GREENVILLE, S.C. (Court TV) — A concert pianist known for memorizing Beethoven’s sonatas has been found guilty of murdering a woman whose body was found surrounded by rose petals.
Zachary Hughes was convicted of murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in the death of Christina Parcell. Parcell was stabbed approximately 31 times in her home on Oct. 13, 2021.
Defendant Zachary Hughes appears in court Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (Court TV)
At the time of his arrest, police said Hughes, a Juilliard-trained pianist, had no criminal history. Investigators linked Hughes to Parcell through Hughes’ friend, John Mello. At the time of Parcell’s death, she was in a custody battle with Mello over their shared daughter and Mello was facing charges of custodial interference for taking the child out of the country. The charges against Mello were dismissed in April 2024.
Prosecutors said they found approximately 1,769 WhatsApp messages sent between Hughes and Mello, including one where Mello asked the defendant to harass Parcell. Additional evidence against Hughes included a Ring video showing a person leaving Parcell’s home and riding a bicycle out of the neighborhood; a search warrant revealed a bike matching that in the video at Hughes’ home.
Hughes’ defense had maintained his innocence until trial and instead pointed at Parcell’s fiancé, Bradley Post, as a potential suspect. Post, who called 911 after finding Parcell’s body, is not charged in her death but is facing charges of sexual exploitation of a minor and buggery in a separate case.
Hughes testified in his defense case, and admitted to killing Parcell. He said Mello convinced him Parcell was hurting their daughter. During Hughes’ first day on the stand, Mello was arrested and charged with accessory before the fact to a felony and solicitation to commit a felony in connection with Parcell’s death.
Following impact statements, Hughes was sentenced to life in prison.
DAILY TRIAL UPDATES
DAY 7 – 2/20/25
- Classical pianist and Juilliard graduate Zachary David Hughes was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison for the stabbing death of Christina Parcell.
- The jury also convicted him of burglary, 2nd degree harassment, conspiracy to commit 2nd degree harassment, and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a crime after deliberating for less than 3 hours.
- Before imposing sentence, the judge heard from Lutena ‘Tina’ Parcell, the victim’s sister who urged the judge to sentence Hughes to life after she heard him describe in detail how he planned and executed Parcell’s murder. She loudly denounced him for showing no remorse for the brutal way he attacked her sister.
- The defendant’s father, David Hughes appealed to the judge for leniency, telling him that his son had a strong moral compass who gave up an extraordinary career and felt compelled to do what he did, because “he would quote Edmond Burke, the only thing for evil to prosper is for good men to do nothing.”
- The judge sentenced Hughes to life in prison for the murder and burglary convictions, 5 years for possession of a deadly weapon to be served concurrently, and 30 days for the conspiracy and harassment charges.
- In a brief statement to media Andrew Moorman said he would appeal the verdict.
- Before deliberations began, Hughes faced a speedy cross-examination followed by closing arguments.
DAY 6 – 2/19/25
- Hughes walked the jury through his murder plan in chilling detail, describing how he prepared for the killing by bringing a gun, a knife, a gift box to conceal the gun and roses. He said John Mello – A.M.’s father had informed him that Parcell had an interview that morning and AM would be in school, so he knew when she would be alone. (Mello was arrested this afternoon at his home and charged with Accessory Before the Fact to a Felony and Solicitation to Commit a Felony.)
- Hughes thought about every aspect of the plan including his getaway and how he would cover his tracks, telling jurors that his murder kit included gloves and paint thinner. He testified he was reluctant to carry out the killing but forced himself to overcome those reservations because he was guilt-ridden over what he believed A.M. had to endure while he went on to enjoy his life.
- Hughes said Parcell opened the door and to make sure that it was indeed Christina he was encountering he told the woman that he had a delivery for Lutina Parcell, Christina’s sister. When Christina said Lutina was not home, he then pointed the gun at her and forced her to retreat inside the home.
- The Julliard graduate said he wanted to make it quick and painless and tried to knock Christina unconscious with the gun, but his body betrayed him and he could not bring himself to strike her hard enough. He said Parcell sensed his hesitation and fought him. He ultimately used a knife because he feared the gun would make too much noise and would draw the attention of neighbors.
- Hughes said he noticed his face was scratched following the struggle and used the paint thinner to wipe his DNA from Christina’s fingers. He said he did not want authorities to discover his connection to the crime and link him to Mello, who he was convinced was a good father and the better parent to A.M.
- Hughes admitted to mailing the packages containing the nude pictures of Christina, to discourage her from seeking custody of A.M., it was one of several attempts he made to draw attention to A.M.’s situation, in hopes of removing A.M. from Christina’s care.
- Hughes described his childhood and his family and told jurors that part of what shaped his thinking about Christina was how Mello’s description of her matched his sister Grace, one of five children his parents adopted from Russia.
- Hughes called her a ‘vampire,’ who sucked the good out of people, and despite her youth, described her as an amoral psychopath who lied easily, manipulated people around her and had plotted to kill his parents. He said Grace was eventually removed from their home, but not after a long-protracted battle with the Department of Social Services.
- The judge warned Hughes not to make any references to sexual abuse or child pornography. He violated the order three times, prompting the prosecutor to spring from his chair to object.
- The third time, Hughes told jurors that he was right to believe Christina Parcell was harming her daughter and told the jury that he had proof the state was ‘hiding from you (the jury).’
- Prosecutor Walt Wilkins leapt from his seat and shouted, “Instruct him to stop talking!”
- After a break in the proceedings, the judge returned to the bench, found the defendant in contempt, and sentenced him to six months in jail, which he will begin serving as of today February 19. Hughes returns to the stand tomorrow for cross-examination.
DAY 5 – 2/18/25
- The day was start and stop for the jury as they spent more time outside the courtroom than in, while the judge heard legal arguments in which he dealt the defense a crippling blow by barring Zachary Hughes from being able to assert self-defense ‘in defense of others,’ in the murder of Christina Parcell.
- The defense failed once again to get in evidence about pornographic images and video of the victim’s daughter A.M. Defense attorneys say that testimony should be permitted because Hughes killed Parcell to prevent her and her fiancé from continuing to sexually abuse A.M., which according to the defense took place over a period beginning in January 2018, when the child was 5 years-old to October of 2021.
- Defense attorneys claim images and videos show AM and Parcell naked in various sexually explicit poses. Thousands of pornographic images on several devices have been recovered, so many so that police stopped their search at one point, according to the defense.
- The judge’s ruling kept defense attorneys from calling their witnesses to testify in front of the jury, instead they were relegated to summarizing the content of each of their witnesses for the record.
One of their witnesses, Dr. David Corwin, an expert in child sexual abuse, and child maltreatment proffered outside the jury’s presence that adults who have been sexually abused as children, age faster, are at higher risk of suicide, suicide ideation, substance abuse, and depression. - He said brain imaging studies have shown that brain structure of abuse victims is impacted and exposes victims of sexual abuse to a higher risk of health issues, like heart disease and obesity.
The only witness to testify before jurors was investigator Daniel Bevill, who was tasked with investigating the child sexual abuse material recovered on Bradley Post’s phone. He testified about the nude pictures of Christina Parcell and the escort service associated with them that were mailed to Bradley Post and others. - The State maintains the escort website is defunct, while the defense claims it is proof of Parcell’s history of prostitution.
DAY 4 – 2/14/25
- Lead investigator Jarrad Sparkman testified they did not take Bradley Post’s phone till October 19, nearly a week after the murder of his fiancé. Defense attorney Mark Moyer on cross suggested Post was deleting photos from his phone as he waited for law enforcement to arrive following the discovery of Parcell’s body. Criminal charges are pending against Post after a forensic examination of his phone revealed thousands of images of child pornography.
- The medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Christina Parcell’s body opined that her death was due to sharp force trauma, 35 stab and incised wounds, likely caused by a knife.
- Analyst Tim Nafzinger testified that DNA found under Christina Parcell’s fingernails on her right hand was 825 million times more likely to belong to Zachary Hughes than anyone else.
- Defense moved for directed verdicts and made a motion for a mistrial challenging the chain of custody on the DNA evidence. Motions were denied.
- WATCH: Rose Petal Murder Trial: Day 4 Recap
DAY 3 – 2/13/25
- Prosecutors advanced its case that defendant Zachary Hughes had become so deeply enmeshed in the custody battle between John Mello and Christina Parcell that he was Mello’s proxy in custody litigation and was copied on emails with family attorneys.
- WATCH: Rose Petal Murder Trial: Day 3 Recap
- Emails, texts and calls between Mello and Hughes show the two appeared to be collaborating in a campaign to sully Christina Parcell so Mello could regain custody of his daughter.
- Jurors heard from an investigator who examined six packets, each containing the same items; nude pictures of Parcell linked to an escort website, along with a letter noting that Parcell was working under the pseudonym Caroline Warren. Greenville County Sheriff’s detectives testified the escort website was no longer active, but defense lawyers suggested the website could have been active at one time and taken down.
- A forensic examination of Hughes’ cell phone revealed he and Mello were communicating through ‘What’s App,’ an encrypted messaging app. They exchanged hundreds of messages through the app, but when police tried to recover them – they appeared as gibberish.
- Still, key words contained in the messages allowed lead investigator Jarrad Sparkman to decipher several of the encoded messages like the one Mello sent Hughes on April 17, 2021, that read, ‘harass shit of her 5142 we can 864 out 483,’ which the detective interpreted as “Harass the shit out of her,” which included mailing the packets containing the nude pictures, according to prosecutors.
- The envelopes containing the nudge pictures were mailed from points in Greenville and Knoxville, while Mello was living overseas.
- Their communication grew more intense around the time of Christina’s murder. An analysis of Hughes’ cell phone records shows the two talked for nearly 2 hours the day before the murder and one hour and 20 minutes, later in the afternoon after the stabbing. There was a flurry of calls the day after, including calls between Mello and Hughes, Hughes’ and Isabella Mello – Mello’s adult daughter, and two calls to the Max Hyde law, a firm that specializes in Divorce and Family law.
DAY 2 – 2/12/25
- Prosecutors called Tina Parcell who testified that her sister Christina was in the throes of a contentious custody battle with her daughter’s father John Mello at the time of her murder.
- Tina testified Mello violated their custody arrangement when he left the country with their daughter in 2020. Christina did not know where he had taken her, and it was only through a Facebook post that allowed Christina to track down her daughter’s whereabouts in Italy.
- That started a new round of litigation for custody that required intervention from the State Department. Christina eventually won custody and she returned to the U.S. with her daughter in the spring of 2021 moving in with her sister Tina.
- After Mello left the country, a Guardian Ad Litem was appointed to represent Christina’s daughter.
- Vanessa Kormylo testified that John Mello would not cooperate or allow her to speak to the child and the exchanges she had with him were ‘threatening, bullying and harassing.’ His emails to her were so voluminous and vitriolic, she said printing them in preparation for the family court trial took up 3 reams of paper.
- Kormylo testified that she recommended that the child remain with the mother because A.M. was thriving. Her direct testimony sparked another round of arguments from the defense claiming that the door had been open to admit testimony of the child pornography allegations against Christina Parcell and her fiancé Bradley Post.
- The judge took a break and returned after nearly 30 minutes and ruled that the door had not been open after all and that any evidence of kiddie porn would stay out of the trial. The defense insisted on a proffer and elicited from Kormylo that had she known ‘then what she knew now,’ she would have separated the child from her mother.
- A Greenville County Homicide investigator testified that photos recovered from traffic cams captured the defendant’s gold pick-up truck showing a black bicycle in the bed of the truck. That photograph was captured on October 13, 2021 – the date Christina was murdered.
- The photo is significant because the suspect is captured on surveillance video leaving the neighborhood riding a bicycle.
- Investigator Blake Wolfe also recovered photos from a trail camera near the defendant’s home. He recovered photos of the defendant wearing a black and gray hoodie — similar in style and color to the jacket worn by the suspect.
- Michael Manigault testified he met Zachary Hughes through the yard and clean-up work he did for Mello. He said he and Hughes worked on Mello’s house together.
- He described Hughes as a ‘good man,’ before he left the witness stand.
- Christina and the defendant did not know each other, but prosecutors claim that Hughes and Mello were friends, and Hughes became aware of Mello’s custody battle and killed Christina to help him out.
DAY 1 – 2/11/25
- The prosecution delivered an opening statement.
- Greenville County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chris Robinson, one of the first officers on scene, described finding Christina Parcell’s body.
- The jury saw bodyworn camera footage from Robinson’s response to the scene.
- WATCH: Officer Describes Murder Scene: Blood on Floor, Drag Marks
- Bradley Post, Christina Parcell’s fiancé testifies, saying he saw Parcell’s body in the living room ‘on her back, and there were petals from a rose.’
