Woman accused of murder after 'Christmas cake poisoning' that killed three is found dead in prison cell
13 February 2025, 15:07 | Updated: 13 February 2025, 15:26
A Brazilian woman who was accused of murder after a 'Christmas cake poisoning' killed three family members has been found dead in her prison cell.
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Deise Moura dos Anjos, 42, was found dead in her cell at an all-women's prison in Guaiba on Thursday.
The prison, located on the outskirts of the southern city of Porto Alegre, was holding Ms Moura after her arrest for murder.
Initial reports say police are treating the death as a suicide.
Ms Moura was arrested earlier this month at her home in southern Brazil after her relatives, sisters Maida da Silva, 58, Neuza Dos Anjos and Neuza’s daughter Tatiana Dos Santos, 43, died having eaten a traditional Brazilian Christmas cake.
Moura's mother-in-law Zeli Dos Anjos made the cake and fell ill after the family meal at Torres near Porto Alegre on December 23.
Zeli’s great nephew, 10, was also taken ill at the party.
Deise was remanded in prison on January 6 on suspicion of three murders, as well of three counts of attempted murder.
Despite the charges, Deise had continued to protest her innocence in relation to the poisonings, with police branding her an alleged "serial killer" following her arrest.
It comes after the husband of one of the three women who died after eating a Christmas cake suspected to have been poisoned by their relative spoke out for the first time.
Jefferson Luiz Moraes said his life had been changed forever and he would "have to rebuild everything again" after the death of his wife of 32 years, and two family members.
Jefferson also tried the cake and immediately fell ill. Neuza’s husband didn’t eat any of it.
He said: "When I ate it I also sensed a bad taste, but because the cake had sugar on top it hid [the bad taste] a little bit."
Jefferson added: "Neuza ate the cake, and then was going to eat again and [someone] said 'don't eat it because it's not good.
"After that Zeli went across the corridor to vomit. It was three or four minutes, no more than that. After that Zeli passed out."
Jefferson said his wife's death had left him feeling like he was playing "a role".
He added: "My other half is gone. I have to rebuild everything again. Sleeping is difficult. I didn't want to take sleeping pills, but I think I have to. At night, all that is left is a hole. And we were all having a great time."
Jefferson said: "'Maida loved these festive occasions. Christmas, New Year's and birthdays. She always enjoyed these."
He said the discovery of arsenic had been in the cake had left him feeling "terror".
"But we didn't know it was going to be so serious yet. I didn't join the dots of Paulo (the death of Zeli's husband). But later, at Neuza's wake, my sister started researching there, and she showed me "Look, it could be arsenic".
A police spokesman said: “The woman was arrested for triple homicide and a triple attempted homicide.
“She was taken initially to a police station at Canoas, then to Torres police station and is now in the women’s jail in the city, at this moment we cannot say anything else.”
Provisional reports revealed arsenic was found in the blood of the victims.
According to reports, members of the group complained the cake tasted ‘bitter and peppery’ after eating it, and within minutes they were all vomiting. Multiple ambulances were called and they were rushed to hospital.
