SC v. Zachary Hughes: Rose Petal Murder Trial

At the time of his arrest, authorities stated Hughes, a Juilliard-trained pianist, had no criminal history. Detectives connected Hughes to Parcell through Hughes ‘buddy, John Mello. At the time of Parcell’s death, she remained in a custody fight with Mello over their shared child and Mello was dealing with charges of custodial disturbance for taking the kid out of the nation. The charges versus Mello were dismissed in April 2024.

District attorneys state they discovered around 1,769 WhatsApp messages sent out in between Hughes and Mello, consisting of one where Mello asked the offender to bother Parcell. Extra proof versus Hughes consists of a Ring video revealing an individual leaving Parcell’s home and riding a bike out of the area; a search warrant exposed a bike matching that in the video at Hughes’ home.

Hughes’ defense has actually preserved his innocence and has actually rather pointed at Parcell’s fiancé, Bradley Post, as a prospective suspect. Post, who called 911 after discovering Parcell’s body, is not charged in her death however is dealing with charges of sexual exploitation of a small and buggery in a different case.

DAY-TO-DAY TRIAL UPDATES

DAY 4– 2/14/25

• Sgt. Jarrad Sparkman went back to the witness stand and stated that Bradley Post was erasing pictures from his phone while awaiting authorities to get here, and preserved belongings of his phone till Oct. 19.
  • Sparkman verified no lineups were done due to the fact that no witnesses stated they saw the face of the male leaving Parcell’s home.
  • SEE: Did Bradley Post Wipe HIs Phone Clean Before Police Confiscated It?
• Greenville County Medical Examiner Dr. Claire Rose explained the 35 sharp force injuries to Christina Parcell’s body.
  • Amongst the injuries were stab injuries that perforated Parcell’s lung in addition to her carotid and jugular arteries.
  • SEE: Medical Examiner: Christina Parcell Had 35 Sharp Force Injuries
• Expert Tim Nafzinger affirmed that DNA discovered under Christina Parcell’s fingernails on her right-hand man was 825 million times most likely to come from Zachary Hughes than anybody else.
  • SEE: Zachary Hughes’ DNA Found Under Christina Parcell’s Nails
• SEE: Rose Petal Murder Trial: Day 4 Recap

DAY 3– 2/13/25

• District attorneys advanced its case that offender Zachary Hughes had actually ended up being so deeply enmeshed in the custody fight in between John Mello and Christina Parcell that he was Mello’s proxy in custody lawsuits and was copied on e-mails with household lawyers.
• SEE: Rose Petal Murder Trial: Day 3 Recap
• E-mails, texts and calls in between Mello and Hughes reveal the 2 seemed working together in a project to sully Christina Parcell so Mello might gain back custody of his child.
• Jurors spoke with a detective who analyzed 6 packages, each consisting of the very same products; naked photos of Parcell connected to an escort site, in addition to a letter keeping in mind that Parcell was working under the pseudonym Caroline Warren. Greenville County Sheriff’s investigators affirmed the escort site was no longer active, however defense attorney recommended the site might have been active at one time and removed.
• A forensic evaluation of Hughes’ mobile phone exposed he and Mello were interacting through ‘What’s App,’ an encrypted messaging app. They exchanged numerous messages through the app, however when cops attempted to recuperate them– they looked like mumbo jumbo.
• Still, keywords included in the messages permitted lead detective Jarrad Sparkman to understand numerous of the encoded messages like the one Mello sent out Hughes on April 17, 2021, that checked out, ‘bug shit of her 5142 we can 864 out 483,’ which the investigator analyzed as “Harass the shit out of her,” that included sending by mail the packages consisting of the naked photos, according to district attorneys.
• The envelopes consisting of the push images were sent by mail from points in Greenville and Knoxville, while Mello was living overseas.
• Their interaction grew more extreme around the time of Christina’s murder. An analysis of Hughes’ mobile phone records reveals the 2 talked for almost 2 hours the day before the murder and one hour and 20 minutes, later on in the afternoon after the stabbing. There was a flurry of calls the day after, consisting of calls in between Mello and Hughes, Hughes’ and Isabella Mello– Mello’s adult child, and 2 calls to limit Hyde law, a company that concentrates on Divorce and Family law.

DAY 2– 2/12/25

• District attorneys called Tina Parcell who affirmed that her sibling Christina remained in the throes of a controversial custody fight with her child’s daddy John Mello at the time of her murder.
  • Tina affirmed Mello breached their custody plan when he left the nation with their child in 2020. Christina did not understand where he had actually taken her, and it was just through a Facebook post that enabled Christina to find her child’s location in Italy.
  • That began a brand-new round of lawsuits for custody that needed intervention from the State Department. Christina ultimately won custody and she went back to the U.S. with her child in the spring of 2021 relocating with her sis Tina.
    • SEE: Christina Parcell’s Sister: ‘Custody Dispute Active Until Moment She Died’
• After Mello left the nation, a Guardian Advertisement Litem was designated to represent Christina’s child.
  • Vanessa Kormylo affirmed that John Mello would not comply or permit her to speak with the kid and the exchanges she had with him were ‘threatening, bullying and bothering.’ His e-mails to her were so abundant and vitriolic, she stated printing them in preparation for the household court trial used up 3 reams of paper.
  • Kormylo affirmed that she advised that the kid stay with the mom since A.M. was growing. Her direct testament triggered another round of arguments from the defense declaring that the door had actually been open to confess testament of the kid porn claims versus Christina Parcell and her fiancé Bradley Post.
• The judge took a break and returned after almost thirty minutes and ruled that the door had actually not been open after all which any proof of kid pornography would avoid of the trial. The defense demanded a proffer and generated from Kormylo that had she recognized ‘then what she understood now,’ she would have separated the kid from her mom.
• A Greenville County Homicide detective affirmed that images recuperated from traffic cameras recorded the accused’s gold pick-up truck revealing a black bike in the bed of the truck. That photo was caught on October 13, 2021– the date Christina was killed.
  • The image is considerable due to the fact that the suspect is caught on monitoring video leaving the community riding a bike.
  • Private investigator Blake Wolfe likewise recuperated pictures from a path cam near the accused’s home. He recuperated images of the accused using a black and gray hoodie– comparable in design and color to the coat used by the suspect.
    • VIEW: Rose Petal Murder Trial: Ring Camera Establishes Murder Timeline
    • SEE: Evidence: Rose Petals Found Near Christina Parcell’s Body At Crime Scene
• Michael Manigault affirmed he satisfied Zachary Hughes through the lawn and clean-up work he provided for Mello. He stated he and Hughes dealt with Mello’s home together.
  • He explained Hughes as a ‘excellent guy,’ before he left the witness stand.
  • Christina and the offender did not understand each other, however district attorneys declare that Hughes and Mello were buddies, and Hughes ended up being mindful of Mello’s custody fight and eliminated Christina to assist him out.

DAY 1– 2/11/25

• The prosecution provided an opening declaration.
• Greenville County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chris Robinson, among the very first officers on scene, explained discovering Christina Parcell’s body.
  • The jury saw bodyworn cam video footage from Robinson’s reaction to the scene.
  • SEE: Officer Describes Murder Scene: Blood on Floor, Drag Marks
• Bradley Post, Christina Parcell’s fiancé affirms, stating he saw Parcell’s body in the living-room ‘on her back, and there were petals from a rose.’
  • ENJOY: Rose Petal Murder Trial: Victim’s Fiancé Takes the Stand