Candace Craig grilled mother's body after cutting it up with chainsaw, prosecutors say

Prosecutors in Prince George's County, Maryland, said that the mother and daughter charged with dismembering their family matriarch did so with a chainsaw — and then grilled the 71-year-old woman's remains.

Margaret Craig had threatened to report her daughter Candace Craig, 44, to the police over fraudulent use of Margaret Craig's credit card, according to court documents obtained by ABC affiliate WJLA-TV.

That's when, the charging documents say, Candace Craig attacked and killed her mother. She then put her remains in a blue bin inside the room belonging to her daughter, 19-year-old Salia Hardy.

"Defendant 1 and Defendant 2 then began to dismember [Margaret Craig] with a chainsaw and attempted to burn her remains on a grill and a fire to the rear of the residence," prosecutors wrote in the charging documents.

Police went to Margaret Craig's home in Landover last Friday after a neighbor requested a welfare check.

Candace Craig answered the door and allowed police to search the home. Upon entering the basement, responding officers immediately noticed the smell of rotting flesh.

The charging documents said that officers noticed "what appeared to be brain matter" in an open trash bag on the floor. Additionally, officers found a chainsaw cover, cutting instruments, cleaning supplies and blood spatter in the basement.

Police also noticed that there was a knife on the basement floor, but when they returned to the basement some time later, the knife was missing.

Candace Craig is charged with first and second-degree murder. Ms. Hardy was charged with being an accessory after the fact. Both are being held in jail.

• Matt Delaney can be reached at [email protected].

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