Nursing home in alleged cover-up of resident's drowning Susan Mutami was sacked after reporting the death of Caterina Montalto at a nursing home to authorities. A YOUNG whistleblower who claimed a nursing home covered up the drowning of a resident was sacked the day after she reported the death to authorities. The elderly woman fell face first into a pond in the Melbourne home's courtyard but her family was told she'd collapsed and died from a heart attack. The police and coroner were only told of the accidental death when carer Susan Mutami - who first saw the woman in the water from a window above - suspected a cover-up. CCTV footage which captured the death of 76-year-old dementia sufferer Caterina Montalto revealed she lay motionless in the pond for 50 minutes before staff noticed her body. By the time her family arrived, staff at Arcare's Hampstead nursing home in Maidstone had dried off Mrs Montalto's body, changed her clothes and laid her out in bed. The doctor who was called to certify her death was not told she had been found in the fountain and recorded her death as a heart attack. Has your family had a bad experience with a nursing home? Contact Ruth Lamperd Our system failing the elderly By the time the coroner was alerted, Mrs Mon­talto's body had already been embalmed and was awaiting the funeral. The Coroner's Court in July heard that her two sons, whose father is still a resident at the home, only learned of the investigation four days after their mother's death on May 31, 2011. Caterina Montalto with husband Vito. Frank Montalto said in his statement: "Naturally we were all stunned."" He also said when he arrived to see his mother's body staff looked like they were "rabbits in a spotlight"." Staff gave evidence in the hearing that they were warned by the facility manager, Cathy Condon, not to discuss the circumstances of Mrs Montalto's death or they would be fired. But Ms Condon claimed it was an instruction to remind staff of their confidentiality obligations. The nurse who first reached her body, Lea Sanchez, said Ms Condon told her not to write that she had found her in the fountain or else they would be "sacked"." Instead, she said Ms Condon dictated words to write that Mrs Montalto was found "in the courtyard lying on the ground ... Appears to have had a massive (heart attack) "." The Coroner heard Arcare's chief operations officer Kay Foster did not tell Mr Montalto his mum's face was in the pond when he asked her at a meeting six days after his mother's death, even though she had seen the CCTV footage which showed it was. She denied he asked her that question. Ms Mutami, 22 at the time, noticed from a resident's room on the first floor that there was someone floating in the pond. Suspecting a cover-up, the incident prompted her to alert Mrs Montalto's death to the Coroner. When she turned up for her shift the following day, she was sacked.