- The 2021 photo shows Deise Moura with her now gravely ill mother-in-law Zeli
This extraordinary photo shows a woman smiling next to the mother-in-law she is accused of trying to murder by putting arsenic in flour used to bake a Christmas cake.
Deise Moura is pictured next to her now gravely ill mother-in-law Zeli Dos Anjos – and in front of a Christmas cake identical to the one that killed three members of the family.
Detectives in Brazil believe that Deise used her computer to research the deadly effects of arsenic before sneaking into Zeli’s home and lacing her flour with the deadly toxin – knowing she would be using it to bake a centrepiece cake as she did every Christmas.
Zeli, 61, then unwittingly used the poisoned flour to bake the fruit cake topped with icing and sugar which she then served to her family at the festive get-together on December 23 at a property in Torres in southern Brazil, police believe.
Soon after eating the cake Zeli’s sisters Maida Flores da Silva, 58, and Neuza Dos Anjos, 65, were taken ill and soon died along with Neuza’s daughter Tatiana Dos Santos, 43.
Zeli herself, who is understood to have eaten two slices, was also taken seriously ill and rushed to hospital where she spent two weeks in intensive care.
Zeli’s 10-year-old great nephew Matheus – Tatiana’s son Matheus – was also taken to hospital and only released on Friday, while Maida’s husband Jefferson was also treated medically.
Neuza’s husband Joao did not eat any cake and was unaffected.
Accountant Moura is being kept in custody on suspicion of triple murder and triple attempted murder after tests revealed flour used to make the cake had been doctored with lethal arsenic by the mum of one.
In the remarkable 2021 picture obtained by MailOnline is Moura and her husband Diego with their son and Diego’s mother Zeli and her late husband Paolo Luis, who died in September from suspected food poisoning, but whose death is now being re-examined as part of the investigation.
Clearly visible on the table in front of the group is a white iced seasonal cake that keen baker Zeli made every Christmas.
Police arrested Moura late on Sunday after being tipped off there had been simmering tension between her and her in-laws for 20 years.
Investigators said searches of her phone and computer allegedly revealed she had Googled the word ‘arsenic’ countless times since November, and they had evidence of her buying the poison.
Zeli – who was discharged from intensive care on Monday – baked the cake for a December 23 pre Christmas party which Moura knew was taking place at a relative’s home in Torres near Porte Alegre, southern Brazil.
But within hours of tucking in, Maida, Neuza and Tatiana Silvia Dos Santos were all dead.
Just days ago, MailOnline exclusively revealed Zeli’s late husband Paulo, 68, died after eating a banana, and officials are set to exhume his body on Thursday as part of their probe.
It was at Paulo and Zeli’s seaside property at Arroio do Sal, 25 miles from Torres, that Zeli made the cake.
Zeli then took it to Maida’s apartment for the party, and during a later search at her beach house police allegedly seized ingredients including the contaminated flour.
Investigators said the cake was laced with ‘extremely high concentrations’ of the chemical which were too high to be naturally occurring and lethal.
Sources close to the case told MailOnline police began looking at Moura following a row at funerals for the victims last month.
Deise is said to have placed a ‘set of rosary beads and a rose’ in the hands of the Maida and Tatiana as they lay at the cemetery in their caskets.
It prompted an extraordinary outburst from one furious relative who a source told MailOnline shouted:’Why are you here ? You didn’t like any of them. Everyone knows.’
The source added: ‘Diego and Deise kept themselves apart from the rest of the family the last few months. They didn’t really participate much. There was tension.’
Police said ‘disagreements’ between the suspect and Zeli stretched back almost 20 years, but they refused explain exactly what Janthey were other than to say, ‘further elements would be released in due course’.
They also confirmed they planned to exhume the body of Zeli’s husband Paulo, who died last September from ‘food poisoning’ to establish whether there were traces of arsenic in his body.
Investigating officer Marcus Vinicius Veloso said:’ We have the evidence, very strong and robust evidence that it was here behind this crime, and we have the reasons, but we cannot go into details yet.’
According to Marguet Mittman, director of the General Institute of Expertise (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 the three victims. So high that they are toxic and lethal.
‘To give you an idea, 35 micrograms are enough to cause death. In one of the victims, there was a concentration 350 times higher.’
She added that 89 samples were collected from the home of the woman who made the cake and only sample, of flour, showed high arsenic concentrations.
A sources told MailOnline ‘On the search engine history the word ‘arsenic’ came up several times and Denise was looking from November.’
Arsenic is a prohibited substance in Brazil.
Meanwhile in another dramatic twist MailOnline has discovered Paulo’s death certificate from last September which confirms he died from ‘intestinal infection’ but also septicaemia, hypertension and a heart arrythmia.
Intriguingly it adds 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 flat in Arroio do Sal.
As in Britain, when a person dies intestate (without making a will) an executor is appointed which is usually the closest living relative and then assets are distributed equally among heirs.
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 then it is split 50/50.
A source said:’There was always a simmering tension with Zeli and her daughter-in-law and this increased after Paolo’s death and especially when it became known he didn’t leave a will.’
Investigative sources confirmed Paulo’s body would be exhumed next Thursday for further analysis as none were taken after doctors at Torres hospital ruled he had died from food poisoning.
Family members have told MailOnline that he and Zeli suddenly fell ill after eating some mashed bananas they had grown from a plant in their garden, and which may have been contaminated after floods swept through the region in May.
Zeli was also taken to hospital but recovered while Paulo died within hours of being admitted.
The group of seven at the party complained the contaminated cake she baked tasted ‘bitter and peppery’ within minutes all were vomiting and a fleet of ambulances was called to take them to hospital.
Maida, a retired teacher, was the first to die on Christmas Eve, Neuza passed away a few hours later, followed by her daughter Tatiana.
