Brazilian authorities are investigating a woman after her family was fatally poisoned after eating a Christmas cake she had baked
61-year-old Zeli dos Anjos prepared a traditional Brazilian cake for her family’s annual gathering at Arroio do Sal, a beautiful seaside town in the southern part of the country.
While authorities have momentarily dismissed the idea that the poisoning was part of a plan by Zeli, they nevertheless pointed out that the incident occurred months after her husband, Paulo Luiz, died from a similar food poisoning event in September.
Luiz’s death had not been considered suspicious at the time, but the police have since decided to exhume his body for a second, more thorough post-mortem examination that could provide clues to the recent event.
A reconstruction of that day’s events points to a refrigerator malfunction due to a power outage as the cause of the poisoning. Zeli had not been at the property for some time, and while she discarded most of the perishable items like meat, she apparently reused some ingredients, such as currants and fruits, for the cake.
“When Zeli returned to her holiday home, there was a terrible smell from the fridge, and while some food was thrown away, it appears other items were kept,” Veloso explained.
“We are now investigating if the currants and fruits used in the cake could have been contaminated due to this.”
Authorities have temporarily ruled out the possibility that Zeli had poisoned her family willingly, finding several expired items in her house
Further discrediting the idea of Zeli having planned the incident was the fact that she ate two slices of the cake first, falling seriously ill before anyone else. Her condition, unlike that of her sisters, is not fatal, and she’s expected to provide testimony for the investigation in the coming days.
