A BAKER is believed to have made a toxic Christmas cake laced with arsenic that killed her sisters and niece.
Three are dead after family Christmas gathering of seven in Torres, Brazil, went wrong on December 23.
The dead husband of Zeli Terezinha Silva dos Anjos, 61, is set to be exhumed as cops investigate the holiday horror.
Zeli, who cooked the cake, is the only one of three sisters to survive what appears to be a poisoning.
Tests have now found arsenic in the blood of survivors and in one of the victims.
Her niece Tatiana Denize Silva dos Anjos, 43, and sister Maida Berenice Flores da Silva, 58, passed away the same day as they ate the gateau from cardiac arrest.
Meanwhile, Zeli’s other sister Neuza Denize Silva dos Anjo, 65, was rushed to hospital in critical condition before tragically dying from “shock after food poisoning” the following day.
The three were tragically buried over Christmas and Boxing Day.
Zeli herself and her 10-year-old son also ate a piece of the cake, fell ill and were hospitalised.
It is believed Zeli ate two cake slices and was the first one to be taken to hospital after becoming severely ill – where she remains in stable condition.
Cops are investigating the deaths and waiting for more test results to try and identify exactly what happened.
Her husband’s body is now set to be exhumed from the grave after he died in September from food poisoning.
Only one person did not eat the cake – a husband of one of the sisters.
Zeli is awake and has provided information to authorities about the time and place where the ingredients were purchased.
She has reportedly told police she bought some the ingredients on Monday before the gathering.
A police statement, as reported Brazilian news site globo.com, said: “We even have information that there was mayonnaise there that had expired a year ago.
“There were expired products in the residence.
“A bottle was found, a medicine, which should have had capsules inside it and there were no capsules – there was a white liquid and this white liquid will also be examined.”
According to shopkeeper Denise Teixeira Gomes, there were no disagreements in the family and preparing the food was a family habit during Christmas.
Cops are now questioning neighbours as they continue their probe.
Maida, Neuza and Zeli were sisters and Tatiana was Neuza’s daughter.
The Brazilian tragedy is similar to a poisoned beef wellington cooked by Australian Erin Patterson in rural Victoria.
The Gippsland woman was known to have picked wild mushrooms.
Erin’s meal killed three with the 49-year-old set to face a murder trial after pleading not guilty to all charges.
