On Friday, November 1, a court found Maryland woman Candace Craig (46) guilty of murdering and dismembering her mother’s body in a dispute over stolen money. The daughter, who wanted her elderly mother, Margaret Craig, dead to maintain the flow of her Social Security and pension funds, committed a disturbing crime, as revealed by the eight-day trial. The mother’s bank account had been exhibiting inconsistencies for several months, which led to her questioning her daughter about the missing funds in her bank account. Salia Hardy, Candace’s 21-year-old daughter, testified against her mother in court in exchange for a lighter sentence.
L-R: Candace Craig (Right) and her mother, Margaret Craig (Left), and Candace Craig selfie picture; Photo Credit: Facebook
The crime happened on May 23, 2023, in the family’s Hyattsville, Maryland, home. Hardy told the jury that her grandmother confronted her mother about stolen money from her bank account. At the time, Hardy, who was 19 years old, heard screaming inside the house. When she saw what was happening, her mother told her not to go into her grandmother’s bedroom. Candace also told her to look out for her sisters if she went to jail. The next day, Hardy found the body of her grandmother in a bin with a trash bag covered over her head and blood on the carpet. Hardy confronted her mother about her grandmother’s body. The mother told her they needed to cut, burn, or acidify the body. Hardy described graphic details of her mother dismembering her 71-year-old mother’s body with a chainsaw and grilling her body parts, using seasoning to mask the odor.
A few days later, after purchasing grilling supplies, including a can of gasoline, from Home Depot, she attempted to burn the body in the backyard of the house. Candace uses her daughter as an accomplice to help her dispose of Margaret’s remains. According to WDCW, Candace and Hardy moved the body inside the following day, allowing the remains to cool off after burning them on a grill. Salia said in court that her mother bought a hatchet at Amazon and cut up her body in the basement. Neighbors called the local fire department after seeing a fire spread in the yard where the incident had occurred. Police did a welfare check at the home after a friend reported her missing on June 2, 2023. When the officers arrived at the house, they smelled decay and saw blood near three white plastic trash bags. Fox 5 reported that they discovered the body in the home’s basement.
L-R: Home of the victim in Prince George County, Maryland and grill that was used to burn the remains of the victim; Photo Credit: 7 News/Brad Bell
Authorities also found cleaning supplies, human remains, and blood on a chainsaw in the basement and reached out to the homicide unit. The jury found Candace guilty of first- and second-degree murder, tampering with evidence, and disposing of a body in an unauthorized location, while Salia Hardy entered a guilty plea to accessory charges. There is no set time for the sentencing; it will happen at a later hearing date.