The Brazilian woman accused of killing three family members with a poisoned Christmas cake was found dead in her jail cell. Deise Moura dos Anjos, 42, was found dead in her cell on Thursday morning at a women’s prison in Guaíba, near the southern city of Porto Alegre.
Law enforcement said they are investigating her death and as of now believe that she died by suicide. Sources from a regional emergency response service said that it appeared she hanged herself in the person cell. Deise had been put behind the bars on January 6 and was facing charges of three counts of murder and three additional counts of attempted murder.
Tragic End
Deise Moura dos Anjos’ mother-in-law, Zeli dos Anjos, had baked a cake that several family members ate late on December 23, which was later found to be contaminated with arsenic-laced flour.
The victims, including Zeli, tasted the cake and noticed it had a “spicy” flavor as the family gathered for coffee, according to Police Chief Marcos Veloso in an interview with RBS TV.
Zeli, 61, was hospitalized but survived. However, her sister-in-law Maida Bernice Flores da Silva, 58, sibling Neuza Denize Silva dos Anjos, 65, and Neuza’s daughter Tatiana Silvia dos Santos, 43, died within hours of eating the cake.
Tatiana’s 10-year-old son, Matheus, and Zeli’s great-nephew, were also admitted to intensive care and spent several days in the hospital. Maida’s husband, Jefferson, also required medical treatment.
Deise denied the charges, but police branded her a suspected “serial killer” after her arrest.
Isabel Moraes, the sister-in-law of Maida’s husband Jefferson, who spoke to the Daily Mail, expressed the family’s disbelief and shock.
She said: “We are astonished by the news. We have only just heard. How can this happen? Someone should have been watching her and it’s just reliving the tragedy of what happened to my brother and the rest of the family all over again.
“She may have avoided justice now but hopefully in the next life she is being punished for all the evil and misery she caused us. What really hurts everyone is that her son will grow up without a mother but if this is the type of woman she was then maybe it’s for the better.”
Family Completely in a Mess
Deise was alone in her cell when she was found dead. Both police and prison officials will now conduct separate investigations into her death in jail. Following her arrest, police in Torres, southern Brazil, said at a press conference that the evidence against Deise was “strong.”
Forensic experts had confirmed after her initial arrest last month that arsenic poisoning was the cause of death for the victims.
Margaret Mittman, Director of the Rio Grande do Sul General Forensic Institute which covers Torres, said: “The source of that arsenic poisoning was the cake eaten by the victims and the source of the contamination of the cake was the flour found in Zeli’s house in Arroio do Sol.”
She revealed that tests on the victims’ urine, blood, and stomach contents showed “fetal levels” of arsenic, with concentrations up to 350 times higher than what would be considered “naturally occurring.”
She added: “Extremely high levels of arsenic were found in the tests done on the three people who died. They were such high levels they were considered toxic and lethal.”
Prior to Deise’s death this morning, Brazilian detectives had said they were confident that, based on the evidence gathered, she would “probably not leave prison in her lifetime.”
