GUILTY SC - Christine Parcell 41, fatally stabbed by concert pianist, Greenville, 13 Oct 2021 *Arrest*

[arielilane]

2021A2330210207	Greenville General Sessions	11/05/2021
Criminal-Clerk
Pending	Ford, Dean Eugene
11/05/2021	11/03/2021
1-21-170121	04/19/2022
2022GS2302194

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State of South Carolina vs Zachary David Hughes

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Name	Description	Type	Motion Roster	Begin Date	Completion Date	Documents
Hughes, Zachary David	Response to State's Motion to Prevent Defendant From Defendi	Filing	02/18/2025-11:48
Hughes, Zachary David	Memorandum in Opposition to State's Motion for Limitation of	Filing	02/12/2025-09:29
Hughes, Zachary David	Order on Media Coverage	Order	02/06/2025-16:30

Greenville County Home Page South Carolina Judicial Department Home Page

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

I am very confused as to how ZH is going to testify since the judge appropriately ruled he could not say he killed CP because he thought her daughter was being abused.
He’ll just confessing…period…I guess.

Perhaps we've misunderstood things slightly? Perhaps ZH legal team cannot say or do anything that would be improper but when ZH gets on the stand he can say or do anything he likes. And face the consequences?

For example, if he gets on the stand and says I killed this woman because I absolutely believed on that day she was holding an abused child hostage in the upstairs bedroom... who's going to prevent him saying that? I mean would he be physically restrained? Literally gagged?

Will the judge shut him down and say you cannot speak those words? Then tell the jury to disregard? Or will the prosecution / state / judge be forced to come back to point out there's no evidence the child was a victim of abuse (which may or may not be true?)

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

IMO, the prosecution presented a credible motive that ZH was acting on behalf of his best friend JM, who wanted custody. I've followed too many murder-for-custody cases to discount that.

JMO

From what I read up thread, JM already had full custody, uncontested, and had rarely stayed with her mother. Is that correct? Have I mistaken? I guess at the point JM tried to fully remove the child to another country, this flared some other arrangement?

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

Zachary Hughes needs to be found guilty of murder and sentenced accordingly. The messy part of this case will be sorted out soon enough, and no matter how that shakes out, ZH is a murderer.
You cannot legally condone killing someone because you think they did something wrong or someone told you they did something wrong.

IMO nobody, including ZH and his own defence, is denying ZH perpetrated this killing.

We are now seemingly going to find out if he was of sound mind, could be considered legally culpable for this incident, what his thinking was (if he tells the truth) and whether that makes him a premeditated first degree murderer or whether he was fighting for his life defending himself in an attack which is a different type of event altogether. However unlikely any scenario is, it does make a difference. I suppose he could even claim at the 11th hour he witnessed someone else do it but that seems very unlikely and outlandish. JMO MOO

 

[arielilane]

Zachary Hughes is expected to take the stand in his defense today. But, what can he say? He admits to killing Christina Parcell but says he did it in defense of her daughter who was being sexually assaulted and exploited. The judge ruled that could not come in as he had no relationship with the daughter and she wasn't home at the time of the murder. So what is his testimony going to be? He stabbed her over 30 times, drug her body and staged it. He placed roses/petals/wildflowers around. It's the most heated/passionate way to kill someone but he didn't know her. He was friends with the father of her child and says he did it when he found out the child was being abused.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1892222338416202113

Zachary Hughes is on the stand right now. We have a court order 30-minute delay in this trial. The stream will come up at 10:07 am ET.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1892224741676867738

Will Hughes just blurt out the information about the sexual abuse? What does he have to lose?


Here we go! Watch #zacharyhughes testify in his defense.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=oJErGoSVP0w

 

[arielilane]

The courtroom is packed today in Greenville County in anticipation of Zachary Hughes taking the stand.

Testimony will be livestreamed, but will be on a 30 minute delay per the judge's media order. Media is allowed to report contemporaneously so updates will be allowed on Twitter. Stay tuned.


Judge Fant is again reminding Hughes of his Fifth Amendment rights.


The jury is being brought into the courtroom.


After his sonata performances were halted due to Covid, Hughes began playing the piano downtown Greenville. In August of 2020, he was playing when he met John Mello and his 8 year old daughter.


Between August and October 2020, he met with Mello maybe 6 or 7 times. When he met with Mello, with one exception, his daughter was with him.


Regarding Mello and his daughter, Hughes said, “I was convinced she was a happy healthy kid and he was a great father.”

https://twitter.com/x/status/1892233515053260880

 

[arielilane]

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - The high profile Upstate murder trial, The Killing on Canebrake, enters week two and day six in the courtroom on Wednesday.

LIVE BLOG: Updates from trial courtroom in The Killing on Canebrake

2 minutes ago

Defense: "He has a right to testify ... I'm going to ask questions in line with your order and he's going to testify and tell the truth."

 

[arielilane]

While John Mello was in Italy with his daughter, Mello said, "I appreciated having distance from John." But noted he was growing increasingly concerned about the safety of the daughter based on what Mello was telling him... "For the sake of his daughter, I had a certain sense of responsibility.”


After the child was returned to the US, the conversations between Hughes and Mello and increased... Hughes said, "But notably while we’re having these conversations he began to tell me in much more detail about what his concerns were about Christina Parcell.”



Hughes describes his sister as evil... An affectionless psychopath, "It wasn’t that she was immoral, she was amoral. She was dead inside. She was a masterful manipulator and deceiver. She could lie at a drop of a hat."


This is an experience that Hughes thinks is somewhat unique,“We know technically people are real, but they exist on Netflix.”Knowing this about his sister is essential to understanding understanding his reaction when John began to tell him about Christina Parcell.


Hughes: Despite the fact that he (Mello) can exaggerate and overload the truth, and he's often not very believable when you listen to him, I was convinced at that point that he must be describing something true.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1892240137641202049

 

[arielilane]

a few seconds ago

The judge says we will now take a 15-minute break.

Guilty verdict reached in The Killing on Canebrake trial

FOX Carolina News will be in the courtroom for the duration of the trial and will provide live updates here.

www.wistv.com

 

[arielilane]

@IndyJenn_


When asked what information Mello provided him regarding Parcell, Hughes said he was provided with "three very important collections of information."


In addition to the nude photos Hughes says he mailed, the defense attempts to admit a 2016 deposition of Parcell. Wilkins objects. The jury is removed from the courtroom as the attorneys argue.


Wilkins says admitting this deposition is a backdoor way to get evidence of the allegations against Parcell to the jury.


Wilkins says, "they're trying to elicit testimony from Parcell, the victim in this case."

https://twitter.com/x/status/1892243397257146426

 

[arielilane]

Posted one hour ago

@cathyrusson


Will Hughes just blurt out the information about the sexual abuse? What does he have to lose?


9:51 AM · Feb 19, 2025

 

[arielilane]

DAILY TRIAL UPDATES​

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.
  • WATCH: Zachary Hughes’ Defense Tells Jury He ‘Wants to Tell You What Happened’
• 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.

SC v. Zachary Hughes: Rose Petal Murder Trial

Zachary Hughes is accused of murdering Christina Parcell, who was stabbed 31 times and found with rose petals scattered around her.

www.courttv.com

2.19.2025

 

[Skigirl]

I can't believe that the judge is allowing Hughes to testify at length about his sister's narcissism and laziness. I guess the defense is that his sister is a terrible person, and the way John Mello described Christine Parcell reminded him of his sister, so he decided to kill Christine. I guess the jury is supposed to believe that riding a bike over to someone's house, breaking in, brutally stabbing them to death and then tossing flowers around the crime scene is just a totally normal and understandable reaction to being reminded of his relationship with his sister. It makes him seem even crazier and more dangerous to me and instead of justifying Christine's murder, it's backfiring. I hope it's having the same effect on the jurors. JMO.

 

[arielilane]

Court is back in session

 

[arielilane]

a few seconds ago

The judge says he will not allow the entire deposition in, but he will allow the defense to ask Hughes about the effect it had on him after reading it.

Guilty verdict reached in The Killing on Canebrake trial

FOX Carolina News will be in the courtroom for the duration of the trial and will provide live updates here.

www.wistv.com

 

[arielilane]

@cathyrusson

Testimony so far:

- He gave his background with music.
- He met John Mello (father of Christina Parcell's daughter) while he was performing.
- John brought his daughter to see Hughes perform.
- They struck up a friendship. He saw Mello and his daughter several times.
- Mello began to tell him concerns about his daughter's mother.(he can't go into details).
- He tells the jury about his oldest adopted sister from Russia, Grace, "she was the most evil human being I ever met in my life."
- He tries to tiptoe around the abuse Grace allegedly committed to the younger siblings but that caused a sidebar/jury out.
- Judge ruled he could not tell the jury about Grace's alleged sexual abuse of the younger siblings.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1892246895688646718

Testimony continues after the sidebar:

- John Mello showed Zachary Hughes photos of Christina Parcell in 'various stages of undress' along with an advertisement. John told Zach they were prostution advertisements (escort service) and that Christina had been a prostitute.
- He then mentioned a 2016 deposition Christina Parcell had given that John Mello showed him. (presumably in family court case). Defense tried to get it admitted. State objected. Sidebar and then jury sent out of the room.
- State argued the defense is trying to elicit testimony from the victim, Christina Parcell, via her 2016 deposition.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1892251945710342372

 

[arielilane]

a few seconds ago

Hughes says that when he returned to Greenville in June 2021 he put together the envelopes that the state had moved into evidence.

He says he was under the impression that all the information had already been made available to the public and that it was all true.

He says he wanted parents in the Canebrake neighborhood to know that their kids were not safe around Post and Parcell. He says he wanted investigators to have access to the information. He says he also wanted there to be social pressure on Parcell.

Guilty verdict reached in The Killing on Canebrake trial

FOX Carolina News will be in the courtroom for the duration of the trial and will provide live updates here.

www.wistv.com

17 minutes ago

The jury is being brought back in.

 

[arielilane]

@cathyrusson


BOMBSHELL:
- Zach testified about Christina Parcell's current (at the time) finance, Bradley Post, who John believed was a pedophile and Zack said "IS a pedophile." Objection/sustained.
- Zack testified that Mello offered him $5K to kill Christina Parcell if he believed Mello's daughter was in danger. Zack said he was shocked and said no.
- 2-3 weeks later Mello was becoming increasingly worried about the safety of his daughter and Zack tells the jury "there's a lot more than what I've told you." Objection/Sustained.
- John Mello then upped it to $10K. Hughes said he told him no amount of money would tempt him to do that. "The only way I would ever consider...is if I was absolutely convinced his daughter was in danger and the only way to rescue her was to take Christina Parcell's life. "

https://twitter.com/x/status/1892262334229569638

 

[arielilane]

a minute ago

Hughes says that in early October 2021 he was still working on his music project and still trying to help Mello. He says again that he became convinced Parcell was sexually abusing her daughter.

The state objects. The jury is told to leave the courtroom.

Guilty verdict reached in The Killing on Canebrake trial

FOX Carolina News will be in the courtroom for the duration of the trial and will provide live updates here.

www.wistv.com

a few seconds ago

Solicitor Walt Wilkins says, "I'm at a complete loss."

 

[arielilane]

@IndyJenn_


Pretty sure the jury has a pretty good idea of the full story at this point... Not sure you can unring this bell in someone's mind.

12:19 PM · Feb 19, 2025

https://twitter.com/x/status/1892262809926295928