Laughing together before ‘Christmas cake plot’ tore family apart: Chilling photo shows woman next to mother-in-law years before she ‘tried to kill her elderly relative with arsenic-laced flour’ in poisoning that left three dead

This particular photo shows a smiling woman next to the mother-in-law she allegedly tried to kill by putting arsenic in the flour used to bake a Christmas cake.

Deise Moura is pictured next to her now seriously ill mother-in-law Zeli Dos Anjos – and in front of a Christmas cake identical to the one that killed three members of the family.

Detectives in Brazil believe Deise used her computer to research the deadly effects of arsenic before sneaking into Zeli’s home and lacing her flower with the deadly poison – knowing she would use it to bake a cake, as she did every Christmas .

Zeli, 61, then unknowingly used the poisoned flour to bake the fruit cake with icing and sugar, which she then served to her family during the festive gathering on December 23 at a property in Torres in southern Brazil, police suspect.

Shortly after eating the cake, Zeli’s sisters Maida Flores da Silva, 58, and Neuza Dos Anjos, 65, fell ill and soon died along with Neuza’s daughter Tatiana Dos Santos, 43.

Zeli herself, who is believed to have eaten two slices, also became seriously ill and was rushed to hospital, where she spent two weeks in intensive care.

Zeli’s 10-year-old second cousin Matheus – Tatiana’s son Matheus – was also taken to hospital and only released on Friday, while Maida’s husband Jefferson also received medical treatment.

Neuza’s husband Joao did not eat cake and was not bothered by it.

Accountant Moura is being held on suspicion of triple murder and triple attempted murder after tests showed the flour used to make the cake had been laced with deadly arsenic by the mother of one.

The remarkable 2021 photo obtained by MailOnline shows Moura and her husband Diego with their son and Diego’s mother Zeli and her late husband Paolo Luis, who died in September of suspected food poisoning but whose death is now being re-investigated as part of the research.

On the table in front of the group is clearly a white seasonal cake with ice cream, which enthusiastic baker Zeli made every Christmas.

Police arrested Moura late on Sunday after being tipped off that tension had been simmering between her and her in-laws for twenty years.

Investigators said searches on her phone and computer would show she had Googled the word “arsenic” numerous times since November, and that they had evidence she had purchased the poison.

Zeli – who was released from intensive care on Monday – baked the cake for a pre-Christmas party on December 23 that Moura knew would take place at a relative’s home in Torres, near Porte Alegre, in southern Brazil.

But within hours of being tucked in, Maida, Neuza and Tatiana Silvia Dos Santos were all dead.

Just days ago, MailOnline exclusively revealed that Zeli’s late husband Paulo, 68, died after eating a banana, and officials will exhume his body on Thursday as part of their investigation.

It was at Paulo and Zeli’s seaside house in Arroio do Sal, 40 kilometers from Torres, that Zeli made the cake.

Zeli then brought it to Maida’s apartment for the party, and during a later search of her beach house, police allegedly seized ingredients, including the contaminated flour.

Researchers said the cake was laced with “extremely high concentrations” of the chemical that were too high to be naturally occurring and deadly.

Sources close to the case told MailOnline police began looking into Moura after an argument at funerals for the victims last month.

It is said that Deise placed a ‘set of rosary beads and a rose’ in the hands of the Maida and Tatiana as they lay in their coffins in the cemetery.

It prompted an extraordinary outburst from an irate family member, who, according to a source, told MailOnline: ‘Why are you here? You didn’t like any of them. Everyone knows.’

The source added, “Diego and Deise have been keeping separate from the rest of the family for the past few months. They didn’t really participate much. There was tension.’

Police said the “disagreements” between the suspect and Zeli dated back nearly two decades, but they declined to explain what exactly Janthey meant, other than to say that “further elements would be released in due course.”

They also confirmed that they planned to exhume the body of Zeli’s husband Paulo, who died of “food poisoning” last September, to determine whether there were traces of arsenic in his body.

Investigating officer Marcus Vinicius Veloso said: “We have the evidence, very strong and robust evidence that this person was behind this crime, and we have the reasons, but we cannot go into details yet.”

According to Marguet Mittman, director of the General Institute of Expertise (IGP), the source of the contamination was the flour used to make the cake consumed by the victims.

She told the press conference: ‘Very high concentrations of arsenic were found in the three victims. So high that they are poisonous and deadly.

‘To give you an idea: 35 micrograms is enough to cause death. In one of the victims the concentration was 350 times higher.’

She added that 89 samples had been collected from the home of the woman who made the cake, and only the sample, from flour, showed high arsenic concentrations.

A source told MailOnline: ‘The word ‘arsenic’ appeared several times in the search engine’s history and Denise was looking from November.’

Arsenic is a banned substance in Brazil.

Meanwhile, in another dramatic twist, MailOnline has discovered Paulo’s death certificate from last September, which confirms he died of an ‘intestinal infection’, as well as blood poisoning, high blood pressure and cardiac arrhythmia.

Intriguingly, it adds that he was a ‘retired bus driver who left behind assets but had no will’. There is no indication of how much he left behind, but he and Zeli owned a house in Canoas and a beach condo in Arroio do Sal.

As in Britain, when a person dies without a will, an executor is appointed, usually the nearest living relative, and the assets are then distributed equally among the heirs.

The division of assets depends on the circumstances of the deceased’s family, such as whether they had a spouse and children. If so, it will be split 50/50.

A source said: ‘There was always a simmering tension between Zeli and her daughter-in-law and this increased after Paolo’s death and especially when it became known that he had left no will.’

Investigative sources confirmed that Paulo’s body would be exhumed next Thursday for further analysis as none was taken after doctors at Torres Hospital ruled he had died of food poisoning.

Relatives have told MailOnline that he and Zeli suddenly fell ill after eating some mashed bananas grown from a plant in their garden, which may have become contaminated after floods swept through the region in May.

Zeli was also taken to hospital but recovered while Paulo died within hours of admission.

The group of seven at the party complained that the contaminated cake they baked tasted “bitter and peppery.” Within minutes they were all vomiting and a fleet of ambulances was called to take them to hospital.

Maida, a retired teacher, was the first to die on Christmas Eve, while Neuza died a few hours later, followed by her daughter Tatiana.