Police in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul are investigating a series of deaths related to food poisoning after arsenic was found in the blood of several victims.
The law enforcement officials revealed that three family members gathered with others for afternoon tea in the city of Torres died after eating a cake, according to a report from Brazilian news outlet G1.
Maida Berenice Flores da Silva, 58, and Tatiana Denize Silva dos Santos, 43, passed away after eating the toxic cake, while a third, Neuza Denize Silva dos Anjos, also perished.
“One of the patients arrived at the hospital already in cardiorespiratory arrest, evolving to death shortly thereafter,” the Nossa Senhora dos Navegantes de Torres Hospital said in a statement, per a translation from Portuguese.
“A second patient arrived in a serious condition, rapidly evolving to cardiorespiratory arrest, and death was confirmed,” the translated statement added.
The woman who made the cake was the only one who ate two slices, according to another report from G1.
She was hospitalized. Three other family members were also hospitalized and one was already discharged, while another family member did not have any cake.
The arsenic poisoning incident, however, did not occur in isolation.
The ex-husband of the woman who made the cake died in September after an incident of food poisoning, which police did not investigate at the time because they presumed the death was natural.
But now they have opened an inquiry into that death.
“As we became aware of this fact today, we opened a police investigation and we are going to exhume this man’s body to check whether there was also poisoning,” police delegate Marcos Vinícius Veloso revealed in a statement, per G1.
Veloso confirmed that arsenic was found in the bodies of two survivors and one of the victims who consumed the toxic cake.
Arsenic is a naturally occurring and semimetallic element present in the planet’s crust, according to a webpage from the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
The substance cannot be tasted or smelled. The U.S. FDA monitors inorganic arsenic levels in certain foods likely to be consumed by young children, such as apple juice and infant rice cereal.
At least here in the United States, this woman would be considered innocent until proven guilty.
The woman may not have intended to poison or kill her family members in this Christmastime incident, but there is already a considerable amount of evidence accumulating against her, especially given the death of her ex-husband only a few months ago.
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