CNN
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An arrest has been made in connection with the poisoning of a family in Brazil who ate a cake containing arsenic on Christmas Eve.
The incident, which occurred in the city of Torres in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, left three people dead and three hospitalized.
In a press conference on Monday, Rio Grande do Sul state civil police confirmed that the stepdaughter of one of the victims was the main suspect.
According to police, there were seven people in the room when the cake was served.
One person did not eat the cake, but the other six people who did eat it were all hospitalized. Three women later died: sisters Maida and Neuza, and Neuza’s daughter Tatiana.
According to CNN Brazil, the suspect arrested on Sunday is the daughter-in-law of Zeri dos Anjos, 60, who made the cake. Police told CNN that the suspect had been at odds with his family for more than 20 years.
She is charged with three counts of attempted murder and three counts of murder.
Police said Dos Anjos is currently in the ICU with his 10-year-old great-nephew.
Police announced that large amounts of arsenic were detected in the bodies of the three women who died, and that expert analysis detected high concentrations of arsenic in urine and stomach samples.
“The arsenic levels in these samples are so high that they are considered toxic and deadly, which explains the cause of death,” said Marget of the Institute of General Expertise, a public safety agency that works with police. Director Mittman said at a press conference.
Victims with the lowest levels of arsenic in their bodies recorded 80 times the amount allowed in food, and those with the highest concentrations had 350 times the amount allowed. I did.
“These concentrations are so high that it is impossible to consider them as natural contamination,” Mittmann added.
Police also confirmed that a poisonous substance in the cake had been mixed into the flour used to prepare it, and ruled out the possibility of food poisoning.
They said analysis of the samples found that the highest amount of arsenic detected in the flour used to make the cake was 2,700 times the permissible value, and experts concluded that the flour was the source of the contamination. Ta.
