Baker, 61, made toxic ‘arsenic laced’ Christmas cake that killed her sisters & niece as cops to dig up husband’s corpse
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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.
![[Sisters Zeli (left), Maida (centre), and Neuza (right), all ate the Christmas cake]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/42c478a2-ece5-4784-97dd-3919b64bdb3b.jpg?strip=all&w=563)
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.
![[Zeli Terezinha Silva dos Anjos is believed to have baked the cake that poisoned the family]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2b686819-a81f-4053-86bc-d8dfff2c8f6b.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
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.
![[Tests found arsenic in the blood of those who ate the Christmas cake]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/three-family-members-unwell-eating-960084738_682347.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
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.
![[The only sister to survive was Zeli (centre)]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/zeli-dos-anjos-taken-without-960199954.jpg?strip=all&w=570)
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.
![[Police are now investigating the deaths]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/72dfbe89-35e9-4a76-b911-105312a2ad35_f4dbac.jpg?strip=all&w=561)
