Second food poisoning tragedy to hit Brazil in a week becomes murder investigation as rat poison found in New Year’s meal that killed three – after Christmas cake killed three in separate case

A murder investigation has been launched in Brazil after tests showed a New Year’s meal left a young uncle dead and his nephew and niece laced with rat poison – just days after a poisoned Christmas cake killed three members of another family.

One-year-old Igno Davi da Silva lost his fight for life on Thursday, a day after his 18-year-old uncle Manoel died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital after eating the fish dinner on January 1.

Tragically, a third victim, Igno’s three-year-old sister Lauane, died in the early hours of this morning, according to local media reports.

The toddlers’ mother, Francisca Maria, and another of her children, aged four, remain in hospital in Parnaiba in the northeastern Brazilian state of Piaui.

Tests had ruled out the presence of poison in donated fish the family had eaten, but had shown that leftover rice they had consumed contained a pesticide used to kill rats and other rodents, according to Brazilian weekly news program Fantastico.

Police chief Abimael Silva told the program: “Someone put the substance in the rice on the first day.

“We understand that the intention was to put this substance in their food and we will be launching a murder investigation to rule out natural or accidental death.”

Police sources said they have not ruled out the possibility that a family member is responsible.

However, Maria dos Aflitos da Silva, the mother of the tragic Manoel and the grandmother of the two young people still in hospital, said she believed that someone with criminal intent broke into the family home and deliberately poisoned the food that was eaten.

Three-year-old Lauane da Silva died in the early hours of Monday in a hospital in Teresina, Brazil

Manoel da Silva, 18, died in an ambulance on the way to hospital after eating fish dinner on January 1

Police reportedly said tests showed leftover rice the family had consumed contained a pesticide used to kill rats and other rodents

Police in Brazil are investigating a new case of food poisoning in the family, which has killed two members of another family

Worryingly, the latest food poisoning tragedy is the second involving the family, with Francisca Maria losing two older children in just two months last year.

Ulisses Gabriel da Silva, eight years old, died in November after almost three months in hospital. His brother Joao Miguel da Silva, seven, had died on September 12.

A neighbor named Lucelia Maria da Conceicao Silva, 52, was accused of giving them nuts laced with insecticide because she had allegedly picked fruit from a tree in her backyard and charged with double murder. She is currently believed to be in jail as part of her pre-trial detention.

Detectives are not connecting last year’s crimes to the current criminal investigation at this stage.

News of the latest twist in the case came as detectives almost 4,000 kilometers south of the city of Torres revealed that a woman had been detained on suspicion of triple murder and attempted murder following a horror alleged Christmas cake poisoning there.

Officers have not officially named her, but she is widely identified in local press as Deise Moura, the daughter-in-law of Zeli dos Anjos who made the traditional festive treat.

Zeli’s two sisters died, as did her niece, and the 61-year-old remains in hospital fighting for her life. Her 10-year-old grandnephew was also treated at the hospital.

Deise Moura was arrested yesterday and detained by police at the home she shares with her husband Diego in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Ulisses Gabriel da Silva, eight, lost his fight for life in November after almost three months in hospital. His brother Joao Miguel da Silva, seven, (above) had died on September 12

Her mother-in-law Zeli Dos Anjos made the traditional festive treat that killed three members of her family during a Christmas celebration on December 23 in Torres near Porto Alegre in southern Brazil.

Mother-of-one Zeli is still in hospital fighting for her life, while her two sisters Maida da Silva, 58, and Neuza Dos Anjos, 65, both died along with Neuza’s daughter Tatiana Dos Santos, 43.

They lost their lives within hours of eating the cake, and traces of deadly arsenic were found in their bodies, authorities later revealed.

The arrest is said to have been sanctioned by police chiefs after tests on the cake confirmed ‘high levels’ of arsenic.

Brazil’s Ministry of Justice today confirmed to MailOnline that an arrest warrant has been issued for Deise ‘on suspicion of committing a triple murder, with a futile motive and the use of poison, and three counts of attempted murder, with double aggravation. ‘

The ministry’s statement added that “the suspect will have a custody hearing on Monday afternoon.”