A lady has been arrested by Brazilian police on triple homicide charges after an arsenic-laced Christmas cake poisoned several members of her family, the police said.
Three ladies died and three other family members became ill after consuming the cake during a family gathering in Torres, a tiny coastal town in southern Brazil, on December 23.
Marcos Veloso, the investigating police official, stated at a press conference on Monday that the jailed family member was under “strong evidence” of being guilty.
Police did not disclose her identity, but Brazilian media said she was the daughter-in-law of the woman who baked the cake.
According to expert examinations, the blood of the victims, the remaining cake pieces, and the flour used to make it all had high concentrations of arsenic, a naturally occurring and extremely poisonous metal.
Veloso claimed that the cake had a “spicy” and “unpleasant” flavour that the family had noted. They were told to stop eating the cake by the woman who made it, but it was too late. Hospitalization was required for six family members. Within hours of one another, two sisters, ages 58 and 65, as well as the oldest sister’s 43-year-old daughter, passed away.
According to the most recent medical report, the third sister, who made the cake is still in the hospital in stable health. She is 61 years old.
The 10-year-old boy, whose mother and grandmother were among those killed, and the spouse of one of the sisters who died have now been discharged from the hospital.
Marguet Mittman; the director of forensic police in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, stated that “the three victims had very high concentrations of arsenic. For example, 35 microgrammes are sufficient to kill a human. One of the victims had a concentration that was 350 times higher,” she claimed.
Veloso commented that although the family had a “very harmonious” relationship, there were long-standing “differences” that might have contributed to the crime’s inception.
Additionally, the authorities have asked for the body of the late husband of the woman who made the cake to be exhumed. His death in September of last year was claimed to be from “food poisoning” but no investigation was done.
