New Mexico Woman Accused Of Killing Grandfather With Fatal Cocktail Of Prescription Meds, Then Stuffing Body Into Tool Chest

A woman has been accused of killing her grandfather with a fatal concoction of prescription medication and then stuffing his body into a tool chest.

Candy Jo Webb, 27, was taken into custody Thursday in Florida, three weeks after the remains of her grandfather, 83-year-old AJ Harden, were found stuffed inside a Ranch Supply tool chest on a Fort Sumner, New Mexico property, according to a statement from the New Mexico Department of Public Safety.

Webb allegedly gave her grandfather a combination of Xanax and Ambien. After he died, she put his body into the tool chest, drove it to a location off Shenandoah Drive where it was later discovered and then fled the state, authorities said.

The De Baca County Sheriff’s Office received a call about human remains being found in the tool chest on the property around 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 15, authorities said.

Lieutenant Mark Soriano of the New Mexico State Police told Oxygen.com the last time Harden had been seen alive was in September.

Candy Jo Webb Photo: New Mexico State Police

It’s not clear how long Harden had been dead before he was discovered.

The New Mexico state police identified Webb as a suspect in the case after an “extensive investigation” and issued an arrest warrant through the De Baca Magistrate Court on Oct. 28 for first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.

State police learned that Webb had fled the area and was traveling “across country to avoid apprehension.”

She was tracked to Jacksonville, Florida, where she was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Thursday without incident.

Soriano alleged to Oxygen.com that Webb had initially tried to lie about her grandfather's whereabouts. 

"Webb told agents she had placed Harden in a nursing home in Texas, then a retirement home in Texas but could not provide agents a name of such facilities," he said. "Agents were able to discover these were false statements." 

Authorities also alleged that Webb had told her boyfriend Harden had died in his sleep, which investigators said was not the case.  

Soriano did not comment on the possible motive in the case, but said the investigation remains "active and ongoing." 

According to Harden’s obituary, he had grown up in Fort Sumner, New Mexico before joining the U.S. Navy and working in the logging industry in Alaska and Oregon.

He later worked as a truck driver, traveling across the country with his wife, Virginia, before the couple settled back in Fort Sumner.  

He owned and operated his own truck for many years before the couple opened a hamburger stand in Fort Sumner.

Harden’s wife died in 2016.

Webb is currently being help at a local detention center in Florida until she can be extradited back to New Mexico, authorities said.