A Maryland woman is accused of killing her mother and recruiting her daughter to dismember the remains with a chainsaw and burn them on a grill over Memorial Day weekend.
Authorities from Prince George’s County Police Department did a wellness check on June 2 for 71-year-old Margaret Craig, whom a neighbor said he hadn’t spoken to in several days, according to the Prince George’s County Police Department.
Craig’s daughter, Candace Craig, 44, answered the door for police and allowed them inside to look for Margaret. The officers immediately noticed the smell of decomposition in the basement. The officers noticed “blood and tissue on the floor near three white trash bags,” ABC 7 reported. One of the open trash bags appeared to contain brain matter in it.
Police also found a knife sitting on the basement floor, but when they returned it was missing. There was blood splatter all throughout the basement floor, a chainsaw cover, and cutting utensils.
“To say it’s disturbing is an understatement,” Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy told WTOP news. “It’s horrifying.”
Candace’s 19-year-old daughter, Salia Hardy, allegedly found the remains on May 24, a day after the murder, in plastic tubs and helped her mother dismember the body with a chainsaw and burn it on the charcoal grill.
The remains were in such rough shape that the lab is still waiting for the DNA results to confirm it is Margaret. The cause of death may be unable to be determined.
“When you’re talking about your elderly parents, as they get older, it’s our duty as children to protect our parents, and certainly our duty to not murder them and to then dispose of them in such a gruesome way,” assistant state’s attorney Jessica Garth said.
Craig is being charged with first and second degree murder, and Hardy is charged with accessory after the fact. They are both being held without bond. Craig is due in court for a preliminary hearing on July 3.