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Attorneys representing Zachary David Hughes – the accused perpetrator of a savage and ritualistic homicide which shocked the South Carolina Upstate in the fall of 2021 – were dealt a severe setback on the opening day of Hughes’ long-awaited murder trial in Greenville, S.C.
Early Tuesday (February 11, 2025), circuit court judge Patrick C. Fant III ruled that evidence and testimony related to child pornography (a.k.a. child sex abuse material, or “CSAM”) found at the murder scene would not be admissible.
According to Fant, any discussion of these materials – which implicated both the victim and the person who found her body – would not “assist the jurors in coming to the truth of this case.”
Fant did say his ruling could “certainly can be revisited” as the trial progressed.
Fant’s decision could wind up being decisive in the ‘Rose Petal Murder’ case – the graphic slaying of 41-year-old veterinary tech Christina Parcell of Greer, S.C. on the morning of October 13, 2021. It could also play a key role in what will inevitably be a high-profile appeal, in the event Hughes is convicted of Parcell’s murder.
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?Day 2 of the trial of Zachary Hughes has begun. Judge Fant has just announced that the media will be able to report contemporaneously. Follow for updates. @fitsnews @dnolan2000
— Jennifer Wood (@IndyJenn_) February 11, 2025
According to Greenville County sheriff Hobart Lewis, Parcell was “brutally stabbed multiple times” and “murdered in a very violent way.”
Sources close to the investigation told FITSNews the killer allegedly sprinkled rose petals – or deadheaded roses – around Parcell’s body after dragging (and posing) her in the front living room of a home owned by her sister, Lutina Parcell.
“Rose petals were sprinkled around her body,” a source familiar with the killing told this news outlet at the time. “She was dragged – there were drag marks. The scene was staged.”
That reporting was confirmed during testimony on Tuesday morning.
Parcell’s body and the bizarre rose petal scene weren’t all police found, though. A massive cache of child porn (or “CSAM”) was also discovered. According to Hughes’ attorneys, police found “more than 15,000 images and videos of child pornography… on nine electronic storage devices” while searching the home where the murder took place.
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RELATED | PRE-TRIAL ‘ROSE PETAL MURDER’ MOTIONS
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As a result of this discovery, the office of S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson charged Parcell’s fiancée, Bradly Post, with five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor in the first degree, one count of sexual exploitation of a minor in the third degree, one count of third degree criminal sexual content with a minor and one count of buggery.
Also, Post and the estate of Christina Parcell have been named in civil cases related to the discovery of these files.
Prosecutors in the office of S.C. thirteenth circuit solicitor Walt Wilkins insisted the child porn files were found on devices under Post’s control – and therefore have no relevance to Parcell’s murder. They also insisted Post’s testimony would not link Hughes to the crime as he had never met the defendant prior to discovering Parcell’s body.
Hughes’ attorney Andrew Moorman countered that “the bases for the relevance in this case are enormous,” and that the evidence and testimony related to the files was “highly substantiated.”
While Fant’s decision was a huge win for prosecutors, they must tread carefully as the trial progresses.
That’s especially true regarding evidence of harassment against Parcell allegedly perpetrated by Hughes and his friend John Mello – a music producer and the father of Parcell’s young daughter.
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Hughes and Mello were jointly charged with harassment and conspiracy tied to the dissemination of nude photos of Parcell in the weeks prior to her death. Described by prosecutors as “very close friends,” the two men routinely used the encrypted smartphone application WhatsApp to communicate with each other. In fact, at last count Mello and Hughes are said to have exchanged at least 1,769 encrypted WhatsApp messages.
In one conversation via WhatsApp on April 17, 2021, Mello indicated he had obtained Christina’s private number and instructed Hughes to use it to “harass the shit out of her.”
Authorities also uncovered numerous conversations between Mello and Hughes via WhatsApp between October 8 and October 13, 2021 – the day of Christina Parcell’s murder. On October 13, for example, there is a conversation in which Mello asked Hughes “how did the music research go?”
“Good,” Hughes responded. “I’ll tell you over the phone.”
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Mello’s attorney Mo Abusaft has refuted police and prosecutor’s suggestion his client had something to do with Parcell’s murder, arguing that if there was any evidence Mello was involved he would have been arrested.
“They get in the phone and there’s no evidence of a murder conspiracy which is why he hasn’t been charged,” Abusaft said.
Abusaft also said any illicit images of Parcell sent by his client were already placed in the public domain – by her.
“She was putting these photos online to sell sex,” Abusaft said. “Those pictures were already on the internet. (He was) disseminating something she’s already put in the public domain.”
If prosecutors want to link Hughes to the harassment – and by extension, the pictures – they could be opening the door to the defense to bring all of the child porn allegations (and ensuing discussion thereof) into the trial.
Stay tuned for updates on this trial as our Jenn Wood and Dylan Nolan are following this case as it happens…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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