Terezinha Silva dos Anjos, of Torres in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, laced the cake she baked with arsenic, and three women died after eating the cake at a family gathering.
A 61-year-old woman in Brazil killed three by putting arsenic in a cake which she made for Christmas. Terezinha Silva dos Anjos, from Torres in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, added arsenic to the cake she prepared and three women-43-year-old Tatiana Denize Silva dos Anjos, 58-year-old Maida Berenice Flores da Silva and 65-year-old Neuza Denize Silva dos Anjos died after eating the cake in a family get-together.
The woman who baked the cake, along with a 10-year-old girl who also ate it, remain in hospital. Police said that autopsy results revealed that all three victims had arsenic in their bodies. The woman’s husband also died in September this year from arsenic poisoning, which has prompted the police to investigate whether his death was linked to this incident. Police initially believed that he died of foodborne illness.
According to Brazilian broadcasters, police added that the only person suspected of consuming two pieces of the same cake was the woman who baked it, whose tests yielded the highest levels of arsenic. The police chief, Marcos Vinicius Veloso, said that some of the family members complained that the cake tasted “peppery.”
Arsenic is a metallic element that is highly toxic in its inorganic form and is classified by the EU as a category one carcinogen. According to the World Health Organization, people can be exposed to higher levels of inorganic arsenic through drinking contaminated water or using it in food preparation, crop irrigation, industrial processes, and smoking.
