A Virginia woman stands accused of brutally murdering her own mother and attempting to dispose of the dismembered body using a chainsaw and a barbecue grill went to court this week, with her own daughter testifying against her in the trial.
46-year-old Candace Craig is accused of brutally murdering her mother, 71-year-old Margaret Craig, on May 23, 2023. Craig initially attempted to burn the body in the backyard of their Hill Road home near Hyattsville, but the smoke began to attract neighborhood attention, even causing the fire department to arrive at one point.
Craig then resorted to dismembering the body with a chainsaw she purchased online, burning it further on a barbecue grill, reported ABC 7.
Craig's daughter, 21-year-old Salia Hardy, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact. Hardy, who testified in her own mother's trial on Wednesday, recalled hearing the screams of her elderly grandmother after her mother instructed her not to enter her grandmother's bedroom.
"She said to look at [my] sisters if she goes to jail," Hardy said in court.
Hardy recounted seeing visible scratches and injuries covering Craig's arms the following day. Upon entering her grandmother's room, Hardy found her grandmother's body in a trash can with a trash bag covering her face. Her mother then returned home and reprimanded Hardy for entering her grandmother's room, refusing to tell her what had happened.
Maryland Assistant Medical Examiner Dr. Pamela Ferreira has referred to Margaret Craig's autopsy as a "unique case" due to the fact that the body had to be autopsied without being intact.
Ferreira testified that her office received nine bags containing Margaret Craig's remains, as well as a chainsaw, paper towels, and paint cans with water.
She further testified that the 67 segments of remains indicated that Margaret Craig had been dismembered and charred post-mortem, and that evidence did not point towards natural disease as a cause of death for the victim.
