According to a report from Globo, Tatiana Denize Silva dos Anjos, 43, and Maida Berenice Flores da Silva, 58, died of cardiac arrest after eating a traditional Brazilian Christmas cake. Another woman, Neuza Denize Silva dos Anjos, 65, passed away on Christmas Eve, with the cause of death attributed to "shock after poisoning."
Authorities have intensified their investigation after two surviving family members and one of the deceased tested positive for arsenic in their blood. Two more individuals, including a 10-year-old child and 61-year-old Zeli Terezinha Silva dos Anjos—who co-prepared the cake and hosted the gathering—were hospitalized.
The case has drawn scrutiny over the death of Zeli’s husband, who died in September under circumstances suspected to involve food poisoning. Investigators are seeking to exhume his body for further examination. Police also discovered expired food products in Zeli’s home and a suspicious medicine bottle containing a white liquid, which is being examined.
“There were expired products in the residence,” police told the outlet Globo. “A bottle was found, a medicine, which should have had capsules inside it and there were no capsules – there was a white liquid and this white liquid will also be examined.”
Zeli was the first to seek medical attention after consuming two pieces of the cake. Officials noted there were no known conflicts within the family prior to the gathering.
“It was a traditional family cake, a king cake, which they always, always, always, made,” a family friend of one of the deceased explained.
As police have investigated the case, according to the Daily Mail, the deaths could be linked to the power getting cut on the fridge, causing the food to go bad. Police chief Marcos Vinicius Veloso said of the case, “With the evidence we have collected, we do not know whether the poisoning was negligent or intentional.”
Zeli is said to have used ingredients from a vacation home about 35 minutes from her house in Torres. She spent some time away from the home, but went to the vacation home near Arroio do Sal in order to prepare the cake.
He later added, “Zeli had spent some time away from her place in Arroio do Sal and when she returned to it she found the fridge off because from the inquiries we've been able to make, it appears there'd been some sort of power cut there.”
“When she went into the property there was an unbearable smell. Some of the things in the fridge, perishable foods like meat, were thrown away. But other items were re-used,” he added. The chief said that authorities were trying to determine if perishable foods from the fridge were used in the Christmas cake.
This is a developing story
