Forensic tests on the body of a man exhumed after his daughter-in-law was arrested for a Christmas cake triple murder have confirmed he had traces of arsenic in his body.
Retired bus driver Paulo Luiz, 68, died last September after eating contaminated bananas and his wife Zeli Dos Anjos, 61, was also taken ill but survived.
Their daughter-in-law Deise Moura, 42, is currently in custody after police held her in connection with three murders and three attempted murders last month involving family members.
Forensic experts exhumed Paulo’s body from the Sao Vincente cemetery near Porto Alegre in southern Brazil as part of the probe which they believe was fuelled by Moura’s long running feud with her in-laws.
Confirmation that arsenic was found in his body was leaked to Brazilian media overnight but further details are expected to be revealed at a press conference later on Friday.
Sources at the IGP, the Brazilian Institute for Forensic study, said traces of arsenic were found in his ‘heart, stomach and intestines’.
Paolo died in September after eating mashed bananas at his home at Arroio Do Sal near Porto Alegre. He died after vomiting, diarrhea and stomach bleeding, interpreted at the time as symptoms of food poisoning.
Family members suspected poisoning at the time but Zeli refused to believe it, insisting the banana tree the fruit came from must have been ‘contaminated’ following floods in the area last year.
Retired bus driver Paulo Luiz (pictured) mysteriously died in September from food poisoning after eating what police and family fear may have been a ‘poisoned banana’
Forensic experts exhumed Paulo’s body from the Sao Vincente cemetery near Porto Alegre in southern Brazil as part of the probe which they believe was fuelled by Moura’s long running feud with her in-laws
Zeli Anjos (pictured) baked the cake with its deadly ingredient as a festive treat for a party on December 23
Deise Moura was taken initially to a police station at Canoas, then to Torres police station and is now in the women’s jail in the city
But following the deaths of three members of the same family last month after eating a poisoned Christmas cake laced with arsenic, police decided to exhume Paolo’s body as part of the murder probe.
Officials at the IGP later confirmed the amount of arsenic in the cake was 350 times the amount needed to kill someone and traces of the lethal chemical were found in the blood and urine of the victims and survivors.
Paulo’s wife Zeli baked the fruit cake with the arsenic-laced flour as a festive treat for a party on December 23. Within minutes of eating the cake, Zeli, who ate two slices, became ill and began vomiting. She spent the next week in hospital fighting for her life.
Zeli’s sisters Neuza Dos Anjos, 65, and Maida da Silva, 58, both died after eating it along with Neuza’s daughter Tatiana Dos Santos, 43. Zeli’s 10-year-old great-nephew was also taken ill.
Detectives are investigating the relationship between Zeli and her daughter-in-law amid claims from relatives that the feuding pair had fallen out many years ago.
Police statements released in Brazil suggest that the women have never got on with Moura telling police during interviews that she referred to Zeli as ‘naja’ which is Portuguese for cobra.
But despite their fractious relationship, Moura has insisted she is ‘shocked’ at being a suspect for the killings and insists that she is innocent, according to her lawyer.
MailOnline revealed how Paulo died earlier last year when he and Zeli were rushed to hospital after eating mashed bananas.
Pictured: The Christmas cake that was consumed by guests on December 23
The mother of one had been arrested at her home in Nova Santa Rita late on Sunday
Neuza Denize Silva dos Anjo, 65, was rushed to hospital in critical condition before dying the following day
Several members of the family died after eating the cake
Paulo died without leaving a will and ‘with assets’ according to his death certificate.
In prosecution papers released to the Brazilian media, it has now been alleged that Moura had taken the bananas to the couple’s home as a ‘peace offering’ after not speaking to her in-laws for three and a half years in an ‘attempt at building bridges’.
A source told MailOnline: ‘After the bananas incident, Zeli’s sister Maida was suspicious and urged her to take the fruit to a lab for testing, but Zeli refused.
Police have told MailOnline Moura’s feud with her mother-in-law began in 2004 after Zeli withdraw money from her son Diego’s account without telling him and angering his wife.
A source said: ‘The money was eventually paid back but things and despite attempts at trying to patch things up over the years things didn’t really improve.
‘Deise and her husband would boycott family gatherings and his side of the family didn’t go to Deise’s graduation ceremony.
‘They would spend Christmas apart and block each other on the phone, the last time they met was four years ago when they tried to make a go of it but it didn’t work.’
The Christmas cake poisoning made headlines around the world after details emerged but it took a dramatic twist with Moura’s arrest last Sunday.
10 year old Matheus Marques da Silva who survived eating the poisoned cake with Father Leonir Alves at the hospital in Torres, Brazil
The woman was arrested for triple homicide and attempted homicide
Deise Moura (pictured) was held by police at the home she shares with husband
Brazilian police in Torres hold a press conference today to explain the arrest of Deise Moura
At a press conference police confirmed that forensic tests had revealed the presence of arsenic in the cake and it was traced to flour in Zeli’s kitchen at her seaside home in Arroio do Sal, near Torres.
Further investigations revealed how Moura had on several occasions searched on her phone and laptop the word ‘arsenic’ since November.
Moura appeared before a judge this week who confirmed she will remain in custody for at least 30 days during the investigation.
Her lawyer highlighted what he said were ‘inconsistencies’ in the case saying there was ‘nothing to explain why the poisoned flour was linked to the suspect’.
He added: ‘The findings are all very preliminary, questions still need to be answered, what is the link between the poison and Deise?
‘There is no explanation as to how the flour ended up in Zeli’s house, nor where or how it was acquired. These are minimal questions that need answering.
‘However, all we have instead, are reports from family members and alleged data extraction from her mobile phone.
‘Deise has made no secret that she didn’t get on with her mother-in-law and she has told police that but as yet I have not had full access to the investigation files.’
Police are also probing whether Moura was behind the September poisoning so she and Diego could inherit the family’s assets.
Public security secretary for the district told local media: ‘The body of Paulo will be exhumed by the end of the week at the latest. Tests will then be carried out and we should have those results back within ten days.’