The husband of the Brazilian woman accused of killing three relatives with a poisoned Christmas cake had told her he wanted a divorce 24 hours before she was found dead in her prison cell, it emerged today.
Deise Moura dos Anjos’ partner Diego is said to have sent a lawyer to the jail in Guaiba near the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre to tell her yesterday he wanted out of their marriage.
The 42-year-old suffered ‘behavioural changes’ after being given the news, according to local media reports. She was found dead this morning during roll call.
Police also confirmed Deise, whose death is being treated as a suicide, left a note in her cell claiming she was innocent of the horror crimes she was accused of and admitting to being depressed before hanging herself.
Deise was remanded in prison on January 6 on suspicion of three murders and three attempted murders.
Her mother-in-law Zeli dos Anjos had baked the cake eaten by several relatives late on December 23 and later found to have been contaminated with arsenic-laced flour. Zeli, 61, was hospitalised but survived.
Her teacher sister Maida Bernice Flores da Silva, 58, another sibling called Neuza Denize Silva Dos Anjos, 65 and Neuza’s daughter Tatiana Silvia Dos Santos, 43, died within hours of eating the cake late on December 23.
Tatiana’s 10-year-old son Matheus, Zeli’s great nephew, was also taken into intensive care and spent several days in hospital. Maida’s husband Jefferson needed hospital treatment too.
Pictured left to right: Diego dos Anjos and his wife Deise Moura, their son, and Diego’s parents Zeli and Paulo Dos Anjos
Pictured: The Christmas cake that was consumed by guests on December 23
Deise Moura was found lifeless in her cell at a women’s prison in Guaiba on the outskirts of the southern city of Porto Alegre
Deise was protesting her innocence but police branded her an alleged ‘serial killer’ after her arrest.
Fernando Sodre, head of the Rio Grande do Sul state police which is leading a probe into Deise’s death, said: ‘She was in a cell on her own because she was a remand prisoner and to avoid any type of risk from other inmates.
‘She appears to have turned a T-shirt she wore in prison into a rope she used to hang herself during the night or in the early hours of the morning and she was discovered dead during the morning roll call.’
He said he was unable to comment on the divorce reports because investigators had not had time to probe all the circumstances surrounding Deise’s death properly.
Asked whether the triple murder suspect had left a suicide note, Mr Sodre told a Brazilian TV programme during an interview: ‘She left a note which we’re still working out the details of at the scene of her death.
‘It was like an outburst, saying she was innocent, saying she was someone who was suffering, who was depressed.’
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Isabel Moraes, whose brother Jefferson was married to Maida, spoke of the family’s shock.
She said: ‘We are astonished by the news. We have only just heard. How can this happen? Someone should have been watching her and it’s just reliving the tragedy of what happened to my brother and the rest of the family all over again.
‘She may have avoided justice now but hopefully in the next life she is being punished for all the evil and misery she caused us.
Neuza Denize Silva dos Anjo, 65, pictured left, was rushed to hospital in critical condition before dying the following day. Maida Berenice Flores da Silva, 58, pictured right, also died
Neuza’s daughter Tatiana Silvia Dos Santos, 43, died within hours of eating the cake
Zeli dos Anjos (pictured) prepared the traditional ‘Bolo de Natal’ festive treat for a family afternoon coffee on December 23 before she and six relatives, including her two sisters, fell ill
‘What really hurts everyone is that her son will grow up without a mother but if this is the type of woman she was then maybe it’s for the better.’
Police and prison authorities will now carry out separate investigations into Deise’s jail cell death.
Police in Torres in southern Brazil where the three poison victims died said at a press conference after her detention the evidence they had against her was ‘robust’.
Forensic experts confirmed after Deise’s arrest the cause of the deaths of victims was arsenic poisoning and said the source of the contamination was flour found in Zeli’s house in Arroio do Sol near Torres.
Margaret Mittman, Director of the Rio Grande do Sul General Forensic Institute which covers Torres, said: ‘The source of that arsenic poisoning was the cake eaten by the victims and the source of the contamination of the cake was the flour found in Zeli’s house in Arroio do Sol.’
She revealed tests on the victims’ urine and blood samples as well as the contents of their stomachs had revealed ‘fatal levels’ of arsenic up to 350 times higher than those which would be regarded as ‘naturally-occurring.’
She added: ‘Extremely high levels of arsenic were found in the tests done on the three people who died. They were such high levels they were considered toxic and lethal.’
Deise was facing three murder charges and three attempted murder charges.
![Brazilian detectives previously said: 'The evidence collected so far convinces us that the suspect [Moura] [is] the author of these crimes [and] will probably not leave prison in her lifetime' (pictured is Deise Moura)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/02/13/18/93764599-14395059-Brazilian_detectives_previously_said_The_evidence_collected_so_f-m-5_1739472412977.jpg)
Brazilian detectives previously said: ‘The evidence collected so far convinces us that the suspect [Moura] [is] the author of these crimes [and] will probably not leave prison in her lifetime’ (pictured is Deise Moura)
Moura was arrested for triple homicide and attempted homicide
Before Deise’s death this morning, Brazilian detectives had said they were confident she would ‘probably not leave prison in her lifetime’ with the evidence they had so far.
Deise’s lawyer Cassyus Pontes, speaking shortly after her arrest after then-unconfirmed reports the evidence against her included records of online searches for arsenic she allegedly made from her phone, had said: ‘Everything’s all very preliminary.
‘There are still questions to be answered. What is the causal link between the poison and Deise?
‘There is no explanation of how the flour ended up in Zeli’s house, or where or how it was acquired.
‘These are minimal questions to indicate the authorship of the facts. Instead, all we have are the accounts of some family members and a supposed extraction of data from a mobile phone.’
Confirming Deise’s death in a statement today, regional police said: ‘We can confirm that during the morning roll call at the Guaíba State Women’s Penitentiary, inmate Deise Moura dos Anjos was found without vital signs.
‘The staff immediately gave her first aid and called the Emergency Medical Assistance Service, which, on arriving at the scene, confirmed her death.
‘Deise was alone in her cell. The circumstances will be investigated by the Civil Police and the General Forensics Institute.’
10 year old Matheus Marques da Silva who survived eating the poisoned cake with Father Leonir Alves at the hospital in Torres, Brazil
Police were also probing whether Deise killed her father-in-law Paulo Luis dos Anjos (pictured), who died last September after eating bananas mixed with powdered milk she had taken him
After the shocking deaths after the arsenic findings, the police ordered for Mr Dos Anjo’s body to be exhumed and forensic experts confirmed that high levels of arsenic were found in his ‘stomach, nails, bladder and abdominal wall as well as the liver’
Police chief Mr Sodre said the poisoning investigation would continue despite Deise’s death, even though she can never be brought to justice following her prison suicide, and indicated he expected detectives would wrap up their probe by the end of next week.
Fellow police chief Marcus Vinicius Muniz Veloso spoke after her arrest to describe Deise as the only person who had upset the ‘harmonious’ family relationship that existed between the poison victims.
He said: ‘The family relationship was harmonious but there were disagreements caused by only one person and that person was investigated and we were able to build up evidence pointing to her committing three murders and three attempted murders.
‘I can tell you those differences I’m talking about date back 20 years. They were very minor. The family told us about those disagreements.’
Police were also probing whether Deise killed her father-in-law Paulo Luis dos Anjos, who died last September after eating bananas mixed with powdered milk she had taken him.
Forensic tests on Deise’s father-in-law in January after he was exhumed confirmed he had traces of arsenic inside his body.
Forensic experts had exhumed Paulo’s body from the Sao Vincente cemetery near Porto Alegre as part of the probe which they believe was fuelled by Moura’s long running feud with her in-laws.
Family members suspected poisoning at the time but his wife refused to believe it, insisting the banana tree the fruit came from must have been contaminated following floods in the area.
The exhumation went ahead after investigators probing the Christmas cake deaths found the treat had been laced with arsenic.
