A woman accused of murder through a poisoned Christmas cake has spoken out for the first time. Three women died in Brazil after eating a traditional homemade 'Bolo de Natal' Christmas cake prepared by 61-year-old Zeli Terezinha Silva dos Anjos as they celebrated the festive season together.

Francisco de Assis Pereira da Costa has been arrested on suspicion of murder after four victims died from eating rice and beans laced with rat poison on New Year's Day

A woman in Brazil fed her family an arsenic-laced Christmas cake, killing three female relatives and hospitalizing three others, cops say.

In Porto Alegre, Brazil, a woman suspected of murdering three relatives and attempting to kill three more people has been arrested. Deise Moura allegedly added arsenic to a Christmas cake. She was detained at her home in Rio Grande do Sul.

Deise Moura dos Anjos released a statement via her lawyers stating there was a "causal link between the poison and Deise" but questioning how arsenic ended up at her home in Brazil

An arrest has been made in the case of a family in Brazil who were poisoned on Christmas Eve after eating a cake containing arsenic.

Three women died and three other relatives fell ill after eating the cake during a family get-together on December 23, officials said.

Brazilian Police have arrested a woman in connection with the Christmas cake poisoning that led to the death of three people.