The Murder of Margaret Craig •

Candace Craig and her daughter Salia Hardy killed, dismembered, and cooked Margaret Craig. Margaret was Candace’s mother and Salia’s grandmother.

Background

On June 2, 2023, around 1:37p.m., Prince George’s County Police Department received a call to conduct a welfare check at 208 Hill Road in Hyattsville, Maryland. When police arrived at the home, they met a woman identified as Candace Craig. Police requested to search the home for the missing person, identified as Margaret Craig.

Police searched the basement and smelled putrefaction. They also noticed blood on the floor and human tissue. Police saw an open white trash bag and observed what they believed to be brain matter. The responding officers exited the crime scene and noticed a knife on the basement floor as they did.

When investigators entered the crime scene, the knife was no longer in the basement. The chief medical examiner determined the remains in the trash bags were human.

Searching the home, investigators found a chainsaw cover, cutting utensils, cleaning materials, and blood splatter throughout the basement.

Investigation

Homicide investigators launched an investigation and spoke to multiple witnesses. The first witness they spoke to was the individual who reported the deceased missing. According to the probable cause document, witness 1 told investigators they had spoken to the deceased every day, and it had been some time since they had spoken.

The following day, on May 24, 2023, Hardy had noticed a blue bin in her bedroom. It had contained the remains of her grandmother, Margaret Craig. Hardy then helped her mom dismember Margaret’s remains with a chainsaw. After dismembering part of the victim’s remains, they attempted to grill part of her body on a grill.

Witness 2 had approached investigators at the scene of the crime. She had told investigators on May 27, 2023, noticed a small fire on Hill Road in Hyattsville, Maryland. When she went to check out the fire, she saw Candace Craig and Salia Hardy. The witness believed she observed the group burning human remains. Witness 2 called 911 and reported the fire. The local fire department responded, but did not locate the fire. Police investigated and located the area the witness saw.

Arrest

Police arrested Salia Hardy on June 3, 2023. They read her Miranda rights, which she waved. Hardy told investigators that her mother, Candace Craig, had been in an altercation with her grandmother, Margaret Craig. Margaret had threatened to report Candace for using her credit card fraudulently.