A South Carolina woman was found dead, her body surrounded by rose petals. Now, a concert pianist stands trial for her murder

Christina Parcell, 41, was stabbed to death in her Greer, South Carolina home in October 2021. The disturbing scene showed rose petals scattered around her body. Zachary Hughes, a concert pianist who is friends with the father of her child, was later charged. But what could have possibly motivated Hughes to commit such a brutal murder? Three years later, as the Juilliard trained pianist stands trial, Andrea Cavallier takes a look into the complex case.

As a concert pianist who has performed all over the world, Zachary Hughes is no stranger to being in front of an audience – but that spotlight has shifted. Once known as a talented Juilliard-trained prodigy who commanded the stage with his memorized renditions of Beethoven’s sonatas, he’s now at the center of a far darker performance: murder. The 33-year-old South Carolina man is accused of fatally stabbing Christina Parcell at least 31 times inside her Greer home on October 13, 2021, in what investigators describe as a “very violent” killing.

A haunting signature, allegedly left behind by the killer, was the delicate rose petals scattered around Parcell’s lifeless body – a gesture eerily similar to the end of a performance in which flowers are tossed up onto the stage. Within a week of the murder, two men were arrested – John Joey Mello, the father of a 10-year-old girl he shares with Parcell, and Parcell’s fiancé, Bradley Post, the man who made the gruesome discovery.

But neither were arrested for Parcell’s murder. Post was arrested in connection with a child pornography investigation related to evidence obtained from the murder scene. He now faces a slew of charges, including sexual exploitation of a minor and criminal sexual content. Mello, who had been in the middle of a contentious custody battle with Parcell when she was murdered, was later charged with custodial interference after taking his daughter out of the country in violation of a court order.

Both had solid alibis at the time of the murder. So when Hughes, then 29 years old, was arrested for her murder a month later, the connection between the two was a mystery. But an investigation revealed his DNA had been found at the crime scene. It was enough. Hughes was charged with murder, harassment, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. That mystery was soon solved when it was discovered that Hughes and Mello, the father of Parcell’s daughter, were good friends – and Hughes had allegedly taken his friend’s side when the former couple was in the middle of a contentious custody battle – something he took too far, prosecutors would later claim.

Three years after the murder, Hughes’ trial finally got underway with opening statements on Monday, with prosecutors telling the court that Hughes “began inserting himself in the custody battle” and “because the dispute elevated into a situation where custody might not go in John Mello's way, at that point, Zach Hughes made the ultimate decision.”. Here’s everything we know so far:. “The main character is Christina Parcell,” 13th Circuit Solicitor Walt Wilkins said during opening statements Tuesday. “She was murdered on October 13th, 2021.”.

The veterinary technician who worked at Foothills Veterinary Hospital was 41 years old when she was found dead at her home on Canebrake Drive. She had been stabbed 31 times. Bradley Post testified that he was concerned after she did not answer her phone following a job interview earlier that morning. So when he went to check on her around 11 a.m., he found the back door unlocked and Parcell dead in the living room.

“It was all dark, and I looked at the floor, and right at the entrance of the living room and on the floor and off the hallway, there were petals from a rose, and as I looked, I looked into the room, and I saw her on her back,” Post said. Greenville County Master Deputy Chris Robinson was the first to arrive at the home after Post called 911. Body cam footage was shown in court of him walking into the house and finding the body.

Robinson said the home smelled of some sort of chemical odor. The scene was described by Sheriff Hobart Lewis in an earlier interview as a “very violent” attack, according to Greenville Online. “It was a very brutal crime scene, for sure.”. DNA found underneath Parcell’s fingernails, a neighbor's ring doorbell camera and witness testimony helped lead investigators to the arrest of Zachary Hughes.

In a previous bond hearing, Wilkins told the court that a Ring camera from a home across the street showed “the defendant dressed in a black hoodie and a backpack entering the front door” of Parcell’s home just before she was killed. Investigators used FLOCK cameras to read license plates to connect Hughes with being at Parcell's house,” according to WHNS. Images from the cameras show Hughes' truck with a bike in the back. The truck was captured on surveillance video arriving home just after 9 a.m.