ARLINGTON, Mass. —

Dr. Louis Braida, by any measure, had a brilliant mind, driving his groundbreaking research into how humans hear and communicate, a subject he also taught at MIT for decades.

But the ravages of age, compounded by the effects of three strokes, took their toll, and by 2019, he needed help in his Arlington apartment with his tasks of daily living.

A home health aide named Fatumata Jaitha, who often answered to Fatimah, became the person giving that help.

His sister, Mary Massey, became suspicious after their first call.

“She said, ‘He loves me,’” Massey recalled in an interview. “‘He wants me in his will.’”

That wasn’t all.

“‘He wants to give me power of attorney,’” Massey recalled Jaitha saying. “ I said, ‘Can I speak to him?’ ‘No,’ was the reply, according to Masse

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