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The Brazilian woman charged with poisoning three of her relatives with an arsenic-laced Christmas cake has been found dead in her prison cell — a day after her husband asked for a divorce.

Deise Moura dos Anjos, 42, has been locked up in pre-trial detention on murder charges since January after prosecutors accused her of killing three relatives — and attempting to kill three more — with a tainted cake she served them on Christmas Eve.

She was discovered in her cell in the southern Brazilian city of Guaíba, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, CNN Brasil reported.


  Deise Moura dos Anjos was found dead after after being accused of killing her relatives with a tainted cake she served them on Christmas Eve.
 Deise Moura dos Anjos was found dead after after being accused of killing her relatives with a tainted cake she served them on Christmas Eve.

  The poisoned Bolo de Natal – a Brazilian Christmas cake – was served during a holiday celebration. RS Civil Police The poisoned Bolo de Natal – a Brazilian Christmas cake – was served during a holiday celebration. RS Civil Police

“Immediately, the staff provided first aid” and called for help, but she could not be saved, police said of the suspected suicide.

Dos Anjos’ husband, Diego, had asked for a divorce the day before her death, according to the outlet.

Tatiana Denize Silva dos Anjos, 43, Maida Berenice Flores da Silva, 58, and Neuza Denize Silva dos Anjos, 65, each died after eating Bolo de Natal — a Brazilian Christmas cake — during a holiday celebration in Torres in southern Brazil.

The family members remarked that the cake had a “bad taste” just minutes before they each started vomiting and feeling ill.

The other family members, including a 10-year-old boy, were hospitalized.

Investigators found copious amounts of arsenic in the victims’ blood — with up to 350 times the amount necessary to kill a person found in one of them. 

The dessert had been baked with flour contaminated with deadly levels of the poison, officials said.


  Tatiana Denize Silva dos Anjos died after eating the cake. Jam Press Tatiana Denize Silva dos Anjos died after eating the cake. Jam Press

  Maida Berenice Flores, was another family member who ate the cake, with the guests noting it had a “bad taste” before they each started vomiting and feeling ill. Jam Press Maida Berenice Flores, was another family member who ate the cake, with the guests noting it had a “bad taste” before they each started vomiting and feeling ill. Jam Press

  Neuza Denize Silva was another relative killed after eating the arsenic-filled dessert. Jam Press Neuza Denize Silva was another relative killed after eating the arsenic-filled dessert. Jam Press

Authorities were also investigating if she may have killed her father-in-law, who died in September, after authorities exhumed his body and found high levels of the poison.

Moura dos Anjos maintained her innocence, but local police chief Cléber dos Santos Lima said last month he was “certain that she researched, bought (…) and used the poison to kill her victims,” according to the BBC.

Police determined she had bought arsenic on four separate occasions.

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