A woman has been arrested in connection with a Christmas cake that allegedly killed three people and hospitalized three others in Brazil, multiple media outlets reported.
On Sunday, police arrested Deise Moura dos Anjos, who is the daughter-in-law of Zeli Terezinha Silva dos Anjos, the woman who prepared the cake that was eaten at a family gathering in Torres, Brazil, on Dec. 23, according to local outlets GZH and O Globo. She is reportedly suspected of triple homicide and triple attempted homicide after three people died, and three others, including Silva dos Anjos, became ill.
An attorney for Moura dos Anjos told O Globo that they did not yet have full access to the investigation and could not comment.
According to O Globo, police are investigating if arsenic is present in the bodies of the victims who died. Arsenic was reportedly found in the blood of the surviving victims who were hospitalized. According to the World Health Organization, arsenic is “highly toxic” when it is inorganic.
The people who ate the cake noted it had a strange, “spicy and unpleasant flavor.” When they complained about the taste and started to vomit and experience diarrhea, Silva dos Anjos told them to stop eating it, police chief Marcos Vinícius Veloso told O Globo. Five of them went to the hospital, and hours later, sisters Tatiana Denize Silva dos Anjos, 43, and Maida Berenice Flores da Silva, 58, reportedly died from cardiac arrest.
Neuza Denize Silva dos Anjos, 65, reportedly died from “shock after food poisoning.”
Only one person at the gathering did not eat the cake, and they did not become sick, according to CBS News. Zeli Silva dos Anjos is the only one who had two slices of cake, and she reportedly had the highest levels of arsenic in her blood.
She and a 10-year-old boy were treated in a hospital after eating the cake, along with a third person, whose identity has not been revealed. The boy was discharged, but Silva dos Anjos remains in the ICU in stable condition, according to O Globo.
Police have also requested the body of Silva dos Anjos’ late husband, who died in September of food poisoning, to be exhumed, the BBC reported. His death was ruled natural at the time.
Brazil’s Civil Police did not immediately respond to a HuffPost request for comment.
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