Death of a Grandmother - Candace Craig

a grandmother goes missing and her daughter knows the answer. The case of candace craig

**Episode Transcription

What do you do when you’ve stopped seeing your elderly active neighbor for a couple of days. Do you call 911 for a wellness check, or mind your business? Well this neighbor did the right thing and what they found was even worse than they can even imagine.

Welcome everyone! Welcome to a new episode of Love and Murder – the weekly true crime podcast discussing relationships gone terribly wrong. Where our motto is, you’re either someone’s last love or first murder.

This is the last week of the Summer cases yall! Love and Murder is back to our regular case type starting next week!

I am your host Ky and this show discusses true crime cases told in the form of a story with mystery and suspense.

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In today’s episode, we’re talking about a case of a missing grandmother, only to be found IN HER HOUSE with a horrible revelation of what happened.

But first, I wanted to remind you to head on over to our exclusive group at patreon.com/loveandmurder. Our last bonus episode was the intro into the journal of Issey Sagawa – a Japanese businessman who also chronicled his time as a cannibal.

Before we begin, I want to say that this entire episode is alleged as the case is still ongoing. This is for entertainment purposes only and have nothing to do with the legalities behind the case.

Now, grab your butts, grab your apple juice, and let’s get into some Love and Murder

On June 2, 2023, at about 1:35pm, police were called out for a routine welfare check in the serene neighborhood of the 200 block of Hill Road in Landover, MD. The Division III Landover station patrol officers responded to a concerned man’s 911 call, a neighbor expressing his worries about not having heard from 71-year-old Margaret Craig for several days.

The Prince George’s County Police Department released a press statement detailing the events that followed.

As officers arrived at the residence, they were greeted by Candace Raquel Craig, Margaret’s 44- year old daughter, who allowed them access to the home for the welfare check. Police looked around, but didn’t find the grandmother anywhere. However, as they went into the basement, they were met with the putrid smell of decomposition that made them descend the stairs even more cautiously. What they discovered inside was beyond comprehension.

The basement revealed a grisly scene that would haunt the officers for years to come.

Police documents reported: “Upon entering the basement, officers immediately recognized the smell of putrefaction and observed blood and tissue on the floor near three white plastic trash bags. Officers observed in an open trash bag what appeared to be brain matter.”

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Margaret Craig’s lifeless body had been callously dismembered, her remains packed into plastic trash bags scattered throughout the dimly lit space.

Among the disturbing findings was a knife, carelessly discarded on the basement floor. The initial search further uncovered a chainsaw cover, “cutting utensils, cleaning materials, and blood spatter throughout the basement where the bags of human remains were located.” This was a quote in the charging documents.

A warrant was immediately granted and The Homicide and Evidence Units were notified and took over the investigation. Allegedly, they recovered several more items relevant to the case. This included “a chainsaw with human remains on it.”

Who could have done this? Why was it done? And how could her daughter and granddaughter be in the house without prior knowledge of what was in the basement?

A crucial witness came forward at the scene, adding a new layer of horror to the already horrifying case. The witness claimed to have seen Candace and her daughter, 19 year old Salia Hardy, near “a small fire in the brush” behind the house “burning what they believed to be human remains” on May 27

So, as if the act of murder itself wasn’t depraved enough, Candace was also trying to get rid of the evidence.

Candace and her daughter were arrested, but allegedly Salia waived her Miranda rights so that she could deny any involvement and implicate her mother as the sole perp.

Candace, however; denied involvement too.

So, who did this Candace? When I was little, my mom would ask my siblings and I who did something in the house. If all of us said we didn’t, she would ask us if Mr. Nobody lives here. So, that’s my question to Candace, did Mr. Nobody do this and you just walked in and caught him in the act?

According to Salia, the initial attack was triggered by her grandmother’s discovery of credit card fraud. The grandmother had allegedly threatened to report her daughter for the fraudulent use of her credit card.

Salia’s statement then revealed this sequence of events following the murder. She claimed that upon returning home the next day, she was shocked and horrified to discover her grandmother’s remains in a blue bin in her bedroom. Let me repeat that. Her grandmother’s. Remains. Were. in. a. Bin. in. her. Granddaughter’s. Room. LaMs! OMGod!

At this point, Candace allegedly convinced her daughter to help her in covering up the murder.

Pause here and Let’s play a game LaMs. This isn’t in bad taste as it’s about the case. I want to know your thoughts. Here’s the game. It consists of one question. The prize is $1 million babillion gazillion LaM dollars for the correct answer. Ready? Here’s the question.

You come home from school to find your grandmother stored in a bin in your room. Your mom walks to your room and says, “howdy do kid, how was your day? Hey, by the way, I killed your grandmother. Wanna help me cover this up by cutting here up, putting the body in trash bags, and then burning them in the back yard?”

You have 5 seconds to answer.

Do you

Say “sure. Where’s the chainsaw” and proceed to the basement or
Bull rush the shit out of your mom, run out of the house, bang on the neighbor’s door and call the cops on your mom

Your time starts …NOW

The correct answer is B! Like, that’s the only answer. Are you crazy?! Unless the mom was threatening you, like she opened your door WITH the chainsaw and said, “If you don’t help me do this, I’m going to be cutting up two bodies today!”

Like WTF.

Anyway, continuing Salia’s confession

So, after she chose the wrong answer from our game show, they then allegedly began the sickening process of dismembering Margaret’s body with a chainsaw, and then attempting to burn the remains on a grill and, when that failed, in a fire in the backyard.

During the court appearance, both Candace and Salia pled what LaMs? NOT GUILTY.

Candace was charged with one count each in first and second-degree murder and Salia was charged with accessory after the fact. This was according to the Upper Marlboro court records. Both defendants were ordered to be held without bond and are now in the custody of the Department of Corrections.

Prosecutors acknowledged the challenges they faced in determining the exact cause of Margaret’s death due to the condition of her remains.

They are scheduled to be back in court in August of this year.

And that is the case of an ungrateful daughter who allegedly wanted to steal from her mother and then, allegedly hacked her to bits with a chain saw. Oh and her compliant daughter.

What do you think of this case?

I’d love to hear your thoughts and you have 3 ways of sharing them with me:

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Speaking of which, Let’s talk about this update I’ve been teasing.

if you join Patreon at only $1/mo you get commercial free episodes – so like this episode minus the commercials and also with all the additions of the case – pictures, videos, pictures of evidence. All of that. Get in now at the $1 and be grandfathered in because soon this tier is going up due to all the extras you’ll be getting. The best tier is the $5/mo and above because not only do you get these things, but you also get bonus episodes and access to everything that I post throughout the web. You get it all here in this one little community.

www.patreon.com/loveandmurder. Come on over, we’d love to have you.

Before you go, don’t forget to give me a 5 star review on whatever platform you’re on. That would help me out greatly and it takes no time at all. So thanks in advance. Next week, I’m talking about a case so insane, you’re gonna be frothing at the mouth from anger.