Police release caregiver arrested in death of elderly charge

A Filipina caregiver suspected in the death of an elderly woman in her care was released from police detention on Monday, after officials said she passed a polygraph test.

Eisa Jane Calimlim, 33, was arrested last week after footage showed her placing a sticker on a security camera days before the 93-year-old woman she was caring for passed away in December, leading to suspicions of foul play.

Calimlim had been ordered to remain in custody by a judge on Sunday, after she apparently changed her story regarding the camera.

But on Monday, authorities released her.

Officials cited the fact that she passed the polygraph test and that police had no evidence beyond the camera being covered up.

“I didn’t do anything. I just worked for them hard. But what they did to me is beyond … unbelievable,”  Calimlim told Channel 12 news after she was released.

She declined to comment when asked about placing the sticker over the camera.

The daughter of the deceased woman, from the Tel Aviv suburb of Givatayim, said she was “shocked and saddened” by the decision, the Walla news site reported.

She had earlier claimed that her mother had complained about being left alone with Calimlim before her death and that the caregiver had behaved strangely after the death.

“The day she put a sticker on the camera, my mom’s condition immediately deteriorated,” the daughter told Channel 12 news last week. “The next day her condition completely deteriorated, she lost consciousness, went to the hospital and passed away right after she got to the hospital.”

Family members had claimed the Calimlim had stood to benefit financially from the death, though it was unclear how.