Brazilian woman faces charges after deadly holiday poisoning

Brazilian police from the city of Torres in the state of Rio Grande do Sul are investigating a woman accused of attempting to poison her mother-in-law and family members with arsenic. According to "Diario Gaucho," the woman is also suspected of killing her father-in-law and making two unsuccessful attempts to poison her husband.

The investigation began after the 42-year-old woman’s husband reported numerous cases of poisoning in the family since September. Arsenic was found in the urine of the husband and their 10-year-old son. The woman was arrested on January 5th after the prosecutor accused her of poisoning the family with a Christmas cake.

After eating the cake, three people died, and three others suffered severe poisoning. Police confirmed the presence of arsenic in the poisoned individuals and the cake remnants. Arsenic was also found in the flour that the daughter-in-law allegedly added to the cake prepared by her mother-in-law.

Deise M. will also face charges for the death of her father-in-law, who died in September after being poisoned with fruit juice. Exhumation confirmed that the cause of death was arsenic poisoning. The husband recounted incidents of food poisoning after consuming meals prepared by his wife.

He also described the unexpected poisoning of his 10-year-old son in December, who mistakenly drank fruit juice from a cup intended for his father. The man was taken aback by his wife's reaction, who, immediately after the supposedly harmless mistake, performed a gastric lavage on the child.

One of the police hypotheses suggests that the main targets of the poisoner were her husband and mother-in-law, with whom she was in conflict. Another scenario suggests that the poisonings were intended to eliminate competitors for the inheritance. Deise M. frequently searched online for information on poisons and purchased arsenic through the web.