The mother-in-law of the alleged ‘Christmas cake killer’ has described the horrific scenes as her family began to die around her from arsenic poisoning.
Zeli dos Anjos broke down in tears in a TV interview about the December 23 poisonings, days after alleged mastermind Deise Moura dos Anjos died in prison.
Deise, who was facing three murder and three attempted murder charges, hanged herself in her prison cell with a T-shirt protesting her innocence last week.
Zeli, in her first interview since the story made global headlines, condemned her daughter-in-law’s actions as she relived the horrific experience.
‘It all happened very quickly, almost immediately,’ she recalled. ‘One went to the bathroom, another to vomit.’
She explained: ‘I have no pity, no anger, no hatred, I don’t know what kind of feeling. But when I think that she took away the four most important people in my life…’
‘I knew she was evil, that that she did wicked things, but I never thought it would reach such a level.’
Deise Moura was found lifeless in her cell at a women’s prison in Guaiba on the outskirts of the southern city of Porto Alegre
Zeli dos Anjos (pictured) prepared the traditional ‘Bolo de Natal’ festive treat for a family afternoon coffee on December 23 before she and six relatives, including her two sisters, fell ill
Pictured: The Christmas cake that was consumed by guests on December 23
Zeli told Brazilian TV news programme Fantastico: ‘I’m just taking one day at a time at the moment, knowing my family need me. I never make plans.’
The 61-year-old spent 19 days in hospital after she and the other victims took several bites from a cake believed to have been contaminated with arsenic-laced flour last year.
Her teacher sister Maida Bernice Flores da Silva, 58, sibling Neuza Denize Silva Dos Anjos, 65 and Neuza’s daughter Tatiana Silvia Dos Santos, 43, died within hours of eating the cake.
Tatiana’s 10-year-old son Matheus, Zeli’s great nephew, was also taken into intensive care and spent several days in hospital. Maida’s husband Jefferson needed hospital treatment too.
Zeli was also hospitalised last year after drinking coffee made with powdered milk Deise gave them in another suspected poisoning attempt.
She admitted she should have got tested at the time.
She said: ‘Several people spoke to me back then and told me, “Do the tests, do the tests’ but I just thought it was impossible.”‘
Police have been investigating if Deise also killed Zeli’s husband, Paulo Luis dos Anjos, who died last September after consuming powdered milk she had taken him.
The retired bus driver’s body had been exhumed last month at a cemetery near the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre where he had been buried as part of the probe and subsequent tests showed he had arsenic in his body.
Pictured left to right: Diego dos Anjos and his wife Deise Moura, their son, and Diego’s parents Zeli and Paulo Dos Anjos
Neuza Denize Silva dos Anjo, 65, pictured left, was rushed to hospital in critical condition before dying the following day. Maida Berenice Flores da Silva, 58, pictured right, also died
Neuza’s daughter Tatiana Silvia Dos Santos, 43, died within hours of eating the cake
Deise was protesting her innocence but police branded her an alleged ‘serial killer’ after her arrest.
The suspect was found lifeless in her cell at a women’s prison in Guaiba on the outskirts of the southern city of Porto Alegre on February 13.
Police chiefs said they were treating the death as a suicide.
Deise had reportedly scrawled ‘I’m not a killer’ on a T-shirt and used it to hang herself in her prison cell.
It was reported that her husband Diego had asked her for a divorce 24 hours before she ended her life.
Fernando Sodre, head of the Rio Grande do Sul state police which is leading a probe into Deise’s death, said after she was found dead: ‘She was in a cell on her own because she was a remand prisoner and to avoid any type of risk from other inmates.
‘She appears to have hanged herself during the night or in the early hours of the morning and she was discovered dead during the morning roll call.’
Asked whether the triple murder suspect had left a suicide note, Mr Sodre told a Brazilian TV programme during an interview: ‘She left a note which we’re still working out the details of at the scene of her death.
‘It was like an outburst, saying she was innocent, saying she was someone who was suffering, who was depressed.’
10 year old Matheus Marques da Silva who survived eating the poisoned cake with Father Leonir Alves at the hospital in Torres, Brazil
Pictures later emerged showing she had scrolled ‘Nao sou assassina’ – English for ‘I’m not a killer’ on her T-shirt.
Deise had been remanded to another prison on January 6 before being moved to the lock-up where she died a week earlier.
Brazilian detectives had said they were confident she would ‘probably not leave prison in her lifetime’ with the evidence they had so far which they described as ‘robust.’
They had linked the poisonings to Deise’s bad relationship with her mother-in-law.
Deise’s lawyer Cassyus Pontes, speaking shortly after her arrest following then-unconfirmed reports the evidence against her included records of online searches for arsenic she allegedly made from her phone, had 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.
Moura was arrested for triple homicide and attempted homicide
‘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.’
Confirming Deise’s death in a statement last Thursday, regional police said: ‘We can confirm that during the morning roll call at the Guaíba State Women’s Penitentiary, inmate Deise Moura dos Anjos was found without vital signs.
‘The staff immediately gave her first aid and called the Emergency Medical Assistance Service, which, on arriving at the scene, confirmed her death.
‘Deise was alone in her cell. The circumstances will be investigated by the Civil Police and the General Forensics Institute.’
