As the high-profile 'Rose Petal Murder' trial resumed in Greenville, South Carolina on Wednesday (February 19, 2025), attorneys for confessed killer Zachary David Hughes kept their promise to jurors and called their client to the stand to explain why he brutally murdered 41-year-old veterinary tech Christina Parcell on October 13, 2021.
What followed was a series of explosive revelations which resulted in the arrest of an alleged co-conspirator, a citation for contempt of court and an uncertain future for a trial which has proven every bit as bizarre as the underlying crime.
After a weekend of speculation as to what Hughes' defense strategy might be, his lawyers finally laid their cards on the table earlier this week. But with S.C. circuit court judge Patrick C. Fant III denying yet another key defense motion prior to the trial reconvening, attorneys Mark Moyer and Andrew Moorman were playing what amounted to a forced hand on behalf of their client.
Some would argue they played their hand well exceedingly well as Hughes took the stand and testified as to how his grave concerns for the safety of the young daughter of Christina Parcell and John Mello implanted a belief in his mind that the only way to keep the girl was to murder Parcell.
The reasons for Hughes' holding this belief, though, turned out to be a source of serious contention - and consternation for prosecutors.
As Hughes testified, he repeatedly veered into the child sex abuse allegations against Parcell previously ruled inadmissible by Fant - prompting multiple objections by S.C. thirteenth circuit solicitor Walt Wilkins. By the end of the chaotic day, Mello had been arrested, Hughes had violated the judge's orders so many times he was sentenced to six months in jail on a contempt charge, and the courtroom was left wondering if the jurors could truly ignore what Hughes had said in open court.
Hughes initially appeared stoic as he took the stand before an attentive jury - describing details about his early life growing up in California and Virginia before his parents ultimately moved the family to Travelers Rest, S.C. During his testimony, Hughes told the courtroom he met Mello and his young daughter in August of 2020 while playing piano on the street during COVID. He was immediately impressed with the young child and said over the next few months he met up with both Mello and his daughter a number of times prior to him taking her to Italy in October of 2020.
"I was convinced she was a happy, healthy kid and he was a great father," Hughes said.
During his testimony, Hughes provided details about the five siblings his parents had adopted from Russia - focusing on the oldest, a girl named Grace. Hughes testified that what Mello was telling him about Parcell reminded him of his sister - whom he described as "evil" and "an affection-less psychopath."
According to Hughes, his conversations with Mello increased in frequency after Parcell won rights to her daughter and returned from Italy with her. It was at that point Mello "began to tell me in much more detail about what his concerns were about Christina Parcell."
"It wasn't that she was immoral, she was amoral," Hughes told jurors. "She was dead inside. She was a masterful manipulator and deceiver. She could lie at a drop of a hat."
According to Hughes, knowing about his experience with his sister was essential for the jury to understand his reaction to what Mello told him about Parcell.
"I realized that there is an incredible danger that what Christina Parcell was, was a future preview of what (the child) could potentially become if she was left in this woman's custody and was raised by her," he said. "And the facts have borne out that I was right."
Wilkins quickly objected to the testimony - one of many such objections throughout the day -- and judge Fant instructed the jurors to disregard Hughes' last statement.
In a packed courtroom, with jurors hanging on his every word, Hughes testified about information Mello was sharing with him about Parcell - including nude photos which allegedly accompanied escort advertisements. He also shared an affidavit from an Iva, S.C. man who stated Parcell propositioned him for sex at Hall's Chophouse in downtown Greenville, S.C. The man declined the alleged offer - and, according to his statement, an offer to sell him drugs.
The affidavit was obtained in response to advertisements Mello had placed on CraigsList seeking information about Parcell.
At this point, Hughes' attorneys tried to introduce a transcript from a deposition of Parcell that Mello provided to Hughes.
"They're trying to elicit testimony from Parcell, the victim in this case," prosecutors objected, which would be prejudicial to their case given the fact they would have no opportunity to impeach any damning revelations due to the fact Parcell was murdered.
Fant sustained the objection, but permitted the defense to reference specific portions of the document in discussing the impact it had on Hughes.
In a moment that stunned the courtroom, Hughes discussed the "grave concerns" Mello shared with him about his daughter potentially being exposed to her mother's boyfriend, Bradly Post, whom he believed to be a pedophile. He then told the jury the lengths to which Mello was willing to go to in order to "save his daughter."
Hughes told jurors Mello asked him in May of 2021 that, if he believed his young daughter was in grave danger, would he be willing to kill Parcell for . According to Hughes testimony, about three weeks later Mello broached the subject again. This time, he allegedly offered Hughes
Hughes testified he was "shocked and insulted by the request" and gave Mello an "immediate and unequivocal no."
In late May, Hughes told jurors he flew to Italy to visit Mello for a break. While he paid for his own travel, he stayed in Mello's apartment with him. This afforded him a view of Mello's nightly video calls with his daughter. According to Hughes, for weeks Mello had been telling him, "Christina is killing my little girl. I can see the spark dying in her eyes."
Hughes said he thought Mello was being dramatic -- until he witnessed those calls.
In addition to noticing weight gain, Hughes claimed he was distressed by what he saw of "her demeanor."
"Her spirit was just... she was morose," he testified. "She was depressed. Like that spunky, precocious, lively little girl that I had met was just not present there."
After he returned to America in late June 2021, Hughes went to work - sending mailers containing the nude photos and escort ads to neighbors, police and the guardian ad litem in the young girl's case. His goal? To put pressure on the system to take action.
It didn't work...
"Christina Parcell and Brad Post just dug their heels in deeper after the mailers were sent," he said.
Not long thereafter, Mello told Hughes about a video call he had with his daughter in which Parcell appeared on the screen and slid her finger across her throat - which Mello insisted was an attempt to threaten him. Mello further claimed to receive a threatening email from someone in the "biker community" affiliated with Post.
On September 21, 2021 - three weeks before the murder - Hughes submitted an affidavit on behalf of Mello to family court. He then submitted a complaint to the Department of Social Services (SCDSS) claiming to be a neighbor who witnessed Parcell verbally and physically abusing her daughter in the hopes that would give the child an opportunity to tell authorities that her mother was sexually abusing her.
Wilkins immediately leapt out of his chair with a vehement objection which was again sustained...
After lunch, the judge read curative instructions to the jury regarding the testimony they heard from Hughes relating to the inadmissible child sex abuse materials (CSAM or "child porn") and the defense began questioning their client about the day he killed Parcell.
Hughes claimed he initially purchased a gun to murder Parcell, but was concerned about the sound of the gunshot alerting the neighbors. After unsuccessful attempts to build a silencer, he decided to kill Parcell with a knife. When asked if he would have rather used a gun, Hughes replied, "I would have rather not to had to have done it at all, but if I had to yes, I would have chosen a gun."
Hughes initially planned to murder Parcell on October 12, but told jurors "I woke up that day and I just felt such reluctance and something in my gut told me it wasn't the right day and I waited one more day."
He then described riding his bike to 122 Canebrake Drive on October 13, 2021 carrying a bouquet of flowers he had purchased the day before. Hughes said Mello had told him the child was at school and Parcell had an interview that morning -- details which allowed him to ensure Parcell was home alone when he arrived.
"This was not about revenge or retribution or anything," Hughes said. "I wasn't angry. The only thing I was feeling that day was pity."
Hughes says he took the roses and walked up to the door of Parcell's home and rang the doorbell. A woman came to the front whom he believed to be Parcell - but he wanted to make sure so told her he had a delivery for her sister, Lutina Parcell. When Christina responded her sister wasn't home, Hughes pulled a gun out of the box of roses said, "I pointed it at her, and I told her to be quiet and to go back into the house, which she did."
After getting Parcell into the house, Hughes said he struck her over the head with the unloaded revolver, but not hard enough, "I was still looking at her, and I was seeing a sympathetic figure. I was seeing a woman, and I had always been taught never to hurt a woman, to always protect women and children."
Hughes testified once Parcell realized he was hesitating, she moved into a position to fight back and he realized he was losing control of the situation, "I just kept striking her and striking her until finally we fell on the floor." When she stopped moving, Hughes said he tried to pull himself together to do what needed to be done to leave the home, "I wanted to make sure that I didn't leave anything behind that would connect me to it because then I believed John (Mello) would be connected to it and it would only further put (the child) in danger because I didn't know if Christina Parcell was the only person involved in what was happening to (the child)."
He packed paint thinner and used it in an attempt to clean the DNA from the crime scene -- explaining the chemical smell both Post and first responders testified about.
Hughes said, "As I left the house, I felt the most enormous wave of relief wash over me because I knew from that moment on (the child) would be safe."
He didn't stop there... Hughes continued, "(The child) would be safe from the sexual abuse that her mother was perpetrating on her and there is proof to that that. The state is hiding that from you."
At that point, Wilkins launched out of his seat with an objection as the jury looked around the courtroom completely bewildered at what had just happened.
After removing the jurors from the courtroom (again), judge Fant told everyone to breathe before taking an extended break to discuss the testimony with attorneys. Upon returning to the courtroom, he told Hughes he was holding him in contempt and giving him a six month jail sentence for violating his repeated orders. Hughes finished testifying shortly after the judge once again provided the jury with curative instructions.
Court will resume at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow with cross-examination of Zachary Hughes by prosecutors.
The body of Christina Parcel was discovered shortly after 11:00 a.m. EST on October 13, 2021 in the front living room of a suburban home owned by her sister. She was found, unresponsive, by her fiancée, Bradly Post. According to Post, he placed multiple calls to Parcell on the morning of her murder - calls which went unanswered. When he drove to the home to check on her, he found her savagely slain.
Greenville County sheriff Hobart Lewis confirmed Parcell had been "brutally stabbed multiple times" and "murdered in a very violent way."
As we exclusively reported at the time, the killer sprinkled rose petals - or deadheaded roses - around Parcell's body after dragging (and posing) her in the front living room of the 2,100-square foot home owned by her sister
"Rose petals were sprinkled around her body," a source familiar with the killing told this news outlet. "She was dragged - there were drag marks. The scene was staged."
Officially, Parcell's cause of death was recorded by the Greenville county coroner as a homicide due to "multiple sharp force injuries."
According to forensic pathologist Claire Rose, "there were thirty-five sharp force injuries to Ms. Parcell," including 27 to the head and neck area. Among those wounds were six separate stab wounds to the right side of Parcell's neck - wounds which perforated both her right carotid artery and her right jugular vein.
Hughes was arrested on November 3, 2021 by GCSO deputies and charged with Parcell's murder. The arrest shocked the Upstate seeing as he had no known connection to Parcell at the time of his arrest. Hughes has been held without bond at the Greenville County detention center since his apprehension.
At the time of her murder, Parcell was involved in an extremely contentious custody battle with 64-year-old John Mello - her ex-boyfriend and the father of her young daughter. Mello and Hughes were "very close friends," Wilkins has claimed, and the two reportedly used the encrypted smartphone application WhatsApp to communicate with each other.
In fact, Mello and Hughes are said to have exchanged at least encrypted WhatsApp messages.
In September of 2023, Hughes and Mello were charged with first degree harassment and conspiracy for allegedly disseminating nude photos of Parcell to an undisclosed group of recipients. Those charges are still pending.
As a result of Hughes' testimony on Wednesday, Mello was arrested again and charged with accessory before the fact to a felony and solicitation to commit a felony. A Greenville County magistrate judge denied him bond on those charges, meaning for now he is being held in the same detention center as Hughes.
Jenn Wood is FITSNews' incomparable research director. She's also the producer of the FITSFiles and Cheer Incorporated podcasts and leading expert on all things Murdaugh/ South Carolina justice. A former private investigator with a criminal justice degree, evildoers beware, Jenn Wood is far from your average journalist! A deep dive researcher with a passion for truth and a heart for victims, this mom of two is pretty much a superhero in FITSNews country. Did we mention she's married to a rocket scientist? (Lucky guy!) Got a story idea or a tip for Jenn? Email her at [email protected].