A 71-year-old Maryland woman was killed and dismembered by her daughter and granddaughter, who then burned the body parts according to prosecutors in court documents.
“In this case, which is unlike any case I have ever seen or experienced here in the county, I mean, to say it’s disturbing is an understatement. It’s horrifying, the allegations contained in the statement of charges. It’s heartbreaking,” Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy said outside the courthouse.
On June 2 shortly after 1:30 p.m., Prince George’s County police officers were called to a home in the 200 block of Hill Road in Landover for a welfare check. The man who contacted police said he had not been able to reach Margaret Craig for several days and was worried for her welfare, according to police.
Candace Craig answered the door at 71-year-old Margaret Craig’s home and allowed officers in to search for her. When they entered the basement, they immediately smelled the odor of a body decomposing, police said.
Investigators determined Candace Craig killed her mother on May 23 and the next day, her daughter, 19-year-old Salia Hardy, helped Craig dispose of her grandmother’s remains, Patch reported.
Court documents revealed that, “Upon entering the basement, officers immediately recognized the smell of putrefaction and observed blood and tissue on the floor near three white plastic trash bags.”
Officers said they discovered what appeared to be brain matter in an open trash bag on the floor. Police also noticed a knife on the ground on the basement floor. They left, and then returned to the basement, but the knife was missing, officials said.
Police found a cover to a chainsaw, cutting utensils, cleaning materials and blood spatter throughout the basement where the remains were found. The two women used a chainsaw to dismember the grandmother, then burned her remains on a charcoal grill.
Police are still working to determine a motive for the murder.
Court documents said Candace Craig fought with her mother, Margaret, before the older woman’s death.
“Defendant 2 [Salia Hardy] stated that the Decedent threatened to report her daughter, Defendant 1 [Candace Craig], to the police for fraudulent use of her credit card. Defendant 1 then attacked the Decedent,” court documents state.
Candace Craig has been charged with first- and second-degree murder. Hardy has been charged with accessory after the fact.
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