Woman found guilty of murdering, dismembering grandmother before burning body on a barbecue grill to get rid of it

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. — A woman was found guilty Friday of murdering her 71-year-old mother and working with her daughter to dismember the body with a chainsaw. 

Candace Craig was found guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and tampering with evidence and disposing of a body in an unauthorized place. According to the State's Attorney Aisha Braveboy, Craig killed her mother after an argument over fraudulent credit card charges. She then dismembered her mother's body and burned it on a barbecue grill to get rid of it.

"We consider [Margaret] Craig to be a special victim who was killed by her own daughter," Braveboy said after the conviction. "Killed, dismembered, her body burned, her body grilled, it was insulting for this 71-year-old woman who was a hardworking woman collecting social security, collecting a pension, she was someone who worked hard all her life. She was providing for her grown daughter who was living with her, her grandchildren, and she even allowed her daughter's boyfriend to live in the home."  

The gruesome murder happened in Prince George's County last year. Officers arrived at a home along Hill Road in Hyattsville on July 2, 2023, after neighbors reported not seeing 71-year-old Margaret Craig for several days. 

Charging documents allege that Margaret Craig's daughter, 44-year-old Candace Craig, answered the door to the home and allowed police to come inside. 

When officers went into the home's basement, they immediately noticed the odor of decomposition and blood near three white plastic trash bags. When they looked inside an open bag, they discovered what appeared to be brain matter and the dismembered remains of what officers believed to be Margaret Craig.

A forensic investigator arrived and confirmed the bags contained human remains. Additionally, investigators later found a chainsaw, cutting utensils, cleaning materials, and blood spatter throughout the basement. Investigators claim human remains were on the chainsaw when it was seized from the home. 

"Make no mistake," Braveboy said on Friday. "Candace Craig absolutely committed this crime and she is now being held accountable." 

Craig's 19-year-old granddaughter, Salia Hardy, pleaded guilty earlier this year to being an accessory to murder after the fact and is awaiting sentencing. She reportedly told police her mother then attacked her grandmother, whose body she reportedly found the next day in a blue bin in her bedroom. 

Investigators say Candance and Hardy then began to dismember Margaret with a chainsaw and attempted to burn her remains on a grill and a fire at the back of the home.