims there was a concentration 350 times higher.’
He added that 89 samples were collected in the house of the woman who made the cake and only one sample, of flour, showed high concentrations of arsenic.
A source told MailOnline: “In the search engine history the word ‘arsenic’ appeared several times and Denise had been searching since November.”
Arsenic is a banned substance in Brazil.
Meanwhile, in another dramatic twist, MailOnline has uncovered Paulo’s death certificate from last September which confirms he died from “intestinal infection” but also from sepsis, hypertension and cardiac arrhythmia.
Curiously, he adds that he was a “retired bus driver, who left assets but no known will.” There is no indication of how much he left, but he and Zeli owned a house in Canoas and a beach apartment in Arroio do Sal.
As in Britain, when a person dies intestate (without making a will), an executor is appointed who is usually the closest living relative and the assets are then distributed equally among the heirs.
Moura was arrested for triple homicide and attempted homicide
The mother of one of them had been arrested at her home in Nova Santa Rita late on Sunday.
The distribution of assets depends on the circumstances of the deceased’s family, such as whether they had a spouse and children, and if so, it is divided 50/50.
A source said: “There was always a simmering tension between Zeli and her daughter-in-law and this increased after Paolo’s death and especially when it emerged that he left no will.”
Investigation sources confirmed that Paulo’s body would be exhumed next Thursday for further analysis, since none was taken after doctors at the Torres hospital ruled that he had died from food poisoning.
Family members told MailOnline that he and Zeli became suddenly ill after eating mashed bananas they had grown from a plant in their garden and which may have been contaminated after floods hit the region in May.
Zeli was also taken to the hospital, but recovered, while Paulo died a few hours after being admitted.
The group of seven people who attended the party complained that the contaminated cake she baked tasted “bitter and spicy.” Within minutes everyone was vomiting and a fleet of ambulances was called to take them to the hospital.
Maida, a retired teacher, was the first to die on Christmas Eve, Neuza died a few hours later, followed by her daughter Tatiana.