A POWER cut could be to blame for the deaths of three family members who were killed after eating Christmas cake, police fear.
Zeli dos Anjos, 61, prepared the traditional ‘Bolo de Natal’ festive treat for a family meal on December 23 in the southern Brazilian city of Torres.
She was one of six family members including a 10-year-old child who ended up in hospital with food poisoning.
Her sisters Maida, 58, Neuza, 65, and Neuza’s daughter Tatiana, 43, all died shortly after eating the cake.
Traces of the toxic metal arsenic were found in the victims’ bodies – but further tests are ongoing.
Torres-based police chief Marcos Vinicius Veloso said detectives are probing whether bacteria-ridden currants and other spoiled foods used as a cake topping after a power-cut could be linked to the fatal poisonings.
Zeli, who has spoken briefly to cops from her hospital bed, is said to have prepared the Christmas cake at a house in the beach resort of Arroio do Sal a 35-minute drive south of Torres.
She used the house as a holiday home but had not visited for a while because she had been living at her main home in Canoas a two-hour drive inland.
Mr Veloso said: “Zeli had spent some time away from her place in Arroio do Sal and when she returned to it she found the fridge off because from the inquiries we’ve been able to make, it appears there’d been some sort of power cut there.
“When she went into the property there was an unbearable smell.
“Some of the things in the fridge, perishable foods like meat, were thrown away.
“But other items were re-used.
“What we’re trying to confirm is that some of those items, like currants and other crystallised fruit, could have been used in the cake a month later.”
The family ate the suspect cake in an apartment in Torres where her sister Maida lived with her husband.
They noticed it tasted “strange” but carried on eating.
Maida, a teacher, was the first to die.
Her husband Jefferson, who also ate the cake, needed medical treatment but his symptoms were described as “minor.”
He has told Brazilian media no one in the family thinks Zeli had any intention of harming her relatives.
She is expected to be questioned again once she leaves hospital.
Her current condition in hospital has been described as “stable.”
Mr Veloso added: “With the evidence we have collected, we do not know whether the poisoning was negligent or intentional.
“So far, I have not been able to find any intentional conduct. However, other evidence that comes to light may contradict what I think now.
“This is an investigation that requires great caution.”
In the wake of the Christmas horror, it emerged Zeli’s husband had died from suspected food poisoning in September.
Police did not deem his death as suspicious at the time, but detectives have confirmed Paulo Luiz’s body will be exhumed so a proper post-mortem can take place.
It echoes the poisoned mushroom case in Australia that killed three last year.
Mum Erin Patterson served up a beef wellington that left her former parents-in-law Don, 70, and Gail Patterson, 70, as well as Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, dead.
The 49-year-old is set to face a murder trial after pleading not guilty to all charges.
ARSENIC is a natural component of the earth's crust - but can be highly toxic.
It can be found in its pure form as a steel-grey metal, or as a compound with other elements.
Arsenic is used in a number of industries, including in electronics, alloys, glass and ceramics.
It is also used to kill weeds and pests and in some cancer therapy.
But it can become harmful to humans, with symptoms of immediate arsenic poisoning including abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
More severe symptoms can be caused by long-term exposure.
Arsenic can also be lethal – and can kill within one to four days of ingestion.
