A second murder investigation has been launched in Brazil within a week, where rat poison was found in a New Year's Day meal, killing three members of the same family and leaving six more in hospital.
The rat-poisoned rice has so far claimed the lives of one-year-old Igno Davi da Silva, three-year-old Luana da Silva, and his uncle Manuel, 18.
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The mother of the two children who died, Francisca Maria, remains in intensive care with her other four-year-old child in the state of Piaui, northeastern Brazil.
Local media Fantastico reported overnight that tests had ruled out the presence of poison in the donated fish eaten by the family.
But it was revealed that the leftover rice they consumed contained a deadly insecticide used to kill rats and other rodents.
Police Commander Abimael Silva told the programme: “Someone put the substance in the rice on the first day.
He added: “We realize that there was an intention to put this substance in their food, and we will launch a homicide investigation, and rule out natural or accidental death.”
Police sources said they did not rule out the possibility that a relative was responsible.
Maria dos Aveltos da Silva, the mother of the deceased 18-year-old Manuel, said she believed someone with criminal intent broke into the family home before deliberately poisoning the meal.
This is the second food poisoning to affect the same family in the past year.
Francisca Maria lost two older children within just two months last year – eight-year-old Ulises Gabriel da Silva and his seven-year-old brother João Miguel da Silva.
Her neighbor Lucilia Maria da Conceicao Silva, 52, was accused of giving the children nuts coated with pesticides after allegedly taking the fruit from a tree in her backyard.
She has been charged with double murder and is believed to be in prison as part of pre-trial detention arrangements.
Investigators are not linking last year's crimes to the current criminal investigation at this point.
News of the latest development in the case came as investigators in Torres revealed a woman was in custody on suspicion of triple murder and attempted murder after the horrific birthday cake poisoning there.
Officers did not give her an official name, but she was widely identified in the local press as Diez Moura, the daughter-in-law of Zeli dos Anjos who made this traditional festive dessert.
Mora allegedly prepared the deadly Christmas cookies at Zelie's home before bringing them to a family gathering in Torres, Rio Grande do Sul state, on December 23.
The poisoned cake claimed the lives of my sisters Zélie Maida, 58, and Nyuza, 65, in addition to Nyuza's daughter, Tatiana, 43.
The three Christmas poisoning victims died of cardiac arrest shortly after eating the sweets.
Tatiana Matthews' 10-year-old nephew, Zelie, was also transferred to intensive care and was not released from hospital until last Friday.
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Zilly, who ate two slices of cake, remains in hospital but is now stable and is expected to be questioned by cops soon.
Maeda's husband, Jefferson, was the other relative hospitalized with Zelie, who ate two slices of cake and was reportedly exposed to more of the arsenic it contained.
Local police chief Marcos Vinicius Muniz Veloso refused to confirm the identity of the detained woman.
But he said the suspect had disrupted a “harmonious” family dynamic and had “strong evidence” linking her to the crime.
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