Woman accused of murder through poisoned Christmas cake speaks out as police suggest motive

A woman accused of murder through a poisoned Christmas cake has spoken out for the first time.

Three women died in Brazil after eating a traditional homemade 'Bolo de Natal' Christmas cake prepared by 61-year-old Zeli Terezinha Silva dos Anjos as they celebrated the festive season together.

Zeli's niece, Tatiana Denize Silva dos Anjos, 43, and sisters, Maida Berenice Flores da Silva, 58, and Neuza Denize Silva dos Anjos, 65, were victims of the case after eating the cake on 23 December last year.

While Tatiana and Maida died of cardiac arrests, Neuza died from a 'shock after poisoning'. A police investigation found traces of the poisonous arsenic in Neuza and two surviving family members.

Zeli's sisters died after eating the cake (Facebook)

But it has recently been reported by the Mail this month that Zeli's daughter-in-law, Deise Moura, 42, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

Torres police chief, Marcus Vinicius Veloso, said that she had been apprehended at her home on Sunday (5 January), stating: "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."

Authorities confirmed that the flour used to create the cake had 'extremely high concentrations' of arsenic, which can be lethal.

They also found Google searches for 'arsenic' and similar terms on Deise's phone in the weeks leading up to the cake being baked.

Now, she has spoken up, and claimed that she has done nothing wrong.

In a statement issued to the media, read by lawyer Cassyus Pontes, she said that a lot has been left unanswered.

Pontes said: "Everything’s all very preliminary. There are still questions to be answered. What is the causal link between the poison and Deise? There is no explanation of how the flour ended up in Zeli's house, or where or how it was acquired.

"These are minimal questions to indicate the authorship of the facts. Instead, all we have are the accounts of some family members and a supposed extraction of data from a mobile phone," the statement concluded.

The cake contained lethal amounts of arsenic (Divulgação/Polícia Civil)

Forensic experts theorised that the arsenal was added on purpose, as Veloso explained in a press conference: "We suspect the individual arrested entered Zeli’s house and then contaminated the flour."

Because of this incident, Zeli's late husband's body was exhumed, as he died of food poisoning earlier in the year.

Reports state that police are investigating an alleged 20-year dispute between Zeli and other members of the family, which could have been a potential motive.

"Deise never hid the fact that she had disagreements with her mother-in-law. She had already mentioned it to the Civil Police in a statement. I was surprised by the preventive custody request," Mr Pontes revealed.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, regional security minister Sandro Caron said: “We have very strong indications that the person who has been arrested is the perpetrator.

"Some details cannot yet be disclosed so as not to hinder the continuity of the investigation, but we have obtained very good information pointing to the person who was arrested yesterday being the perpetrator and acting maliciously."

Deise is now set to appear in court for a custody hearing on Monday, 13 January.