Woman Who Grilled Mom's Remains, Cut Her Up With Chainsaw Sentenced

A Maryland woman who murdering her mother, attempting to burn her remains and then dismembering her with a chainsaw was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Candace Craig was convicted of first-degree murder, tampering with evidence and disposing a body in an unauthorized location in connection with the death of her mother Margaret, whose remains were found by police in trash bags in the basement of her Hyattsville home in May 2023.

Craig’s daughter Salia Hardy, 21, testified to jurors last year that the killing occurred after her grandmother accused her mother of stealing money from her bank account, ABC7 reported.

On the day of the May 23, 2023 murder, Hardy testified she heard a scream and recalled her mother telling her to keep away from her grandmother’s bedroom.

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The following day, she entered her grandmother’s room and found her body in a bin with a trash bag over her head, per FOX5.

Hardy said her mother told her they needed to get rid of the body by either burning it, using acid, or chopping it up, WDCW reported.

After purchasing grilling supplies and a can of gasoline at Home Depot, Craig tried to burn her mother’s body in the back of the house.

However, neighbors noticed the fire and contacted the fire department, according to FOX5.

The next morning, Hardy and Craig retrieved the remains from the fire and brought them inside after they “had time to cool off,” Hardy testified, WDCW reported.

Then, Craig bought a chainsaw and used it to dismember her mother’s body in the basement, Hardy testified.

When asked why she helped her mother, Hardy responded on the stand: “Because my mother asked me,” News4 reported.

Officers were dispatched to the home on June 2, 2023, after a neighbor reported Margaret missing, and “immediately recognized the smell of putrefaction and observed blood and tissue on the floor near three white plastic trash bags,” according to a charging document obtained by PEOPLE.

“Officers observed in an open trash bag what appeared to be brain matter,” per the document. Officers also noticed a knife on the ground on the basement floor.

Investigators later discovered a chainsaw, cutting utensils, cleaning materials, and blood splatter throughout the basement. They also found a chainsaw with human remains on it, per the document.

Hardy pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact and was sentenced to supervised probation for five years, ABC7 reported.