Candace Craig, 45, was found guilty on Friday after an eight-day trial of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, tampering with evidence, and improperly disposing of a body, according to WUSA9.
Her 71-year-old mother, Margaret Craig, confronted her about committing credit card fraud in June 2023 and was choked to death when she threatened to report her daughter to the police.
Candace then enlisted the help of her 19-year-old daughter, Salia Hardy, to dispose of the body. Hardy testified against her mother after pleading guilty earlier this year to her involvement in the crime.
She revealed that she discovered her grandmother’s body stuffed inside a blue plastic container in her bedroom in Hyattsville. She helped her mother dismember the body with a chainsaw and attempted to dispose of some remains by grilling body parts in the backyard. Police found Margaret Craig’s decaying remains during a welfare check after concerned neighbors reported not seeing her for some time.
Candace allowed officers into the home and basement, where they immediately detected a smell of “decomposition” and observed blood spatter around white plastic trash bags.
The bags contained what appeared to be “brain matter” along with Margaret Craig’s dismembered remains, while investigators also discovered cutting tools and a chainsaw, which still bore human remains.
This shocking crime “really rocked the entire region,” said Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy after the conviction.
“This is a giving, caring, loving, compassionate, and understanding woman, who was killed and asphyxiated by her daughter,” Braveboy stated. “Make no mistake, Miss Candace Craig absolutely committed this crime and is now being held accountable.”
The prosecutor emphasized the brutality of the act, stating, “Killed, dismembered, her body burned, her body grilled — it was insulting for this 71-year-old woman who was a hardworking individual.”
Salia Hardy pleaded guilty earlier this year to being an accessory after the fact for helping to dispose of her grandmother’s body.
