Female contract killer tested toxic bean stew on 10 dogs before poisoning elderly man

A woman has confessed to poisoning 10 dogs as a test run before allegedly murdering an elderly man with a toxic bean stew.

Ana Paula Veloso, described by Police Chief Halisson Ideiao as a "psychopath" and a serial killer, is accused of killing pensioner Neil Correa da Silva in Baixada Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by serving him a poisoned bean stew.

Detectives suspect that Veloso was assisted in the murder by the victim's daughter, Michele Paiva da Silva, who allegedly paid for her to travel from Guarulhos to Rio to aid in the assassination.

Both Veloso and Paiva da Silva are currently in police custody and are suspected of involvement in three additional murders. Mr Halisson revealed: "She confesses that she killed 10 dogs with this poison, testing the method and the timing. She knew exactly how long, the dosage, and what would happen to the people who consumed what she offered."

This revelation followed the discovery of terbufos, a pesticide slightly less potent than lead, at Veloso's residence, reports the Mirror.

The investigation has also led Sao Paulo police to question Veloso's twin sister, Roberta. According to Mr Halisson: "She also actively participated in Neil's death providing moral and material assistance," as reported by G1.

The victim's daughter, Michele Paiva da Silva, a 42-year-old law student, was arrested outside Engenho Novo University in Rio on Tuesday. Neil, aged 65, passed away at the Adao Pereira Nunes Municipal Hospital on 26 April and his body has since been exhumed for a forensic examination to determine if he was poisoned.

Police have suggested that the father-daughter relationship was strained, with both Ana and Michele, who are described as friends, present at the house when he fell ill and was subsequently hospitalised. Phone messages exchanged between the two women discussing the poisoning of Mr Correa da Silva have since been discovered.

Police are connecting the pensioner's death to three other poisonings in Guarulhos, which they now suspect were orchestrated by Veloso and Paiva da Silva. "Ana Paula poisoned four people, including Neil, on Michelle's orders," asserted Mr Halisson.

He further revealed that Veloso had previously come under police scrutiny after she claimed to be the victim of an attempted cake poisoning. However, detectives believe this was a ploy to frame another individual.

Mr Halisson stated: "Ana Paula Veloso came to our police station because of an alleged poisoned cake inside a college. She planted this alleged poisoned cake to try to frame a third person.

"Through this investigation, we concluded that Ana Paula was not the victim in this case, but rather a serial killer."