A jealous ex-girlfriend has been arrested for poisoning her former partner and his new fiancee with a ‘tampered box of chocolates’ just days before they were due to be married in Brazil.
Dione Quirino, 35, and Amanda Cassia Lopes, 27, received delivery of chocolates at home in Jaiba in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais on Thursday, September 23 ahead of their weekend wedding.
The couple tucked into the chocolates, assuming they were simply an early wedding gift, but quickly discovered they had ingested some kind of poison.  Â
According to news site G1, a total of five people – the bride and groom-to-be, two other adults and one two-year-old – were poisoned by the chocolates and were hospitalised after.
The family dog was also given a sweet or two as a treat and the pet died as a result.
A woman, whose name was not disclosed due to the ongoing investigation, was arrested a day after the alleged poisoning incident on Friday. She was later identified by the police as the ex-girlfriend of the groom-to-be.
The police said that a taxi driver delivered the gift, consisting of chocolates and some glasses, that was addressed to the bride. Believing it was a wedding gift, the group tucked into the chocolates and also gave a few of the treats to a two-year-old and the family dog.
According to reports, the dog was the first to fall sick, and the pet later died from the unidentified poison, while all five people were taken to the hospital after experiencing severe sickness.
After interviewing the victims and other family members, the police identified the groom’s ex-partner as the main suspect.
According to their statements, the woman was never able to accept the end of the relationship or that her ex had found happiness with someone else.
A police statement said that authorities are reviewing a wealth of information including CCTV footage and camera phone footage, and are conducting analyses of the chocolates, the victims’ stool samples and the contents of the deceased dog’s digestive tract to determine the cause of its death.