12/06/2024
UPDATE: On November 1, 2024, the Maryland woman accused of killing her own mother before dismembering her remains with a chainsaw has been convicted of first-degree murder.
The trial for 46-year-old Candace Craig ended when the jury found her guilty.
In May 2023, Candace Craig was arrested and charging documents revealed gruesome details about the murder.
Prince George’s County police said at the time that 71-year-old Margaret Craig was killed on May 23, 2023 by her daughter, Candace Craig. They also believed 19-year-old Salia Hardy helped her mother, Candace Craig, try to dispose of the body.
Hardy told authorities that her mother, Candace Craig, attacked the Margaret Craig after she threatened to report Candace Craig for fraudulent use of her credit card.
The next day, Hardy discovered her grandmother’s remains in a blue bin in her bedroom.
Investigators said the mother and daughter dismembered the victim with a chainsaw and allegedly attempted to burn her remains on a grill and a fire behind the home.
Police discovered the murder 10 days later, when officers were called to perform a welfare check at the home in the 200 block of Hill Road near Hyattsville, Maryland at around 1:35 p.m., after receiving a call from a relative who said he “had not communicated with Margaret Craig for several days and was worried for her welfare.”
After her conviction, Candace Craig faces serious time in prison. In addition to the first-degree murder charge, Candace Craig was convicted of second-degree murder, tampering with evidence, and disposing a body in an unauthorized location.
Hardy, Candace Craig's daughter, pleaded guilty earlier this year to being an accessory to the murder after the fact.
Hardy told the Prince George’s County jury Wednesday she recalled hearing her grandmother, Margaret Craig, scream inside of their home. Hardy said her mother Candace Craig instructed her to not go inside her grandmother’s room.
"She said to look at [my] sisters if she goes to jail," Hardy testified.
Hardy's part of the plea agreement includes a truthful testimony in her mother’s trial.
Hardy recalled the day after hearing her grandmother scream, her mother showed her scratches on her chest and arms. That day, Hardy said she went into her grandmother’s room since she had not seen her since hearing her scream and saw her body in bin with a trash bag over her face and blood on the carpet.
Hardy testified when her mother came home, she was mad at her for going in the room but would not tell her what happened to her grandmother. According to Hardy, they went to the store a few days later to purchase items including charcoal and a lighter. Gasoline was also purchased.
It was her mother’s idea to burn the body in the back of the house, Hardy said. The plan did not work, as neighbors began noticing the fire spread and the fire department eventually arrived. It was then, Hardy said her mother ordered a chainsaw online and began cutting the body into pieces the next day.
Margaret Craig’s autopsy was a "unique case", according to Maryland Assistant Medical Examiner Dr. Pamela Ferreira. Margaret Craig’s body was not intact by the time it arrived at the ME’s office in early June, Dr. Ferreira said.
Ferreira testified there were nine bags, each of which were contained other bags. Her office also received a chainsaw, paper towels, and paint cans with water and body fragments. In total, she testified there were 67 segments of remains, all of which showed evidence of being burned and dismembered by a mechanical saw after Margaret Craig was dead.
Ferreira told the jury, there was no evidence that a natural disease killed the victim. At the same time, she did not have every piece of the body. Margaret Craig’s death was ultimately ruled a homicide by undetermined means.
On December 5, 2024, Hardy, who pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact, is being released.
During Hardy’s sentencing hearing Wednesday, Prince George’s County Circuit Court Judge Karen Mason sentenced Hardy to probation. Hardy has been in jail since her arrest along with her mother in June 2023 for more than 500 days.
Prosecutors credited Hardy’s cooperation and testimony with helping secure Candace Craig’s conviction. They also pointed out during the trial in October that Hardy has a developmental disability, and she is easily coerced.
On the witness stand after she described helping her mother buy a gas can, charcoal and a lighter which they used to try to burn her grandmother’s body, she was asked why she did it.
Her answer was, “Because my mother asked me."
Hardy will be on supervised probation for five years. Candace Craig will be sentenced in 2025.
